Mindfulness
Mindfulness is an evidence-based therapy that integrates the best of Eastern and Western Psychology and offers an unique and comprehensive skill set to treat a range of psychological conditions.Mindfulness forces us to become highly aware of the present moment. In the process we find that concerns about the past or future slip away, so it is a powerful way to work positively with clients experiencing anxiety or depression.
Annie uses a combination of techniques to help clients become more aware of what happens in every single moment, and how to control the thoughts that the mind creates.
Mindfulness is the intentional, accepting and non-judgmental focus of one’s attention on the emotions, thoughts and sensations occurring in the present moment. It is a kind of nonelaborative, nonjudgmental, present-centered awareness in which each thought, feeling, or sensation that arises in the attentional field is acknowledged and accepted as it is. It can be trained by meditational practices derived from Buddhism. To be mindful means moment to moment awareness of present events and also remembering to be aware of something or to do something at a designated time in the future. In practice, mindfulness is a way of paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally. It is bringing one’s complete attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis.
Mindfulness practice is being employed in psychotherapy to alleviate a variety of mental and physical conditions, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and in the prevention of relapse in depression and drug addiction. It has gained worldwide popularity as a distinctive method to handle emotions.
In a session with Annie, Mindfulness begins with awareness of the breath and the process of breathing. From this comes a wider awareness of the whole body, and what is happening in this moment in each part. While thinking and focussing on this, it is not possible for the client to think the anxious or depressive thoughts that have been causing emotional pain. By teaching the clients to have a mindfulness session, Annie is able to teach the clients to manage their own thinking and emotional difficulties.