Inner Child Therapy
Dr Lesley Welch
Parks Inner Child Therapy
Your true self
Many people come to therapy saying something like...
"I know why I think and feel the way I do, but nothing is changing, I still feel stuck"
"I've had a lot of therapy before and I'm fed up of going over and over the same things with no real resolution, change, or closure"
"I don't want to go into detail about past events and memories, it's too painful to do so"
This can often lead to you feeling exhausted, like a failure, and like nothing is ever going to work or change.
This is where PICT excels. It uses visualisation to help individuals work through current problems and past painful memories in a gentle and effective way, without having to go over and over them, again and again.
PICT enables a person to 'move on' from past pain and unhelpful beliefs and allows them to be the person they were meant to be, had those difficulties not occurred.
How it works
PICT is a structured but flexible visualisation-based therapy model. It provides fast and long-lasting change, without the need to talk at length about difficulties or memories. It's gentle approach encorporates cognitive restructuring, transactional analysis and neuro-linguistic programming to achieve resolution.
PICT might be helpful for you if you have longstanding difficulties related to childhood trauma, abuse, less resourceful parenting, or other childhood related issues. Current difficulties might include depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, feeling not good enough, anger issues, feelings of guilt or shame, relationship issues, traumatic memories, unwanted behaviours, and other issues. You might have had therapy before, but still feel stuck with these difficulties and want an effective and efficient way of resolving the impact these issues have on you and your life.
PICT asserts that many of the problems we struggle to overcome are rooted in our unconscious mind. We might be consciously aware of some issue we have, but are unable to resolve it or change that behaviour. We can't rationalise our way out of it because it was developed when we were little, and adult reasoning wasn't available to us then. For example we hadn't developed the thinking skills needed to help us identify that if a parent is struggling with their own mental health and calls us names, doesn't provide us with the information, love and support we need, that it is because they are struggling in some way. With repeated incidents or perhaps one occasion if severely traumatic, a child cannot state, "Oh that's not about me, they are only saying/doing that because of their issues". Quite the opposite, the child will often blame themselves, think something is wrong with them, that it must mean they are not good enough, unlovable perhaps, and that they need to try harder or keep people at a distance or they will get hurt. These experiences then inform our beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world, and our behaviours.
PICT bridges the gap between these two worlds. It allows the adult conscious you, to connect with and provide information to the younger you, where hurt and pain is stored at the core, in your unconscious mind (what's really running the show). By providing information, love, and support to our inner child/our younger selves, we are able to release pain, rewrite mistaken beliefs we have about ourselves, and be the people we were meant to be. We can 'shake off the past', grow and start thriving instead of just surviving.
Sounds a bit weird right, it works!
What to expect
First we would chat to consider your needs and suitability. An initial assessment then allows us to gather more in-depth information about you and your life so far, including childhood, current problems, and therapy goals. This also provides the chance to off-load, should that be necessary.
We then start by collecting memory and problem lists which form the basis of much of our work together. We will consider what you want out of therapy in-depth, and what it would be like to achieve those goals/have that outcome.
Then we explore exactly how PICT works, how our beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world are developed; consider self-talk and very often the 'mask' we wear to 'get through' our day-to-day lives. Understanding this information is fundamental to our work.
You will make the first initial steps to connect with your inner child.
We will identify and remove any limiting and unhelpful beliefs you might have about yourself, that 'hold you back'.
Within our work, we will connect the adult today you with the inner child part of yourself, where hurt and core pain is stored. We will use visualisation techniques to help process and 'let go' of pain, unhelpful behaviors, and beliefs. Painful memories will no longer be so painful and 'in your face'.
Throughout the work we do, there will be opportunities for loss, anger, allergy, and phobia work. I am also able to offer change of state, sub-modality, parts work, and critical incident debriefing. Together we will engage in timeline work and consider your most resourceful self.
On your therapeutic journey, I will be your guide. Whatever arises on your journey we will manage together, and our ending will be carefully planned. Review sessions will be scheduled to see how you're 'getting on' after our main work has been completed. When your therapy work is completed you will be provided with a handbook to use as your life progresses, and should any 'new' issues arise, you will have the tools to manage those yourself.
“Hello, my name is Dr Lesley Welch. I'm a Chartered Counselling Psychologist, and Parks Inner Child Therapy Practitioner. Contact me to explore difficulties, develop understanding, awareness and experience long-lasting change.
Dr Lesley Welch
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