Make changes for the better

Today's world seems to be full of woe and despair; politics, the state of the world and society's expectations of us can be hard to bear sometimes. On top of that we have all the covert and overt messages that our care-givers bestowed upon us whilst we were growing up. 

We sometimes handle this through depression and anxiety.  They can leave us feeling isolated, unable to cope and lacking hope for the future. We can help you explore your feelings and work with you to form personal strategies that will form the building blocks to wellness.

Today's world can make us believe we should be different- be better, look better,  or achieve more. It can be hard to meet new people and we can feel the strain of competition and judgement. 

If your confidence needs a boost we can help you. 

You may have many goals you would like to reach in your life, but your lack of confidence is stopping you from going forward. Discover what your inner voice is telling you and how you can start telling ourselves 'I can!'

Relationships are the backbone to humanity. Whether romantic, family, friendships or work colleagues, we all need to be able to connect and feel worthy of others love and attention; to feel we can truly be ourselves and accepted as such.  We need to be able to get through difficult times without going under or off the rails. 

Difficulties and recurring patterns within relationships can have a huge knock on effect on our sense of wellbeing. We can help you explore the issues and develop new ways of looking at and behaving in the relationship. 

Whilst much of modern society now accepts sexual individuality it is still not always easy to truly be able to be yourself if you don't fit into "the norm". You may have had a positive HIV test and are struggling with your diagnosis or are anxious about having the test. You may be confused about your sexuality or are engaging in risky sexual activities. 

We offer a discreet, confidential service to help explore these issues, allowing for a deeper understanding of yourself and what you are facing. We will help facilitate strategies to help you go forward in life with greater insight, self care and acceptance.

If certain behaviours are ruling your life and affecting your relationships and ability to live a free life, you may be under the grips of an addiction. Whether alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, gaming, shopping or love we are able to help you address the demons if you want to. Whilst the thought of giving this addiction up may be scary you will never be free whilst it has charge of you. Thousands of people do exactly this every year and gain control of their lives again. 

At Blackwood we are privelleged to have a renowned addiction specialist in our team- see Frances Lickerish bio in' meet the team'. Francis can work with you to help you uncover the possible reasons for your addiction and support you through to recovery.

Trauma is often associated with activities of war, distressing accidents , being raped or mugged, etc. but it can also refer to difficult events in childhood. Thousands of people each year grow up and live in abusive relationships or regularly witness  distressing events- severe rows, alcoholic  or violent parents, or have to live with care-givers who were emotionally unavailable to them. This is all abuse and has a detrimental effect on the well-being of the child and their ability to grow into emotionally resilient, strong and confident adults.

We have a resident trauma specialist who can work with you either using traditional techniques or by a technique called EMDR  (Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing). This is a highly successful technique that cognitively reprogrammes the way the brain has stored the trauma and changes the physiological  responses to current triggers.