Dr Tony Weston

11/05/2020

Following Government announcements to changes in so-called 'lockdown', the BBC have been talking about coping with anxiety after lockdown: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52443108

Sometimes new clients tell me they want to stop feeling anxious. Anxiety is another name for fear. I would respectfully suggest you never want to be without a fear response, because fear keeps us alive. Responding appropriately to something frightening helps us stay out of danger.

The difficulty is when our fear response is triggered inappropriately (wrong stimulus) and/or disproportionately (too much fear).

Over the past several weeks we have been encouraged to see previously 'everyday' stimuli (e.g. hugging a friend) as life-treating, i.e. changing what stimulates our fear and to what level. In the coming weeks and months we're going to be re-training ourselves. Unfortunately many of us seek to train ourselves by being cruel, mean and punishing. This runs the risk of getting down on ourselves (depressed) as well as anxious. Perhaps being kind, caring and understanding with ourselves whilst we get used to new habits will help us both to overcome anxiety/ fear and feel loving towards ourselves (overcoming depression, self-criticism, etc.).

My website describes more about my work with people presenting with anxiety and depression:

https://drtonyweston.com/for-clients/presenting-problems/anxiety/

Mental health experts see a new phenomenon - anxiety about going back to a routine after lockdown.

06/05/2020

I've updated my website with client outcomes to May 2020:
https://drtonyweston.com/welcome/

My website now shows outcomes for clients who I have worked with at this practice, including 163 clients with anxiety, 261 clients with depression, 308 clients presenting for general counselling, 101 clients with anger management problems. These outcomes are for clients who presented with a full range of different problems, including abuse, addiction, anger, bereavement, relationship difficulties at work and/or at home and so on.

The site also gives information about common symptoms described by clients and includes outcomes for some underlying difficulties they experience, including attachment styles, rejection sensitivity, managing difficult feelings & thoughts and being oneself in a psychologically mature manner. The idea is that working with underlying difficulties is the most effective way of reducing risk of relapse and creating sustainable change. My own integrative practice, incorporates what research evidence shows to be the most effective elements from many schools of psychotherapy, including humanistic therapies, psychodynamic therapies and cognitive behavioural therapies (CBT).

This is the home page’s excerpt

05/05/2020

Counselling for general distress:
https://drtonyweston.com/for-clients/presenting-problems/general-counselling/
Clients attend counselling for many different reasons. Sometimes it might be about difficulties at work or at home; relationship difficulties, perhaps with a partner, parent, child or sibling, or maybe a sense that there ‘ought to be more to life than this’. Difficulties at home may affect work and problems at work may be affecting home life; one part of life impacting another. Because people have counselling for many different reasons it can be difficult to assess the effectiveness of the counselling for all of those different reasons. In the UK a group of researchers developed the CORE system (Clinical Outcomes Routine Evaluation) to measure the distress the difficulties were causing the individual client; measuring the change in distress indicates the effectiveness of the counselling for the particular reasons the client chose to attend. If you are reading this, perhaps it is because you are (or someone you know is) feeling distressed about some particular problem(s) that are causing difficulties.

Research shows that the kinds of distress that can be addressed by effective counselling include:

– reduced wellbeing; lack of optimism, feeling like crying, feeling overwhelmed
– problems with feeling down (depressed), feeling fearful (anxious), feeling traumatised by events, physical difficulties with sleeping and pain
– problems getting things done and or interacting with other people
– feeling like harming self or harming others

Dr Tony Weston’s BACP award winning research showed how clients improved through counselling in terms of their general distress caused by a number of problems such as abuse, addiction, anger, bereavement and relationship difficulties. Outcomes for clients presenting at this counselling service with general distress are shown below. To April 2020 there were 307 clients who had started with some level of clinical distress and who had a subsequent measurement of their distress, measured using the Clinical Outcomes Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-OM). Client average age was 40 years (ranging from 12 to 79 years), just over half were female, around a third were single and two thirds were parents. The average number of sessions was six, (range 2-37 sessions). Client average scores are illustrated in the graph below:

05/05/2020

Fed up of feeling fearful, visit:
https://drtonyweston.com/for-clients/presenting-problems/anxiety/

Anxiety problems may take several forms, including generalised anxiety, panic, post-traumatic stress, obsessive-compulsive problems or phobias. The graph shows outcomes for clients presenting at this counselling service with symptoms of generalised anxiety. As at April 2020 there were 162 clients who had started with some level of clinical anxiety and who had a subsequent measurement of their anxiety. These average outcomes compare well with the published literature for anxiety outcomes in clinical trials and practice-based studies. On average clients had nine sessions (range two to fifty-two sessions). Clinical trials typically exclude clients who have more than one presenting problem e.g. include clients who only have anxiety. This practice-based research included clients who are usually excluded from clinical trials and included clients who were at risk to themselves and/or others, and/or were also suffering with depression and other problems, and/or had a so-called ‘personality disorder’ and/or had problems with addiction (e.g. drink, drugs, gambling, po*******hy, etc.), in addition to their anxiety.

05/05/2020

Anger problems can be helped by counselling. You can learn to skilfully manage your anger or learn to support someone else with their anger, e.g. your child, your partner or someone you know through work.
For more information:

If you are reading this, chances are anger is adversely affecting your life. Unmanaged anger can have very bad consequences for all those involved. Anger problems can be helped by counselling. You …

05/05/2020

At present, in accordance with Government guidelines, I am seeing clients in person for ‘medical or care needs’, with appropriate safety precautions (disinfectant, 2m apart, etc.). You can come and see me in person if you would like to, provided that you are symptom free. Additional options include appointments by phone or online.

Dr Tony Weston, Counselling Haverhill, has expertise in the clinical effectiveness of counselling and psychotherapy outcomes. Counselling for anxiety, depression, addictions, relationship difficulties. Couples Counselling. Family Counselling. Clinical Supervision.