I provide counselling support for people who are having a difficult time managing anxiety, depression, trauma, work related stress, those that self- harm and other mental health conditions.
I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist who supports women, men and families in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. I also provide an online therapy platform so that I can support people globally.
“I work with people who suffer from anxiety, have trouble sleeping or get stressed easily- there are many manifestations of stress and anxiety.”
“I work with people who have high stress at work and want to manage their work day, home life and create a more balanced lifestyle.”
“I work with people who feel down sometimes, but also who have severe depression and can’t seem to get over things quickly.”
“I work with people who would like to explore their sense of self, who they are and how they can become their greatest self.”
Would you like to learn how you can be more positive, happier in life and achieve goals to improve confidence? You don’t have to speak to a therapist just because you are in a crisis. Many people seek counselling to explore their sense of self, to explore existentialism, to reduce stress and to achieve more of a balanced life.
Using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Psychotherapy and/or Talk Therapy, together we can manage issues such as:
Jessica Valentine is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist who supports people within the local community and worldwide online. She offers online Skype therapy and face-to-face counselling in East Sussex, Brighton-Hove and London.
skype: JessValentine
follow her on FB and IG: @getwellbrighton @onlinetherapyhelps
Moving forward using all my breath. Sometimes that is what I feel like when I am trying to evolve and move forward in my life with people, my life and things in general. Many people are happy staying still. Some people are content staying still. You see, to me.. I think that staying still is very smelly and stagnant. It’s not like I am unsettled, or feeling anxious.. I am just ever evolving and growing. And, I am in touch with that. I am embracing that. I like change. I welcome change. Change is inevitable. We as human beings change every single day. Some people are not even aware of this phenomenon. But we are growing both physically and emotionally. Yes, we get to a point in our life where we are fully grown, but then we change shape and decline in our stature.
I unfortunately, painfully, am aware of my change. Every day, every moment, every time I fall into the rabbit hole. You see sometimes I feel this is a weakness. However, I know it is a great strength. This awareness is a great strength. I do not call myself a healer. But, I am someone who has been there. I have experienced so many things and I can be supportive and exhibit empathy. This is one reason I can help inspire people- I am aware of these changes in myself which gives me the strength to share them with other people.
We change all of the time whether you like it or not. But, why are relationships so difficult? Well, I can tell you one reason why… we all don’t change at the same time. Sometimes we can change together. But, sometimes someone changes first. We are all on a journey.. but on different speeds. That is what makes life so challenging sometimes.
These past 12 years living in England has brought me on a what might be called a super dooper magic carpet ride. I have made friends. And, lost friends. I have thought friends were my family. But, only found out they were toxic. I believed in others to help me to get through whatever it was I was feeling or not in touch with and that was totally wrong of me. I am sure I have hurt people because I had to move forward. I didn’t like the vibe we were in or they were exhibiting unhealthy behaviors for me and I was ready to move on. Let’s face it. Sometimes being stagnant is boring. It wasn’t easy, but I know it was the best thing for my family and for myself. People were very unkind to me and I had to let that hurt go and walk away from people who were not my ‘tribe’ or even ‘my people’. I was and am on my own journey and they were only holding me back so I had to let them go. Does this sound familiar? Have you ever experienced something like this?
These changes have been difficult for me as well. It is not easy moving forward with anchors at your feet only to drag you down when you are being pushed up, evolving and inflated up into the Universe. People can be quite jealous and also not happy for you when you are doing so well and working hard. It is such a shame that sometimes we as humans find it difficult to celebrate the small achievements in life eg. being a single parent and kicking ass, getting that raise, going back to school, getting through that tough time, making that move, being kind to someone who doesn’t deserve it, moving on etc.
It is not easy to push on through, break on through to the other side as Jim Morrison would say. You have family that may try to anchor you. You have friends that just do not ‘get’ you. But, it’s evolution that is only sustaining you. You are inevitably evolving and moving forward whether you like it or not; whether you are noticing it or not.
So, if you are evolving what and where will it take you?
I know for me I have always felt that I dance to a different beat to the drum. I have always felt unique and amazing for doing this. However, sometimes when life gets difficult and one gets lost or one is meandering… one may lose faith. It is totally okay to be yourself. It is totally okay to not follow the conformity of society. It is okay to follow your intuition and believe in yourself. Do it! Move forward. Move on. Let the past go. Let limited beliefs go. You are YOU now. You are not that small child anymore. You have moved on. Who is that person that you have grown into?
I guess it is difficult because shedding toxic people is a choice. Telling people how you feel is a choice. They more than likely will not like your response. They are not true friends. They are people who feed off of your energy and your charisma. It is fine to have friends like that, I am not judging. What I am saying is that we often have to make difficult choices to grow. It’s not just as easy as planting the seed and watching it grow. Sometimes we plant the seed and there is a massive hurricane and it doesn’t grow for years.
I have literally cleaned out three bags of clothes this week. I just think to myself, gosh, very gluttonous of me. This week I am ‘clearing’. I am clearing out every single part of my house, closet, loft, cupboard, and patio. It is time to ‘clear’ out and move forward.
That goes for the past. Letting go of EVERYTHING IN THE PAST! It is gone. Shed. I am not looking backwards anymore. Moving forward losing all my breath. The time has come to experience change. And, change wherever it may take me or you will be a positive thing.
I am making the difficult decisions to throw away family heirlooms that I thought once kept me grounded. Gone. I have held on to sentimental things thinking that those objects anchor me. Gone. No longer will I look back. Only forward. Only growth. Moving away from those that judge. Freedom.
What do you think about this? Would you ever do this? Go through all of your things and shed unwanted things in your home? In your life? In your filing cabinet? I challenge you to this! Can you do this? Do you have too much in your house? In your mind? In your heart? In your past?
Learn to breathe and let it all go. Now is the time.
Moving forward using all my breath. I am looking forward to the next few chapters that this #snowmoon has brought to all of us. I am slowly feeling more positive about this clearing out and all is slowly settling. That is the thing about change. Sometimes is creeps up on us when we aren’t looking and sometimes we will it and make the change. Either way let’s embrace it together. Because change is the Universe and the Universe will always provide. But, first believe in yourself. Because you are part of the Universe.
Jessica Valentine is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist who supports people within the local community and worldwide online. She offers online Skype therapy and face-to-face counselling in East Sussex, Brighton-Hove and London.
skype: JessValentine
follow her on FB and IG: @getwellbrighton @onlinetherapyhelps
Depending on what type of person you are, seeing others succeed can bring with it just as much joy and happiness as if you were the person it happened to. I think this is a big part of why certain sports can take over the nation.
When thinking about sports when I was younger, I always dreamt of what it would be like for two things to happen – Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, and England winning the World Cup. One of them has happened, twice, and the country found themselves within touching distance of another. Both of these created huge television viewing figures, and united the country, even just for a short time. But why was that?
It could be that both have not happened in a very long time – we had to wait over 70 years for a British man to win another Wimbledon singles title, and we’re still waiting over 50 years for England to win another World Cup. But when people become invested in these things happening, when they do, or expectations are at least exceeded, it creates a huge sense of pride, delight, and a new found happiness.
With the England (men’s) football team, it was a case of, in my opinion, expectations being well and truly walked over. A semi-final in a World Cup was beyond probably everyone’s expectations, but it made the country, largely, happy. England also had a manager that people believed in again, with a hashtag on twitter and a day named in honour of his fondness for waistcoats. The scenes where goals were scored saw thousands of people scream in elation that the dream could possibly come true.
Seeing other people succeed in our own lives can also bring with that happiness; a family member or a friend, a work colleague, or even a friend of a friend you don’t know very well – hearing about and seeing people succeeding in their goals can only be a good thing, surely? And even if it isn’t, in the long run it can hopefully allow us to all believe in ourselves, and that hard work pays off in the long run.
Sarah Keeping MBPsS MSc PgDip GDip BA (Hons) Follow Sarah on twitter at @keepingapproach
Jessica Valentine is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist who supports people within the local community and worldwide online. She offers online Skype therapy and face-to-face counselling in East Sussex, Brighton-Hove and London.
skype: JessValentine
follow her on FB and IG: @getwellbrighton @onlinetherapyhelps
