Lorna Swain

I run my practice within normal working hours.

I also offer early morning and evening consultations to create flexibility around working lives. The timing and duration of the sessions are agreed between Therapist and Client at the outset, to ensure maximum benefit to the Client.

Monday – Friday: 9:30am - 5:30pm

Monday – Friday: 7:30am – 9:30am 5:30pm – 8:30pm

Saturday: 9:30am – 12:30pm

Each session is a full hour.

Normal meeting occurs once per week.

Depending on the circumstances and nature of the issue, session times can be adjusted to suit the progress of the Client. In this case, sessions may take place once every two weeks for example.

I currently have some availability in my diary.

Welcome.

I have 20 years of experience working with people suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, eating disorders and relationship difficulties.

My work is to uncover the unprocessed trauma lying beneath these emotional disorders which may have been carried in the body for years, often manifesting as anger, panic and shame.

I have worked in a number of settings: for the NHS; in schools and universities; in the field of domestic violence; for Social Services; in Private Practice with individuals and families. This background brings diversity to my practice and celebrates the truth that each and every one of us is unique and deeply valuable as such.

Experience has taught me that emotional distress, however overwhelming it feels at the time, is a call to be free.

As a Humanistic Therapist, I welcome the Client not only as a person suffering with an illness, but as a whole human being in the process of change. My approach is to create a container of safety in the therapy room where a Client can grow to trust themselves and access their personal wisdom. Therapy is a collaboration between Therapist and Client and proceeds at a pace and in a manner that is manageable for the client.

Therapy enables the Client:

- to release emotional pain

- to free trauma that may be trapped in the body

- to identify innate qualities which support personal healing

- to develop strategies to ease overwhelm and enable better relationships

- to reconnect with personal values

The process is holistic, meaning that the mind, body and emotions are interconnected and work together to bring understanding to the Client.

Each Client has been shaped by their childhood experiences and cultural background. Each Client is also in a constant flow of development and personal growth.

Seen this way, suffering provides an opportunity for personal awakening.

It takes courage to come to therapy the first time. In my practice I go to great lengths to be open-hearted and to meet the Client where they are in that moment. The key to change is to focus on the present, which can be difficult when suffering with panic and overwhelm.

It is totally normal to come to therapy feeling anxious and out of control and not knowing exactly why. Using mindful breathing practices it is possible to calm down a racing mind and anxious heart. This way we can get to the core of the problem.

Compassionate enquiry creates the cornerstone of my work. I use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sometimes as a useful working model which helps to establish how a Client’s thinking is creating unwanted behavioural patterns. To work more deeply, however, I employ a number of specialisms:

- Somatic healing: releasing trauma that is trapped in the physical body

- Clinical hypnotherapy: deep meditation and visualisation which accesses subconscious drivers

- Family constellations: working with ancestral trauma to release negative, recurring life patterns

- EDMR: an eye movement process to renew damaged neural pathways.

The sessions are structured in the following way:

- an initial guided meditation for grounding and presence

- a compassionate enquiry around the presenting issue

- identifying how the issue impacts upon the heart, work, family and relationships

- a visualisation, breathing or mindfulness exercise

- development of strategies to use between sessions

- a mindful, calming session consolidation

Therapy is a gentle and profound process.

I look forward to working with you.

If you are unsure about starting therapy, I offer a free 20 minute phone / zoom consultation to make initial contact and to answer questions.

First Session:

- Assessment: to establish the nature of the problem

- Discussion: about what the client wants from the therapy / what outcomes to aim for. This can be reviewed as therapy proceeds.

- Contractual agreement: time and duration of the sessions / cost of sessions / number of sessions the client commits to.

- Cancellation of sessions protocol: a session can be cancelled up to 24hrs before it is due to begin totally free of charge. Within 24hrs the client will be charged half the normal session rate, namely £30.00.

- Confidentiality: an explanation of what confidentiality means in relation to therapy.

- Ethical Code: assurance that the work will be carried out in compliance with the BACP Code of Ethics.

I look forward to meeting you.