Individual and Group Therapies

During their stay at the Clinic patients will undertake individual and/or group therapy sessions. Sometimes community based treatment programmes will be established with brief in-patient or day patient care as an alternative to admission. Many patients undertake therapy on an outpatient basis or attend our therapy centre for group and individual work. The range of therapies on offer is expansive and our team of specialists will liaise closely with the patient's G.P. and other professionals who may be involved.

Counselling And Psychotherapy

Post-natal depression is very common and affects at least one in ten mothers. It can develop within the first two weeks or later. It is not uncommon for this to become evident many months later. If you have previously had mental health difficulties, pregnancy and childbirth may be a time of significant worry.

Here at the Eastbourne Clinic we recognise the importance of having time to reflect on emotional issues surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Whether it is confidential one-to- one time with a member of our nursing team or more specialist psychotherapeutic interventions, we can help you. As well as in-patient services, we can offer bespoke day patient and community based therapy. It may be that couple counselling could be of assistance. Just as parenthood can be anxiety provoking for new mothers, fathers too, may welcome the opportunity to talk.

During your stay with us, you will have the opportunity to undertake individual counselling and psychotherapy. We offer a range of different approaches from Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy (CBT) to Transpersonal and Humanistic approaches. Because all our therapies are tailored to meet individual needs, we can help you to explore your feelings in a way that suits you and most importantly, at a pace in which you feel comfortable.

For many, pregnancy and childbirth brings joy and excitement, but for others this can be a very difficult time. We recognise that depression, anxiety and post-natal difficulties can leave mothers feeling overwhelmed, emotional and sometimes filled with despair. Sometimes difficulties with bonding, confidence and self-esteem can lead to an extremely unhappy outlook. Having the opportunity to reflect on difficult feelings within the safety of a therapeutic relationship can really help. At the clinic we also run therapy groups for those who may wish to attend, and provide lots of assistance with parenting skills, as this can be a vital area where confidence may need to be developed. Developing more confidence and a happy, healthy outlook is our aim.

Because having a baby is such a significant life event, some may find pregnancy extremely anxiety provoking and may find it difficult to adjust to all the change. Pregnancy related depression is not uncommon. We recognise that problems from the past may also surface at this time, for example, obsessive compulsive disorder, sexual abuse and trauma, eating disorders and body image difficulties. Likewise, specific anxieties may surface around pregnancy or childbirth such as needle phobia or labour phobia (tocophobia) or birth trauma (PTSD). Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy (CBT) can be a great help with all these conditions.

The service at the Clinic has been developed over a number of years and is led by Steve Clifford, a Psychotherapist who specialises in Peri-natal mental health. He has over thirty years’ experience in the field of mental health and is a Senior Accredited Counsellor and Psychotherapist and an Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist.

As we see people with a very wide range of difficulties, it may be that you will want to contact us in the first instance by telephone or email to discuss your situation.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

The Eastbourne Clinic is able to offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for patients with a range of mental health problems. Our CBT therapists are accredited by the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies and are recognised by all major insurance companies. Practicing privileges at the Eastbourne Clinic allow for minimal waiting list unlike the NHS where the average waiting for CBT is 2-3 years.

Our therapists have a wealth of experience from practitioner, lecturer, writer and researcher in the field of CBT.

All Cognitive Behavioural (CB) interventions rest on the assumption that any of us may develop mental health difficulties if the meanings we give to specific events are sufficiently upsetting.

The CBT approach provides an empowering, person-centred and structured framework for collaborative working between practitioners and clients. The approach aims to enable clients to make better sense of their difficulties through a journey of personal discovery, and consider more useful ways of dealing with those difficulties.

For more information on referring to the clinic please contact us on 01323 430831 or complete our online enquiry form.