Please note that I use the words "counselling services London", "psychotherapy London", "psychotherapeutic counselling in London" & "talking therapy" and also "London counsellor", "London psychotherapist", "psychotherapeutic counsellor" & "talking therapist" interchangeably. I am trained & accredited as a counsellor, psychotherapist & talking therapist and I am happy to discuss their differences with you.
Counselling & Psychotherapy considers:
Stuck In The Past, Present Or Future Most of us daydream, think about the past and imagine or yearn for our future - trying to control it. Fear of dying may also play a role for some. We may also have grief for what has happened in the past. Lost in disappointment, future speculations or fantasies, we may overlook what is happening now, in the moment, as if echoes from our past & future scenarios, hopes, desires, fears, etc. cloud our presence & who we are now. All this looking forward or backward (maybe dwelling on our past) can stop us living and acting now, as if we are waiting for life to start. Yet some of us may only want to experience the present, that everything is only about now & so immediate - what we so preciously feel in each moment. We may act on any impulse we have, struggling to reflect on our past or present experiences, have perspective or think about our future aspirations (see also Stress, Fear, Anxiety). It can be a conscious challenge to decide where to put our attention, be with our self in the present moment, reflecting on our past and thinking about our future & potential when we need to.
Remembering - Choosing How We Look Around Us Now, How We Look Back & Ahead When looking back we may choose to do so with regret, guilt or with some appreciation. When we remember things, it can be as if we are re-remembering them often connecting & building layers upon layers to the last time we remembered this, and as we re-account things, look on, the narrative changes. What happened, has happened, yet through the passage of time how we narrate our story of what happened may slightly shift or erode, as may the quality & strength of emotions attached to our story. As we re-tell our narration about things that have happened, it can be as if we are also adding to the story of our self, forming a part of our identity, especially when we have a lot of emotion invested. For some this can be an enriching experience, yet for others not so. We may link our identity to our memories, as if this is all of who we are, yet as we remember things, are able to reflect. This sense of our self reflecting can be explored in the counselling & psychotherapy. Our memory can also be influenced by our current emotions & moods, as our beliefs & emotions change, so too may the story we tell to ourselves. Sometimes we may want to remember things, which portray us in a certain light. Memories of our past may also influence how we look into our future, imagining it, as we speculate what may happen and then living it. For some it can seem as if we are the actor in our own play, as if we are adhering to some sort of script for our future. Not only does the script about our past get edited, so too do we have the potential to change our future script, by the decisions we make and when we are in touch with the sources of our motivation, some of them previously unconscious. Looking ahead, we can do so with fear, hope or purpose. How we look around us now, in the present moment, we may for example choose to blame or accept things as they are, and looking ahead to our future, viewing our present & future as unknown, open, spotless. (See also Our Perceptions & Attitude)
Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.
Being Connected To Who We Are In Relationship To Our Present Situation, Past, Future Counselling & psychotherapy provides a space for these aspects to be explored further, offering support in understanding your present situation & the impact of your past, so you are empowered to consciously create a different future (freer of the need to control it) in each moment, without necessarily ruminating about your past or future. The therapy can support our connection to our past, present & future potential, other people & the wider world. How connected we are to our self - who we are in our own ground, not just reacting to our past, present or future worries, may be important. It may now also be important for us to take responsibility for who we are, what we've done, who & how we want to be. Being connected to ourselves and others may be important for us (see also Aloneness, Loneliness, Alienation).
Connecting Consciousness To Our Past, Present, Future Making connections, linking our present to our past & future potential may be important. When we do this, for some it can seem as if time concertinas. Sometimes our previous experiences & associated feelings can be experienced in the present time, as if we were back there, now. As if seeing things through a telescope, memories of what we saw, felt like, looked like, what was happening, can be evoked seemingly as if we are looking back, re-living, replaying those situations again even evoking sights, smells, sounds, etc. Perceptions of time can blur as we sense & reflect upon who & how we are now. Our consciousness evolves, it unfolds, expands into our field of awareness. Our unconscious is also timeless, it is more of a space. And in this different space or sense of timelessness it can be as if we are on the bridge between the unconscious & conscious, waking up to something emerging. In moments it can be as if our present, past & future merge into one (where we are now, how this relates to our past, what might be emerging & transforming for us), and the therapy takes these conscious & unconscious aspects of us into consideration. Our imaginary & creative world may expand. Feeling different in our body, we may experience heightened perceptions & senses, a different quality to what we notice, see, hear, touch, smell, taste & feel. We may experience moments of clarity, where everything comes together as one and has meaning, a rhythm or sense of peace. We can be aware of this sometimes (being conscious that we are conscious) and other times less so. And in this moment of time we may also be in touch with previously unconscious processes. This includes what's happening in our imagination, dreams (what they might mean or be saying to us), which may point to our future - what might be emerging for us. Some may become more aware of our personal consciousness at this point. We may sense a Love or Will that is beyond the personal. We may also be interested in the wider world - a collective or global consciousness or be drawn to a spiritual enquiry. Others, aware that we are all part of one whole, may be warmed by this and want to express this connection in their own gestures, however small.
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great floodNorman Maclean, "A River Runs Through It"
and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops.
Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
