Individual Therapy

Janine works with adult men and women facing an array of functional and emotional difficulties over both the short and long-term. As an integrative therapist, Janine draws on her ability to connect genuinely with people on an emotional level as well as a range of therapeutic approaches to suit each person’s unique needs. Janine’s counselling service can benefit people dealing with the following challenges:

Whether you’re experiencing difficulties parenting, facing issues in the workplace, social isolation, relationship breakdowns or struggling with the responsibilities of life in general, it’s not uncommon for many of us to just feel ‘stuck’ at some point in our lives. This feeling may be characterised by symptoms such as apathy, fatigue, constant worrying, an unwillingness to socialise and an overall lack of motivation. Janine works with people to clarify the source of discontent, define areas where hopelessness might give way to hope and locating a path toward meaningful, values-based living.

As a relationship moves through its sequence of developmental stages, couples often grow apart and feel unsupported by each other. Parenting, work challenges, an unreliable or vanishing sex life, death of dreams, financial worries and the needs of ageing relatives are just some of the factors that can impact a marriage and leave couples feeling they have no more capacity to give. In addition to her couple counselling service, Janine works with individuals to help clarify why they are experiencing difficulties in their relationship and to provide constructive methods for taking charge in the only area where a degree of control is actually possible – the self.

No one can feel happy all the time. Depression is experienced by ordinary people in a number of ways from periodically feeling ‘flat’ to a full emotional ‘shut-down’ that lasts for a very long time. Depression can be characterised by extreme tiredness, lack of motivation, disinterest in everyday life and feelings of intense sorrow and grief. Janine works with many people experiencing depression who are genuinely seeking help to understand why they are left feeling so broken. Many, while feeling shattered about their emotional state, may not necessarily wish to engage doctors or psychiatrists quite yet. Others have already begun with affect-changing medication but are hopeful that counselling might be added to their recovery endeavours. Janine’s approach incorporates a number of proven psychological techniques that help people identify the reasons why the depression has come to regulate their emotional system and even to find a way to regard this particular internal element with curiosity and interest.

Anxiety is a normal human response that is designed to warn us about possible impending danger. For many people, however, a heightened feeling of anxiety or stress is experienced for much of their waking hours, even robbing them of precious sleep. Anxiety encompasses feelings of panic, overwhelm, shame and exhaustion. Untreated, anxiety can gradually spread into every facet of life and cause the sufferer to start avoiding situations likely to evoke these agonising feelings. Janine’s empathic and sensitive approach invites clients experiencing high levels of anxiety to pursue an understanding of the roots of their felt experience with interest and compassion – with the express hope of getting to know better, and possibly unburden, this aspect of one’s internal world.

We all experience the overwhelming and often paralysing sadness of loss during the many stages of living. There are many, many reasons we experience loss in life. Be it for the death of a loved one or pet, loss of youth, body function or a body part or moving from one stage of life to another, grieving is a way of responding that is both powerful and active. Suspending, hating or denying this strong, deep sadness following periods of loss, can cause longer-term emotional difficulties – complicated grieving – and negatively impact our lives on all levels. Janine has considerable experience helping individuals come to terms with the many losses, small and large, that visit us in our humanity.  Her compassionate approach is key to affirming people as they acknowledge and accept loss, with its all-encompassing, sometimes unbearable sorrow, in a way that allows grief to do its healing, processing work…and it takes as long as it takes.

Moving on after a particularly confronting, traumatic ordeal can be problematic due to the brain’s powerful way of working with these threatening experiences. Trauma can stem from a variety of occurrences including accidents, life-threatening illness, surgery, a physical assault, a deeply shaming experience, family abuse and experiences in military service. People trying to deal with traumatic episodes in their lives can experience flashbacks, suicidality, self-harming behaviours, addictions, depression, anxiety as well as actively avoiding anything or anyone they consciously or unconsciously associate with the traumatic event. During her 10 years as a clinical counsellor, Janine has collaborated with those struggling with psychological and/or physical (embodied) memory of their traumatic experiences as they begin their road to reclaiming their normal lives – from the inside, out.

Helpful resources

  • ``I'm tired of worrying all the time``
  • ``I feel disconnected from my life``
  • ``I want to feel happy, but I don't know how``
  • ``Certain situations make me really anxious``
  • ``I'm not sure where my life is going``