Flexibility to suit you!
I'm very used to making phone and online sessions as connecting and as effective as meeting with me in person, having worked this way for 15 years. I regularly work with different time zones, and whether you're speaking with me from your desk, sofa or local park, there are many ways we can capitalise on online or phone sessions to fit well with the context of your life. You can have sessions at very flexible times - weekdays 8.30am - 8.30pm - availability permitting.
Two things everyone wants to know:
Is working "remotely" genuinely connecting?
Yes, I make sure it is - an authentic and engaging connection are key parts of what makes great therapy! I’d like you to be able to feel uplifted and have a good chuckle in our sessions too - it helps with so many things.
If you choose a phone session, you have the advantage of being able to feel comfortable sitting, walking or lying down to help you connect with yourself in different ways.
Are online and phone sessions as effective as face to face?
Research from both therapy and coaching fields says a clear YES - with surprisingly few exceptions. The consistent feedback from my clients is that being in a more "every day environment" makes it easier to link learning from sessions into their everyday scenarios
Specific CBT and EMDR Research
CBT: Meticulous research into Cognitive Behavioural Therapy models over the last 15 years has consistently demonstrated that CBT online, CBT by phone and CBT in person are all equally effective for the majority of issues. Each method has different but equal advantages.
EMDR: Since 2013, research has been demonstrating the effectiveness of online EMDR for trauma and PTSD. More recent research has demonstrated EMDR can also be delivered effectively over the phone too.
I'm happy to offer both
Do please book in for a free consultation if you’d like to discuss this. I’m very excited about sharing more!
I valued the freedom I felt in phone sessions with Eleanor. I could sit and write for a bit, then walk about, sometimes stretch, or even lie down with my eyes closed to properly go inside. I used to struggle with knowing what I really needed, but now Eleanor has introduced me to these different ways of tuning in to my body and my deeper thoughts and feelings”
Some key advantages of phone and online sessions
Help when you need it most
Working with me remotely means I can support you in the very midst of challenging situations - right before an exam, interview or presentation, or during a work trip, hospital stay or family "holiday". This way I can help you handle things with resourcefulness and courage.
Transferrable skills
You may well find it's easier to transfer skills straight into your immediate life context. No one’s ever said “therapy feels like in its own separate bubble and not like the real world" about phone or online sessions!
Enhanced recall
For CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Coaching sessions, phone sessions without eye contact, sitting somewhere you can focus, enables you to write more detailed notes. This means easier for you to recollect the insight and strategies I'll be sharing with you. This is important as research shows that without note taking, the human brain tends to forget 90% of what gets talked about in an hour!!
Easier to be honest
We’ve all got some topic areas that are particularly hard to speak about - especially while making eye contact. Phone sessions can make this easier.
Release nervous energy
It can be helpful to release nervous energy by doodling, sketching, or body movement to suit you. Phone sessions make this simple to do.
Safer trauma therapy and easier after-care
A huge advantage of doing EMDR and trauma healing sessions in your own home is that you don't need to navigate streets, strangers or transport after a session, and you can use that time to do an activity that's uplifting and re-energising instead!
Access a deeper inner wisdom
Many of my clients want to reduce worry and indecision, and instead learn how to access their intuition and inner wisdom. All living organisms have multiple inbuilt information systems to survive and thrive, and I can help you learn to tap into the intelligent awareness of your whole being.
Working on the phone, without the distraction of eye contact, can be a good way of practicing deliberate attention to your inner sensing. I can help guide you with the Gendlin method of Focussing - designed to inform better self understanding and insight
You're welcome to have a free taster consultation on the phone with me.
Try and understand what part you have to play in the world in which you live. There’s more to life than you know and its all happening out there. Discover what part you can play and go for it”
Head outdoors when you want
I’m trained as an Eco-therapist and having sessions somewhere outdoors means you can work on your goals in an invigorating way, getting the benefits of fresh air and vitamin D which are recognised to significantly enhance mood and brain function. You may find walking particularly helpful. Or, make yourself comfortable on your balcony, garden or park bench, taking a notebook, a blanket and a flask of tea - nice!
Research into brain performance
Research demonstrates that walking outdoors, specifically enhances people's problem solving and perspective taking skills, and the body's ability to regulate stress hormones better. Portable EEG machines show that our central nervous systems have multiple beneficial shifts in response to simply being outdoors. This makes good sense in terms of human evolution that hasn't adapted well to sedentary indoor lifestyles.
More relaxed presence
A useful and enjoyable way to learn how to more present is through heading outside. I have 18 years of mindfulness practice and I can help you relate to the world around you with more curiosity and relaxed awareness rather than feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
Shifting perspective
In our speeded up, digitally focused culture, it’s easy to be conditioned to a distorted view of how we “should” look, act, and how much we “should” be getting done. Nature helps us break free from this fiction.
More people are trying to step back from social media, news, netflix, work emails and all that. Being in nature can help us to unplug and re-appraise our perspectives.
Getting grounded
I can teach you how to apply quick strategies to get centred and grounded anyplace, anywhere. It's much easier to learn how to feel more rooted and in touch with life - rather than dissociated or disconnected - when literally feeling the ground beneath your feet.
Nature gives meaning
The parallels between nature and our own experience - what is living in nature, maturing, decaying, and being transformed into something else - can help us make more sense of the different “seasons” of our lives.
A sense of belonging
I can help you reconnect with nature wherever you live, and experience a sense of belonging to your deeper home - the Earth, which particularly helpful if you are experiencing isolation of any sort.
Appreciating life again
As depression, grief and trauma diminishes the nervous system’s capacity for joy, it is especially important to find ways to lift your spirits and outlook on life. By re-learning to be more curious about the outside world, we can progress through life with increasing ease, playfulness and appreciation.
Having sessions outdoors were so helpful to my ability to relax and be myself—it's easier to be more natural when out in nature and I find it really clears my head. Strolling in my local park or bimbling about in my garden while we chatted about important stuff over the phone helped me get to better ideas sooner! It also helped me to feel more energised and as a result, more motivated to do new and practical things towards my goals. ”
