Psychotherapist in Stanton St. John, near Oxford
My counselling and psychotherapy practice in the village of Stanton St. John (near Headington, Wheatley & Oxford) is a peaceful place to talk and regain your peace of mind. Therapy is centred on us thinking about what is disturbing you, it is a catalyst for loosening what's stuck and freeing you to move on.
I provide short-term counselling for fast, focused work with a specific issue in mind. This might be relevant for you if you have never had therapy before or a recent event is troubling you. Examples of this work are six sessions, to adapt to moving to Oxford from overseas; to come to terms with a relationship breakdown, or to begin processing a traumatic experience with EMDR.
I also work with long-term clients using existential and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The aim is to get to the root of the problem and resolve it at that level. To extricate oneself from painful, destructive or untrue ideas is liberating work. When old wounds heal, you are free to move on and become a more clear-eyed and better-equipped adult. Unhealthy habits and destructive relationship patterns tend not to have the same allure once you have demystified them and defused their emotional charge.
check if my practice is the right place for you.
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Narcissistic parenting survivor, 2023
Bullying survivor, 2023
Trauma client, 2019
Bereavement client, 2017
About Me
My name is Anneli Nilsson, I am a UKCP accredited psychotherapist and counsellor. In the 1990s, I qualified as a psychologist and later trained in integrative counselling and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. More recently, I trained in trauma treatment, I am an EMDR Therapist. Some of the issues I have worked with are:
- Divorce, loss, and grief
- Boarding school syndrome
- Depression, including bipolar
- Trauma treatment - with EMDR
- Cancer, illness, and life appraisal
- ASD, ADD and ADHD recognition
- Childhood sexual abuse & healing
- Sexuality, intimacy, safety, and shame
- Stress, anxiety, jealousy, and paranoia
- Work & study - obstacles and choices
- Loneliness, relocation, and adjustment
- Recovery, resolution, and self-possession
- Relationships problems - neglect and abuse
I work with individual adults, not couples or children. If you are interested in couples therapy, you can find qualified practitioners at COSRT.
Appointments & Fees
Appointments are available between 9:30–18:30, Monday to Friday. Counselling sessions last for fifty to sixty minutes and take place on the same day and at the same time each week. After work appointments are the most popular, particularly the last one at 17.30, so if you can get to a lunchtime or afternoon session it is more likely we will be able to start quickly. If you need an evening slot, do still get in touch as people move on and slots become available. A psychotherapy session costs £65.
Mode of Therapy
Face-to-face counselling sessions are available in Stanton St. John. Encrypted online video and telephone sessions are also available via Zoom and WhatsApp.
For some people being on camera is helpful and for others it is a distraction. Telephone sessions are straightforward and they tend to create a quiet, focused atmosphere for thinking together. Face-to-face is a fuller and more reassuring mode - particularly if you feel emotionally volatile, or fragile. However, for those with social anxiety or troubling self-consciousness, remote sessions might feel like the safest way to start therapy. Remote sessions tend to be favoured by people with busy schedules or who prefer not to travel to sessions. I am guided by clients on which type of therapy is the best for them.
Location
Stanton St. John is a peaceful village north-east of Oxford. It is two miles beyond the city boundary at Headington and a few miles away from Wheatley. Most people travel to the village by car. However, there are quiet cycle lanes and walking paths from surrounding towns and villages. The village is on a hill (100 m) above Oxford, so cycling from Oxford includes some stiff climbs.
The newly reinstated 108 bus runs to the village from Bicester, Beckley, Blackthorn, Boarstall, Headington, Horton-cum-Studley, Forest Hill, Langford, Piddington and central Oxford. The 400, X20 and H5 buses stop within (cross-country) walking distance from the village.
Counselling for Headington, Islip, Wheatley and Worminghall locals is particularly convenient, the village is around ten minutes drive away. Thame, Great Milton and Brill are a fifteen-minute drive away.
EMDR
This is a NICE recommended treatment for PTSD such as chronic bullying, domestic violence, childhood abuse or growing up with a severely mentally unwell parent. Beyond the childhood and domestic realms, psychological trauma can occur while working in the humanitarian, medical, police, and armed services professions. EMDR treatment can help restore one's sense of professional confidence and competence.
EMDR can help with a range of other psychological problems such as anxiety, dissociation, and depression. If you are interested in having a short, focused therapy to deal with troubling experiences, this might be the counselling route for you. I use this counselling technique in my work, it is integrated with talking therapy.
If you would like to know how EMDR works neurologically, take a look at Stanford Neuroscientist, Dr Andrew Huberman's, explanation.
Books
I have lent many books to clients, here are the ones that people found most illuminating,
Wildhood by Natterson-Horowitz & Bowers (2020) explores adolescence — the transition from childhood to competent adulthood. For people who don't feel 'grown-up', this book provides a benchmark for checking what growth might have been missed.
Being Mortal by Gawande (2014) is a sensitive, perceptive and informative book on getting old and dying. Gawande is a medic so he adds a clear-eyed view of the end of life. This book can be grounding if you, or someone you love, is dying.
A Women in Your Own Right (2016) was first published in 1982 and has been republished numerous times as it is a classic assertiveness self-help book. If you have trouble setting boundaries or dealing with conflict, this kind and informative book might help.
Medito meditation app
Medito is a free mindfulness app that I recommend to clients. It includes a sleep section with sounds, stories & meditations to help you drift off. There are hundreds of sessions to choose from (and a choice of narrators), including breathing exercises, body scans, walking meditations, and sessions to help you deal with stress, anxiety, pain and low-mood.
If you are new to therapy, or it's been a while since you focused on your mind, a helpful Medito exercise is 'Observing the observer'. Its intent is to turn your attention inward so that you calmly watch your mind without interrupting the flow of thoughts, feelings, and sensations that pass through. It's a bit like watching clouds drift across the sky without getting engaged in any of them, just letting them drift by. This exercise cultivates the same self observation as psychotherapy. This mental skill is useful because it is the basis for being able to choose which thoughts to engage with and which ones to let go.
Health Insurance
I can provide counselling via Bupa health insurance scheme. You can find my counsellor profile on Bupa Finder. Before getting in touch, do check that your policy covers treatment with a counsellor or psychotherapist. You will need Bupa's authorization before arranging counselling with me, and details of how many sessions you are permitted. If your policy permits it, it is sensible to ask for twenty sessions as this should allow plenty of time to work on what is troubling you.
In order to book sessions funded by Bupa, you will need to provide me with your, Bupa membership number; date of birth; postcode, and details of the excess you have to pay.
More Information
If you are nearby in Islip, Kidlington, Thame or any of the surrounding villages and would like to know more about my practice such as how to begin, what happens in the holidays or the psychotherapy I offer have a look at the Questions? section. My academic and clinical qualifications are detailed on the About Anneli area, they are validated by the UKCP, which is the main psychotherapist validating institution in the UK.
If you are unsure whether to talk with a psychotherapist or counsellor, have a look at the Resources section, you will find links to websites that aim to improve mental health. It can be reassuring to take a tour around these websites as they provide a calm overview of some of the main problems that trouble people and information about getting better.
could be the first step towards feeling better.
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