Pip Willimott Counselling

02/11/2023

L.R. Knost 💔

18/09/2023

22/04/2023

Our first meet up will be on Sunday 14th may at 9:30am acle bridge
any information please drop us a message

15/03/2023

Christine uncovers a hidden world of autistic women who, like her, have been ignored.

01/03/2023

Today is Self Injury Awareness Day. Our Children and Young People Mental Health Ambassador, Kate Day, has written about the concerning increases of self-harm amongst our children and young people.

14/01/2023

When hearing the word mindfulness we may conjure up images of calm and positivity, but are there any ways in which it can be harmful?

Adopting more mindful approaches and attitudes can no doubtably be life changing, but how would this help support trauma recovery?
Responses to trauma may include dissociation, fawning, anxiety and panic etc… all of which are natural life preservation responses. Internal mechanisms will kick in to promote survival. Following a traumatic event it is perfectly reasonable for a person to feel in denial and block out memories of the event in order to protect themselves from it. In serious circumstances this may even lead to short or long term significant memory loss or difficulties in concentrating.
Mindfulness approaches should therefore be used with caution following these events, as this can create a re traumatisation by forcing them back to the heart of the trauma resulting in flashbacks or emotional dysregulation.
In these instances a ‘trauma sensitive’ adaptation of mindfulness may be safer. Being sensitive to trauma requires an understanding of how a persons trauma informs their responses, and being cautious of not taking them beyond their window of tolerance. A sexual assault survivor for example may feel unsafe closing their eyes, hyper focusing on their senses, sitting in a room with the door closed, or even working online where they feel they have reduced awareness of the practitioners surroundings and lack feelings of control.

Some considerations to avoid harm can include -

💥 Being informed about the details of a persons traumatic experience

💥 How they are currently responding

💥 Individualised methods to ‘ground’ or ‘anchor’

💥 Awareness of what takes them beyond their window of tolerance

💥 Working within THEIR physical and emotional boundaries