John Castleford @Life-Minded, MA, ARCHTI

Online therapist: SE Ireland, Birmingham and worldwide.

Welcome

Asking for help is a sign of strength.

If you are looking for guidance with anxiety, worry, fears, trauma/PTSD, or just emotionally draining stress, it takes courage to ask for help. The first step toward achieving wellness in a fast-paced, demanding world is facing up the problem. And if you’ve been unable to devise a solution, asking for help rather than persevering on your own is a good way to move on.

Many therapists focus on what is “wrong” and use ‘referring issues’ as the starting point. However, there is now strong evidence that deep personal introspection when we are emotionally not at our best, guided or not, tends to keep the pain of the past very much in the present.  I base my approaches on the very latest findings from neuroscience, and my starting point is often the time when you were at your best, and experiencing high points in your life;  by recalling those we not only recreate the memory of the past event but also recreate how we felt at that time.  Memories of how we felt are tagged to memories of events!  And that enables us to reconfigure changes, so the event is tagged from how we want to feel rather than what we don’t.  This brings positive rather than negative feelings from the past into the present–and that is a great place from which to begin work.

In our prehistoric past, we evolved to run from danger, and for 200,000 years it worked well. But the modern mind perceives countless stressful situations, all day, every day–and although we may be living in modern times our brains haven’t evolved to keep pace. They are very good at helping us to survive, by constantly alerting us to possible threats. But that’s not a recipe for an emotionally optimal life.

Understanding ways to better cope in the world is greatly influenced by how we see the world.  My background in Anthropology enables me to offer insights into how best to develop a fresh perspective so you can become not just more resilient, but able to move from floundering to flourishing. Why stop at just coping with stress? Why not use that stage to thrive, rather than merely survive?

Let me give you the very best support you deserve, so you can become the very best version of you.


Please contact me to schedule a free initial consultation.

+44 7597 232 000 or +353 852 683 153     |     Send Email

Schedule an Appointment

I look forward to helping you make the first step toward your well being.


Helping you to thrive…

blueberries

Positive perspectives, the latest insights from neuroscience (particularly in relation to neuroplasticity), combined with mind coaching and the best aspects of psychotherapy collective comprise a set of superb resources to provide you with the necessary support and training to not only overcome the challenges you face but move beyond them, so you can be who you always were meant to be before ‘life’ threw a few obstacles in your path.

As an experienced therapist, it is my honour to assist you in exploring your core issues so you can move toward a healthy, fulfilling life. Utilizing a variety of approaches including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy,  Compassion Focus Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Existential Therapy,  and Rational-Emotive Therapy, I will work with you to create a treatment plan that is customized to meet your unique circumstances. If you are familiar with the Hellenic philosophy of Stoicism, on which REBT and CBT are based, you will be pleased to know that I utilise key elements of Stoicism in my sessions. For example, some things are up to us and some things aren’t; so knowing what is and what is not under our control helps us to focus our energy and endeavours more effectively.

I will work with you with honesty and compassion to create an open and totally confidential supportive dialogue; you need not share anything you wish to keep to yourself: you know how you feel, and how you would rather feel. The goal of our sessions together will be to help you develop the skills, fortitude and perspectives needed for a successful, flourishing life.

Think about five people you really care about…and ask yourself if you are on that list. What’s your relationship with yourself? I can help you develop the skills needed for self-compassion and well-being which will allow you to become the best possible version of who you could possibly become.

“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”

– Marcus aurelius: note to self

Websites for Therapists by TherapyTribe