Welcome to my website. My name is Helen Frost and I offer Integrative Psychotherapy In Bath, Somerset. You may have a clear idea of what you is causing you difficulty, or you may need the time in therapy to explore what is going on for you. What brings people to therapy varies, and by having a look around my website you can get a feel for whether this could be helpful to you.
You may be feeling anxious and overwhelmed, you may feel low and despairing, or you may be confused about what you are feeling, but know that you could be living a better life. Wherever you are starting from, I am passionate about psychotherapy as a means to find more fulfilling ways of living.
Starting therapy can take courage – when life is tough it takes strength to try something new, so thank you for visiting my website and taking the first step towards finding what you need. My aim is to offer a safe, professional, confidential space for you to explore what is going on for you, without judgment. Feel free to get in touch here if you would like to explore working with me further. Finding the right therapist can be confusing and daunting, and it is important you find someone you can feel comfortable talking to. I always offer a no-obligation initial session, so that we can see if we are a good fit.
Who I Work With
I work with adults seeking individual therapy in Bath and online. I work with a wide range of issues, including low mood and depression, anxiety and overwhelm, trauma, grief, attachment and relational issues and many more. I have particular interest in working with trauma, anxiety and attachment and relationship issues. Below, I give you a feel for psychotherapy in Bath with me and on the following pages I give more detailed information about my work with trauma and my use of EMDR, anxiety and attachment and relationship issues.
My in-person work is accessible to people living and working in Bath, as well as being within easy reach of surrounding towns such as Frome, Radstock, Trowbridge as well as villages such as Midford, Freshford, Winsley, Bradford-on-Avon, Paulton. I work with some clients online too, who may not be able to attend in-person therapy in Bath.
How Psychotherapy Works
Psychotherapy works at depth. Through guided self-exploration, you will gain a deeper understanding of your internal world, developing greater insight into what shapes you and inhibits you. Change happens as your internal relationship with yourself grows, alongside the development of your relationships with others.
You may wish to focus on your life now, your experiences in the past or your hopes for your future.
In exploring you life now, we will pay close attention to the way you experience things and the emotions you feel. You may be feeling overwhelmed, finding yourself reacting strongly to situations without fully understanding why. We can work together to develop your capacity to hold these emotions and keep yourself grounded and able to act intentionally. Alternatively, you may be finding life has little colour or emotional range and we can explore why this might be and what you might need in order to access a wider, richer experience. Taking a psychodynamic approach, we will build insight into the causes of current difficulties and process what has happened in the past. We will consider how these patterns are affecting you now – noticing the impact on your everyday life – your thoughts, feelings, behaviours and relationships.
You may have an idea of what you hope for in the future, how you wish to live in the world going forwards. We can work together to explore what’s getting in the way of moving towards this future. We may expand your sense of your life and look for guidance from your values, beliefs and hopes.
What Therapy With Me Is Like
As an integrative therapist, I draw on different models, theories and ideas to find what works for you and what resonates, rather than holding a fixed set of beliefs I try to convince you of. I draw on theories that look at the formative early years and first relationships to help understand your feelings and experiences now. I draw on relational theories that support me in using our therapeutic relationship to create a ‘safe space’ for you to to notice what impacts you and to recognise what is helpful and what is not. I use embodied practices to pay attention to our bodily sensations and the physiological reality of our lives. I draw on ideas of understanding ourselves as having different ‘modes’ or ‘parts’ that come into play at different times, sometimes causing inner confusion. It is important to me to ground my work in physical reality, to have a grasp of how our nervous systems work and to pay attention to what your nervous system needs to regulate. I am constantly learning, layering up my skills and knowledge from different ideas out in the world and from my clients.
I am guided by you in sessions, following your lead on what feels important to you each week, whether that is exploring your past, current issues, or hopes and plans for the future. I follow your pace, though I may at times encourage some slowing down if I think that it could be helpful to explore something at more depth.
I remain active in noticing key themes that come up repeatedly and noticing links between your experiences, at times asking questions to encourage you further into your experiences or suggesting hypotheses around what might be going on for you under the surface, always guided by you whether these feel like they are helpful or not.
As a trauma-informed therapist, it is of paramount importance how you feel in sessions with me, and I stay alert to your communication, body language, pace and emotional state and support you to remain grounded and present. We may explore together what helps if you become anxious or shutdown, using breathwork, relaxation and visualisation strategies as well as adjusting the pace and tone of our sessions as we go.
My Qualifications & Experience
I have an MA in Humanistic, Integrative Psychotherapy from the Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling and I began working in private practice in 2017.
I am also trained to use EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and use these techniques within an integrated, relational framework. I am a member of the EMDR Association UK.
Prior to this work, I have worked as a professional in many different health, mental health, educational and care contexts, always drawn to connection with people and supporting them to find strength in situations that bring challenge.
I have many years experience working with people who are neurodivergent, and have a strong understanding of different communication styles, processing styles and sensory differences and am open to making adjustments to my practice to improve the therapeutic effectiveness for each individual.
Next Steps
If what I offer feels like it could be helpful to you, you are welcome to get in touch. Go to my Contact page or use the details below to get in touch. This page also provides practical information such as my fee, location, regularity of sessions etc.
Once you have got in touch, we will then work out a time that works for us and I will offer an initial session to explore what is going on for you, what you are looking for and to explain what I offer and to see if psychotherapy with me could be helpful. If we work together, it is important that you feel comfortable, so this gives you a chance to get a feel for working together and whether we are ‘a good fit’.
email: helenfrost77@hotmail.com
tel: 07947868975
