Movement for the Mind

~ claire ballardie

Movement for the mind works by helping us focus on the way our body is affected when we are anxious or fearful. Focusing on how we feel in our bodies helps to identify physical sensations, which can relate to emotional issues. I work with you one-to-one  using gentle stretching exercises, focusing on posture, to help you to connect mind and body.

Learning how to stretch and relax your body also calms the mind.   Gentle Tai-chi based exercise helps to relieve stress and tension  creating a sense of calm and to lift your mood.

Controlled breathing and focusing mindfully on how you are moving helps you to focus ‘in the moment’. This can be part of on-going therapy, using techniques in your counselling sessions, especially working with trauma, where understanding the body helps to access underlying fears in a calm and safe way.

Exercise helps you to feel positive about yourself, increasing your self-esteem, which is a useful tool in coping with life on a day to day basis. As well as improving your energy levels and improving sleep and digestion, the sense of achievement increases self-worth and lifts your mood, reducing stress and improving resilience to life events.

Walk and Talk Outdoor Counselling

~ claire ballardie

Walk and Talk outdoor counselling is available at my psychotherapy practice. A short walk from my therapy room, private, secluded fields offer an inspiring place for counselling.  Your first session will start in the therapy room so we can discuss the best way to help you. Sessions are usually be a blend of indoor/outdoors.

Being surrounded by nature can help us to reconnect with our senses and emotions, as well as aiding relaxation and a sense of calm. There is space to walk, to relax, to observe wildlife  and listen to the birds. Relaxation can really help to give a new perspective to problems and worries, and a valuable aspect to working particularly with trauma. 

By the stream

 

As the ground can be wet underfoot in winter, outdoor clothing is necessary,

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Contact me if you would like more information.

 

 

Meditation

~ claire ballardie

Meditation

I offer mediation sessions both on-line and in person at my psychotherapy practice.

What is meditation?

Meditation  helps you to recognise your own thoughts and anxiety, and help you to learn relaxation techniques, developing the ability to cope with stressful situations. Meditation is about enjoying the moment and to see yourself in a kind and positive way.

Learning techniques that can be used for a short time each day can help to introduce calmness into your life, reducing the body’s signs of stress such as high blood pressure, feelings of panic, shortness of breathe and so on. Meditation promotes a holistic feeling of well-being for both mind and body.

What happens in a session?

We will check your posture and focus on your breath to start with to calm your mind- and to slow down a ‘busy’ brain. We will work through the body releasing tension, aiming for a deep sense of peace and relaxation. We will spend some tome on relaxing each part of the body in turn, focusing on breathing techniques. You will be guided through a meditation, such as walking through a garden to help you to mentally relax and to bring about a sense of calm, like a daydream. We all have a special place to remember where we felt happy and relaxed.

Meditation can help to:
  • Reduce anxiety
  • Balance mind, body and soul
  • Promote self-healing

Stressful situations such as a visit to the dentist, sitting in traffic jams etc can be managed in a calmer way with meditation techniques, enabling you to keep your cool when under pressure! Performance anxiety, such as making a speech or taking part in a competition can be significantly reduced with meditative techniques.

Contact me for further details.

 

Supervision

~ claire ballardie

I currently have availability offering supervision for counsellors, psychotherapists, equine therapists, and other professionals.

As a supervisor, my responsibility is:

  • To provide a safe, ethical, and confidential environment.
  • To facilitate reflective discussion regarding clinical work.
  • To offer guidance the integration of theory with client work.
  • To Support the supervisee’s integration of theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
  • To engage in ongoing discussion with supervisees to model reflective and experiential learning.
  • To monitor the supervisee’s professional development and adherence to ethical standards.

 

Supervision is not limited to the therapy room. You do not have to be an equine practitioner to experience  how horses can enrich your process during supervision, according to your individual needs to support your practice.

 

 

Alternatively, supervision in nature, using eco-therapy to enhance your experience of supervision, adding depth to our work,  is available in our private grounds.

In-person and on-line options via Zoom are available, both for individual supervision and small groups (maximum 4). Group sessions can be indoors, or outside.

 

 

 

Please contact me with your requirements and for further details.

Prices

What is Ecotherapy?

~ claire ballardie

Ecotherapy, or nature therapy, is about being outdoors, using nature to compliment counselling sessions. Talking about what you notice outdoors in your counselling sessions can help you to understand more about what is going on for you right now.

How does Ecotherapy (Nature therapy) work?

  • Being outside connects us to nature, the here and now.
  • Using your senses in the surroundings connects mind and body.
  • It gives an opportunity for self-reflection
  • Creates a sense of calm and brings awareness to how you are feeling right now.
  • It can be easier to talk about your worries when walking, moving around.
  • exploring nature leads to exploring you own thoughts.

 

Using Mindfulness outdoors is about paying close and full attention to something in your awareness, to still a busy mind, focusing on your breath. Examples are: listening to the birds, feeling the breeze on your face, feeling the ground underfoot, touching leaves of a tree. Using your senses helps you to be focus on how you feel right now.

Considerations

  • Be comfortable, dress for the weather, being cold, wet, or too hot, distracts from being able to fully focus on what is around you.
  • Being outdoors may evoke memories, which is where my role as your therapist can be useful, to explore sad, and happy memories, to help you to understand, and to learn about  your feelings.

Contact me for more information or to book.

Price

Take a look with me at what Ecotherapy is and how it can benefit you.