Psychological Therapist

Psychotherapy & Counselling using the Human Givens in
The Listening Room

• Why?

  • Are you in emotional pain?
  • Is life complicated or confusing?
  • Do you feel anger, grief or anxiety?
  • Are you depressed, or insomniac?
  • Do you have negative thoughts, or obsessions?
  • Do you have flashbacks, or memories that upset you?
  • Are you experiencing PTSD?
  • Do you have addiction issues?

  If your answer is Yes' to any of these questions, then contact Annie Gurton annie@cix.co.uk

  To understand more about Human Givens, listen to one of the originators, Joe Griffin, talk to a group of Diploma Students.

• About Therapy

  

  If everything is going well in your life, in yourself and you are satisfied with everything, there is no need for therapy.

  But if you have a problem, therapy is a process in which someone acts as a catalyst and observer, helping you to see things more clearly for yourself.

  In no way does the therapist cure' or fix' anyone. A session is just a situation when another person acts as a facilitator or guide, helping the client to see their own stuff from another perspective.

  If life is not going well, your unconscious usually lets you know. First by whispering it in your ear, through dreams, next by kicking your arse, through the repetition of unconscious and unpleasant conflicts, feelings or actions, and finally by pulling the rug out from under you, and you can end up in hospital. Some people end up in prison or on the streets because they have not been able to deal with their problems or issues.

  There are many theoretical approaches to psychotherapy. The form known as Human Givens is particularly non-intrusive and non-voyeuristic. The therapist does not need to know the details of whatever your memories hold, or whatever you have experienced in the past. In Human Givens, the therapist utilises resources that are, as far as we know, fairly unique to human beings: a long-term memory, intelligence, a rational mind and your imagination. People often get unwell when their imagination runs out of control, and helping you to understand your thoughts can sometimes be all that is required.

  All sessions are always confidential. The therapist forgets anything they hear in the room as they leave it after the session. The only exception is if they hear anything which could put a child under 16 at risk, in which case the therapist is obliged by law to tell someone.

  The therapist aims to get you back to happy, healthy living as quickly as possible. Sometimes one session is enough, sometimes it takes a few sessions, some people need more. But the therapist, once they have started with a client, will be there for you for as long as YOU feel the need. You can stop anytime you want, but the therapist will always be there for you.

  Annie Gurton lives six months in the UK and six months abroad. If you need her when she is not physically in your area, you can always email her for an online session. This method of using technology to provide counselling has proved highly effective for motivated and committed clients.

  For more information please contact annie@cix.co.uk

• Human Givens

  What are the Human Givens?

  

  We are all born with innate knowledge programmed into us from our genes. Throughout life we experience this knowledge as feelings of physical and emotional need. These feelings evolved over millions of years and, whatever our cultural background, are our common biological inheritance. They are the driving force that motivates us to become fully human and succeed in whatever environment we find ourselves in. It is because they are incorporated into our biology at conception that we call them 'human givens'.

  Given physical needs: As animals we are born into a material world where we need air to breathe, water, nutritious food and sufficient sleep. These are the paramount physical needs. Without them, we quickly die. In addition we also need the freedom to stimulate our senses and exercise our muscles. We instinctively seek sufficient and secure shelter where we can grow and reproduce ourselves and bring up our young. These physical needs are intimately bound up with our emotional needs the main focus of human givens psychology.

  Given emotional needs: Emotions create distinctive psychobiological states in us and drive us to take action. The emotional needs nature has programmed us with are there to connect us to the external world, particularly to other people, and survive in it. They seek their fulfillment through the way we interact with the environment.

  Consequently, when these needs are not met in the world, nature ensures we suffer considerable distress anxiety, anger, depression etc. and our expression of distress, in whatever form it takes, impacts on those around us. People whose emotional needs are met in a balanced way do not suffer mental health problems. When psychotherapists and teachers pay attention to this they are at their most effective. In short, it is by meeting our physical and emotional needs that we survive and develop as individuals and a species. There is widespread agreement as to the nature of our emotional needs. The main ones are listed below.

  Emotional needs include:

  • Security safe territory and an environment which allows us to develop fully
  • Attention (to give and receive it) a form of nutrition
  • Sense of autonomy and control having volition to make responsible choices
  • Being emotionally connected to others
  • Feeling part of a wider community
  • Friendship, intimacy to know that at least one other person accepts us totally for who we are, warts 'n' all
  • Privacy opportunity to reflect and consolidate experience
  • Sense of status within social groupings
  • Sense of competence and achievement
  • Meaning and purpose which come from being stretched in what we do and think.

  Along with physical and emotional needs nature gave us guidance systems to help us meet them. We call these 'resources'.

  The resources nature gave us to help us meet our needs include:

  • The ability to develop complex long term memory, which enables us to add to our innate knowledge and learn
  • The ability to build rapport, empathise and connect with others
  • Imagination, which enables us to focus our attention away from our emotions, use language and problem solve more creatively and objectively
  • Emotions and instincts
  • A conscious, rational mind that can check out our emotions, question, analyse and plan
  • The ability to 'know' that is, understand the world unconsciously through metaphorical pattern matching
  • An observing self that part of us that can step back, be more objective and be aware of itself as a unique centre of awareness, apart from intellect, emotion and conditioning
  • A dreaming brain that preserves the integrity of our genetic inheritance every night by metaphorically defusing expectations held in the autonomic arousal system because they were not acted out the previous day.
  

  It is such needs and tools together that make up the human givens, nature's genetic endowment to humanity.

  Over enormous stretches of time, they underwent continuous refinement as they drove our evolution on. They are best thought of as inbuilt patterns biological templates that continually interact with one another and (in undamaged people) seek their natural fulfilment in the world in ways that allow us to survive, live together as many-faceted individuals in a great variety of different social groupings, and flourish.

  It is the way those needs are met, and the way we use the resources that nature has given us, that determine the physical, mental and moral health of an individual.

  As such, the human givens are the benchmark position to which we must all refer in education, mental and physical health and the way we organise and run our lives. When we feel emotionally fulfilled and are operating effectively within society, we are more likely to be mentally healthy and stable. But when too many innate physical and emotional needs are not being met in the environment, or when our resources are used incorrectly, unwittingly or otherwise, we suffer considerable distress. And so do those around us.

  For more information on Human Givens, please visit:

  • www.hgi.org.uk/
  • www.hgi.org.uk - Human Givens

  To understand more about Human Givens, listen and watch Joe Griffin

  To contact Annie please email annie@cix.co.uk

• About Annie

  

  I am a skilled and experienced Therapist and Counsellor, able to deal with many kinds of emotional and psychological troubles. My aim is to get you back to happy, healthy living as quickly as possible and not to engage you in long term therapy, if possible.

  I am a member of the Human Givens Institute (HGI), I hold the Human Givens Post Graduate Diploma (the HGI professional assessment of competence) and am a recognised Human Givens Therapeutic Practitioner (HG. Dip.P.). I am currently working towards the MA in Human Givens therapy. I am a member of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) and follow its ethical guidelines of respect and confidentiality. I am also a member of the BABCP (British Association of Behavoural Cognitive Psychotherapy). I hold a BA (Hons) degree in Humanities, and am currently studying for a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology. I am a member of The British Psychological Society (BPS). I am also a Member of the European Therapy Studies Institute.

  My therapy is guided by the concepts, principles and methodologies of Human Givens, which is a solution-focussed, goal-orientated, person-centred brief approach to therapy. It is a combination of proven old and modern techniques and theories, integrating ancient yogic practices and psychotherapeutic theories, the most modern understandings of how the brain works and our fundamental emotional needs and resources. You can find out more about Human Givens by clicking on http://www.hgi.org.uk

  I bring to each session many years of life experience. I have been married four times, I have an adult son and step-children, I have had over 20 years experience as a journalist and writer, I have been an entrepreneur and a business-person, worked in many jobs and travelled extensively. I have been round the block a few times. I find that I have personal experience of many problems which clients present to me, including grief, anger, anxiety, depression, obsession and addiction, and much more besides. I have lived life and experienced many relationships and friendships, experienced life's ups and downs, and find that I can relate to my clients' temporary difficulties.

  Hence my saying: You can't tell me anything that I haven't heard before ...' so please feel that you can come to me to talk about anything that is troubling you, or your feelings. I am here to help you.

  I am based in two places: From mid-October to mid-April I live abroad.

  From mid-April to mid-October, I am based in Penzance, Cornwall.

  I am available for Therapy sessions in the UK between April and October each year, and offer support by email at any time.

  

  It is important to understand that Human Givens Therapy does not usually involve long-term sessions. Rather, I will see someone twice, three or six times, depending on the problem, and once the client is feeling better, I will remain in the background, like a doctor or a dentist, until the next time the client needs help. Then, they can come back to me and we can avoid the process of taking historical information again. Each session lasts from 60 to 90 minutes. I also work with clients who have complicated and complex problems, and suffer from more than one problem, such as depression AND anxiety, and OCD, and anything else as well. For these clients more sessions may be required, but the same principle applies: I aim to get you back to happy healthy living as quickly as possible, and am committed to keeping therapy brief.

  A typical session will start with me listening to your situation and feelings, asking some questions, and then talking you through a relaxation with visualisation and perhaps some metaphorical work. It is highly effective, does not dwell on the past and helps you move forward. I have some excellent results and a high success rate. One of the fundamental principles of Human Givens is that clients should leave even the first session feeling better than when they arrived.

  p>Previous clients who are now living calm, contented lives came to me experiencing one or more of the following issues: bereavement, abuse, domestic violence, addiction, eating disorders, anxiety, depression, personality disorders, PTSD, OCD, bipolar/manic depression, Asperger's Syndrome, borderline personality disorders, and overall feelings of poor mental health.

  To contact me please email annie@cix.co.uk

• Journalism & The Media

  

  As a veteran of over 20 years as a Journalist, Editor and Media Trainer, I am available to write features and articles on Emotional health, Stress, PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, Grief, Addition and other psychological well-being issues, including general features on Counselling and Therapy. Please email me to discuss your requirements. I can provide references to attest to the quality of my writing and my ability to meet deadlines with reliable copy.

  As the author of Press Here!, a book on how to deal with the Media for maximum publicity, I am also available for advice and training on media relations.

  Purchase a copy of Press Here!

Contact Details

You can always contact me by email, using the button at the top right of the screen. Please tell me about yourself and how you heard of me. Annie.

annie@cix.co.uk