Recognising mental health issues and then finding a counsellor sometimes isn’t an easy process. With this in mind, my website is designed to provide an understandable overview of the world of psychotherapy and counselling to help you take the first step towards a life of positive mental health. Resources Resources Introduction Welcome to my resource page, where you will find a variety of useful resources I have made available to all visitors to my website. I also have a library of Premium Resources that I use with, and make available to, my current clients. A list of these resources can be viewed here . When I begin working with a new client, I ask them to register to access my 'Client Hub'. Once approved, clients are able to access the Client Hub where they can update their personal information and access the library of Premium Resources. Whilst the Premium Resources are not accessible to non-clients, the freely available content I make available on this page will be managed and updated regularly, so bookmark this page and pop back soon! Resources Available To All Website Visitors CBT4 ABC Form A chart showing how it’s not the activating event that triggers the consequences but your beliefs. Download CBT5 ABC Belief Monitoring Similar to the ABC form, but a different layout you may prefer. Download CBT6 Changing - Benefits versus Costs A form when you’re considering a big change, assisting you to lay out the pros and cons of the situation. Download CBT8 Questions to Challenge Faulty Thinking A handout listing some of the ways we can challenge our 'faulty thinking' -- once we've established what faulty thinking is (unhelpful thinking). Download L1 Optimising the Therapy Hour A leaflet from me to you, with some suggestions as to how best to proceed once you’re in therapy. Download M1 The Brain and Change We live by habit when we’re no longer aware of what we’re thinking, doing, or feeling; we become unconscious. A handout on why change is so hard. Download M3 Body's Alarm System A handout on what happens when we are facing dangerous or frightening situations and why some peopl sometimes seem to overreact to stress. Download M6 Stress What stress is. Download M7 Body's Alarm System Information on how the body copes with stress. --- Q1 HADS Scale Questionnaire A questionnaire to help measure how anxious or depressed you are. Download Q4 Locus of Control Handout to help you discover how strongly you believe you have control over the situations and experiences that affect your life. Download TA5 OK/Not OK Matrix The positions or attitudes we take as a way of getting through our lives. Download New Book In her first book, psychotherapist Lynn Somerfield explores the subtle processes through which change begins to take root in our lives. Through reflection and insight, she considers how moments of awareness, courage, and compassion can gradually shape meaningful personal transformation Explore the Book Premium Resources for Registered Clients The list of Premium Resources shown below is accessible by my current clients via the Client Hub. Log In to Client Hub CBT1 Coping Self Talk for OCD Sufferers Once you’ve established some of your intrusive thoughts, the triggering situations and the associated faulty beliefs and thinking errors, you can begin to challenge these faulty ideas generated by your brain when it’s in OCD mode. CBT2 Challenging Faulty Beliefs A form to help when you are plagued by faulty thinking — this chart helps you measure the level of belief, label the type of faulty thinking that’s at play and to substitute it with a more helpful thought. CBT3 ABCDE Thought Record A CBT form to help you challenge your core beliefs once and for all. CBT7 Faulty Thinking A list of different types of thoughts which we can label as ‘faulty ‘because they’re not helping us to develop helpful behaviours. CBT9 Theory A Theory B Worksheet and Example A handout which can be useful when we need a new perspective on a challenging situation. L2 Privacy and Data Protection Statement My statement to clients outlining the framework to which I adhere in order to protect your privacy. L3 Dream Interpretation Guide 2018 A guide to dream interpretation using just one of the ways we can interpret our dreams. Freud said dreams are the royal road to the unconscious. Making a note of your dreams and bringing them along to your therapy session will prove extremely beneficial. M2 Feminine and Masculine Polarities A sheet with some adjectives to describe the difference between feminine and masculine ways-of-being; try to avoid the cry of ‘stereotyping’ — this needs a discussion to accompany it! M4 Cycle of Experience Gestalt A handout explaining the cycle of experience, which, when interrupted, is sometimes call 'unfinished business'. This handout will help when exploring and working with the ways you interrupt your own cycles of experience. M5 Masculine versus Feminine A sheet with some adjectives to describe the difference between feminine and masculine ways-of-being; try to avoid the cry of ‘stereotyping’ — this needs a discussion to accompany it! M8 Genograms A handout to help you draw your family genogram (an emotional and psychological family tree). Q2 Impact of Events Scale An brief questionnaire to measure how much a troubling or traumatic event has impact you. Q3 Modality Profile A questionnaire to help you explore your stronger and weaker modalities - behaviour, feelings, sensations, imagery and thinking. TA2 Stop The Drama Triangle An illustration of the so-called ‘Drama Triangle’ an unconscious psychological game in which we either play Victim, Rescuer or Persecutor - and how to stop it/get out of it! TA3 Drivers Behaviours we adapt in order to bring about a desired result from other people — can be positive or negative. TA4 Ego States Ego States are a consistent pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving. Parent, Adult and Child ego states and the interactions between them form the foundation of transactional analysis theory. TA6 Life Script Components A summary of the building blocks which comprise our life script, written before the age of seven and then unconsciously acted out for the rest of our lives, unless we make it conscious. TA7 Types of Script Written’ before the age of 7, our life script then goes unconscious and — because it’s not conscious — it rules the roost! Have a look at this handout to see what type of script you may have been acting out, all your life! We can change our script. TA8 Injunctions Injunctions are things we were told as children — verbally or non-verbally — that we must or must not do. These injunctions then become accepted unconscious rules which affect our adult lives. TA9 Life Script Development According to Transactional Analysis, by trial and error, during childhood (before the age of 7, we develop a 'life script' which is made up of certain building blocks. This life script - with a beginning, middle and end then goes into the unconscious and dictates how we live our lives. We can change it. TA10 Rackets A handout drawing on the Transactional Analysis model explaining how 'racket emotions' can be used to cover up feelings not favoured by your family or culture of origin. LIST-Premium Resources

Recognising mental health issues and then finding a counsellor sometimes isn’t an easy process. With this in mind, my website is designed to provide an understandable overview of the world of psychotherapy and counselling to help you take the first step towards a life of positive mental health. Thank You! Thank you for contacting me. I endeavour to respond to enquiries within 24 hours, however, if your enquiry is urgent, please phone me on 07762 738 238.

Recognising mental health issues and then finding a counsellor sometimes isn’t an easy process. With this in mind, my website is designed to provide an understandable overview of the world of psychotherapy and counselling to help you take the first step towards a life of positive mental health. Professional Psychotherapy and Counselling for adult individuals and couples across London and Bedfordshire Book an Initial Consultation Welcome Welcome to Lynn Somerfield Psychotherapy, providing therapy services across London and Bedfordshire. People seek support from a therapist for many different reasons. You may be struggling with anxiety or depression. Your relationship may be in trouble due to an affair, communication difficulties, or family stress. Perhaps you’ve experienced a bereavement or are coping with a serious illness. Maybe you struggle with OCD, and it’s affecting your relationships and work. Alternatively, you may be experiencing insomnia, panic attacks, or flashbacks related to a traumatic incident. You may have an eating disorder. Perhaps you find it difficult to form relationships with others. Perhaps you’re anxious in relationships, or too distant. Perhaps you have a problem with dependency on alcohol or drugs, maybe even an addiction. Believe it or not, none of these things is abnormal. They are the things that make us human! Recognising your own mental health issues and then finding a counsellor or psychotherapist is not always easy. I have designed this website with that in mind... On the following pages, you’ll find information to help you better understand psychotherapy, learn more about my background and training, and discover my approach to therapy. If there’s a topic I haven’t covered or you’d like to arrange an initial consultation, please contact me . I look forward to hearing from you. In her first book, psychotherapist Lynn Somerfield explores the subtle processes through which change begins to take root in our lives. Through reflection and insight, she considers how moments of awareness, courage, and compassion can gradually shape meaningful personal transformation Explore the Book Specialities As a transpersonal and integrative psychotherapist, I am able to support clients with a broad range of mental health worries. Below I have provided a summary of my primary specialist support areas. You can find more information by clicking through on the 'Learn More' buttons, or by simply contacting me . Abuse Issues Learn More Addiction or Dependency Learn More Anger Issues Learn More Anxiety Learn More Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Learn More Depression Learn More Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) Learn More Grief & Bereavement Learn More Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Learn More Panic Attacks Learn More Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Learn More Relationships Learn More Stress Learn More The Chakras Learn More Reach For A Helping Hand Take your first step toward positive mental health Book an Initial Consultation

The Secret Language of Symbols: Stars, Space and Earth Dreaming Amongst the Stars I recently dreamt that I was in space. I was surrounded by stars of every size and shape. There were shooting stars too, and the whole experience was surreal and breathtaking. At one point, I was explaining to someone what a supernova was. Then I was back on Earth, trying to describe how extraordinary it had been. I had been able to see the Earth from space and was pointing out the places I had seen on a map. As I did so, I accidentally tore off a piece of the planet. I think it was part of Italy. The dream came after I had attended a gathering where several people asked me about my work as a psychotherapist. I don't mind being asked. It's a source of fascination for many people - what goes on behind that closed door? But I always find these conversations difficult. Not because I do not know what I do, but because I rarely feel able to explain it in a way that does it justice. Trying to Explain the Inexplicable How do you describe psychotherapy at a social gathering? I can say that I listen. I can talk about helping people to understand themselves, work through difficult experiences, recognise old patterns and find different ways of living. All of that is true, but it still feels rather flat. It does not convey the experience of entering another person’s inner world. It says little about the dreams, images, wounds, defences and possibilities that emerge in the consulting room. Nor does it capture those moments when something that has remained hidden for years suddenly comes into view, or when a person begins to see that something which once seemed senseless may have had meaning after all. There can be long periods in therapy when very little seems to be happening. Then something shifts. An old identity begins to loosen. A forgotten feeling returns. A dream opens a door. Someone who has lived for years with shame begins, perhaps for the first time, to look upon herself with compassion. How can that be reduced to an answer shouted over laughter and music? The Symbolism of Stars In the dream, I had not merely read about space or studied a map of it. I had been there. I had stood among the stars and witnessed something vast, strange and beautiful. This felt rather like the experience of working closely with the psyche. Each person has an inner world of their own, with its particular atmosphere, history, mysteries and hidden life. Stars have long been associated with hope, guidance and destiny. As points of light in the darkness, they may suggest finding one’s way when the path ahead is unclear. They can also represent aspiration, the numinous, or the guiding light of the Self. Each star appears separate and yet belongs to something immeasurably larger. In dreams, they may be glimpses of consciousness shining out from the darkness of the unconscious. The stars in my dream were all different sizes and shapes. Perhaps they reflected the extraordinary variety of human beings, or the many forms that consciousness can take. There were shooting stars, and I was explaining to someone what a supernova is. A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is an ending, but not simply an ending. The star breaks apart and releases its material into space, where it may eventually contribute to the formation of something new. There is something in this that resembles the therapeutic process. At times, an old way of being has to break down before another can emerge. While it is happening, the experience may feel catastrophic. We lose our bearings and may no longer know who we are. Yet what feels like destruction may also be the beginning of transformation. In the dream, I understood this and could explain it. But explaining a supernova is not the same as witnessing one. The Map Is Not the World When I returned to Earth, I tried to communicate the wonder of what I had seen. I used a map. A map can point us in the right direction. It can name places, mark boundaries and help us to find our way. But it is not the living Earth. It cannot convey the smell of rain, the warmth of the sun or the feeling of standing on a hillside and looking out across the landscape. Psychological theories may be rather like maps. They can be enormously helpful. They give us a language and help us recognise familiar patterns. Jung, Freud, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis, attachment theory and the many other schools of psychotherapy offer different ways of understanding the terrain. But the theory is not the person. No description of therapy can fully communicate what happens between two people in a room, over time, when one is prepared to bring what is most painful, shameful or precious and the other is willing to stay with them. A map may help us to speak about the journey, but it cannot give us the experience of making it. Tearing Off Italy As I pointed out the places I had seen from space, I accidentally tore off a piece of the planet. This was the part of the dream that stayed with me most. It seemed to say something about the danger of trying too hard to explain. In trying to make the experience manageable, I damaged the very thing I was describing. Perhaps that is what I sometimes fear when talking about my work. The more I try to define it, the more I risk diminishing it. Something living becomes a neat explanation. Something mysterious becomes a method. The vastness of a person’s inner world is reduced to a few sentences. The fact that the piece torn away may have been Italy adds another layer. For me, Italy brings to mind art, beauty, passion, history, food, sensuality and the pleasures of being alive. It also suggests soulfulness and a way of living that is not entirely governed by efficiency or reason. Perhaps I was being reminded not to tear the beauty, imagination and soul out of psychotherapy in my efforts to make it sound sensible. Bringing Something Back I do not think the dream was telling me to stop talking about my work. It may simply have been reminding me that some experiences cannot be adequately explained. Those of us who work as psychotherapists spend much of our lives in territories that are difficult to describe. We sit with our clients’ grief, longing, rage, shame, love, terror and hope. We witness the collapse of old worlds and, sometimes, the slow beginnings of new ones. We try to speak about what we have seen, but words will always fall short. Perhaps the best we can do is offer a glimpse: point towards the stars, show someone the map and describe the light of the supernova. We cannot give them the experience of having been there.

Photo by Anita Jankovic on Unsplash Some symbols appear once in a dream and are never seen again. Others seem to hang around. A client I’ll call Jessica had been in therapy for about twelve months when we noticed that handbags and purses began appearing repeatedly in her dreams. Jessica originally came to therapy after the end of a long-term relationship. The breakup had cost her more than the relationship itself. Much of her social life had revolved around her partner, John, and when they separated, many of those friendships disappeared as well. John had also been coercively controlling. As the therapy progressed, Jessica began to see how much she had adapted herself to him: what she did, who she saw, what she felt able to say, and, in less obvious ways, who she had become. She was slowly regaining her footing. Meanwhile, her dreams seemed to have become rather interested in handbags. What Do We Carry in a Handbag or Purse? Handbags are very personal things. Think about what is in yours. Money, bank cards, keys, a phone, perhaps photographs, makeup, medication, receipts, scraps of paper, and assorted things you have forgotten were even there. A purse is smaller but, in some ways, even more personal. It usually contains our money and the cards that identify us and give us access to it. So when a handbag or purse appears in a dream, I might wonder about identity, independence, privacy, personal resources, and value. Not because a handbag always means these things — dream symbols don't work that way — but because these are some of the associations the object naturally carries. And there is the question of privacy. If someone picked up your handbag and began looking through it without asking, you probably wouldn't like it. It is yours. Someone Looking Inside Jessica's first dream was exactly that. Someone was looking inside her handbag without her permission. Given what had been happening in her life, it was difficult not to be struck by the image. Here was a woman coming out of a relationship in which her boundaries had been repeatedly crossed, dreaming of someone going through something private that was hers. It seemed to say something Jessica herself was only just beginning to articulate: You don't have the right to do that. Then the Handbag Disappeared Later, Jessica began dreaming that she had lost her handbag or purse. She would suddenly realise it was missing and become anxious. This also seemed to align with what was happening outside the dream. Leaving John had meant much more than leaving John. A whole structure had gone with him. Their social life had largely been his. Jessica had spent years orienting herself around the relationship and now had to work out what belonged to her. Who were her friends? What did she actually enjoy? What did she want? And could she trust herself to make those decisions? Leaving a controlling relationship does not necessarily mean we immediately get ourselves back. Sometimes we have to discover who that self is. Stolen Then the dreams changed again. This time the handbag wasn't lost. It was stolen. And Jessica was desperately trying to find it. That felt different. Losing something suggests that we have mislaid it. Having something stolen introduces somebody else into the picture. Something that was ours has been taken. Jessica had spent a long time accommodating herself to another person. Her confidence in her own perceptions had been gradually eroded, and her world had become smaller. So I began to wonder with her whether the dreams might be saying something about what she felt she had lost in the relationship — and perhaps what she now needed to reclaim. Not just, Where is my handbag? But, Where am I? A New Purse Then this week Jessica brought another dream. She had a new purse, and it was full of money. I loved this dream. Not because I think it means she is about to become rich. Money in dreams can be about money, of course, but it can also make us think about worth and resources. We use financial language psychologically all the time. We spend energy. We invest in people. We feel depleted. We say we have nothing left to give. But what caught my attention most was not the money. It was the fact that the purse was new. She hadn't found the old one. Nobody had returned the stolen purse. She had a new one, and that seems important. Jessica's therapy has not really been about restoring her to the person she was before John. That earlier Jessica had her own history, vulnerabilities, and ways of adapting to other people. Some of those adaptations had probably helped her stay in the relationship for as long as she did. Over the past year, something else has been emerging. She is making more of her own decisions. She is developing friendships of her own. She is clearer about what she likes and doesn't like, and what she will and won't put up with. Increasingly, although tentatively, she trusts her own judgement. And then comes the dream of a new purse. Not an empty one either. A purse full of money. When the Dream Changes This is one of the things I love about recurring dreams. If we look at each dream separately, we can get caught up in trying to decide what a particular symbol “means”. But when the same image keeps returning, it can be much more interesting to watch what happens to it. First, someone looks inside Jessica's handbag without permission. Then she loses it. Then it is stolen, and she searches frantically for it. And now she has a new purse, and there is something valuable inside it. Of course, I can't know for certain what these dreams mean. Neither can Jessica. Dreams aren't equations to be solved. But sometimes a sequence of dreams seems to chart a movement occurring elsewhere in the person. Jessica came into therapy having lost a relationship, much of her social world and, to some degree, her confidence in who she was without John. A year later, she dreams of carrying something new, something that belongs to her and something of value. I think that's rather lovely. And I'm particularly glad she didn't find the old purse. A note on confidentiality: As always, identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality. “Jessica” and “John” are not their real names, and some personal details have been altered or omitted. The dreams themselves are shared with permission.

Credit: Coarse + Fine on Unsplash A client of mine—I’ll call her Anna—dreamt that she was sitting on three eggs. The eggs were unusually large and golden, and she knew they were full of promise. She sat upon them patiently until, in time, they began to hatch. From each egg emerged a golden, healthy baby. Anna gathered the babies into her arms and cradled them against her, holding them as though they were precious jewels. It was a beautiful dream, and it came at a significant point in her therapy. The Descent into Darkness Anna had been working with me for around two years. During that time, she had faced some very difficult material: old wounds, painful memories and aspects of herself that she had previously found hard to acknowledge. She had done what Jungian psychology might call shadow work—turning towards those parts of herself that had been pushed away, hidden or judged unacceptable. There are periods in therapy when things can seem to become darker before they become lighter. As we begin to look beneath the surface, we may encounter grief, anger, envy, shame, fear and despair. We might even wonder whether therapy is making us worse rather than better. In fact, something important may be breaking down so that it can be understood and transformed. The alchemists called this dark stage the nigredo: the blackening. It was associated with decay, disintegration and the dissolution of the old form. Psychologically, it can describe those times when our familiar identity begins to fall apart and we are forced to confront what has been buried beneath it. The nigredo is not a punishment, although it can certainly feel like one. It is a necessary part of the process. Something has to be purified or die before anything new can emerge. The Dawning of Golden Light By the time Anna had this dream, she was beginning to come through that darker period. There was more clarity, more self-compassion and a growing sense that she no longer needed to remain imprisoned by the past. In alchemical terms, she seemed to be moving into the albedo, the whitening: a stage of cleansing, illumination and renewed consciousness. There was also something of the citrinitas in the dream—the yellowing, or the dawning of golden light. Citrinitas is sometimes associated with the first appearance of the sun after a long night: not the final completion of the work, but the point at which light begins to arise from within. The dream seemed to capture this movement perfectly. The Egg as a Symbol of Potential Eggs are ancient symbols of potential. Their outer shell conceals a life that is forming in darkness, out of sight. We cannot prise an egg open to hurry the process without destroying what is developing inside it. We can only provide the right conditions and allow the new life to emerge in its own time. Anna was not merely looking at the eggs. She was sitting on them. There was something wonderfully instinctive in this image. Like a mother bird, she was keeping them warm, protecting them and giving them the time they needed. After years of struggling against herself, she was now able to incubate something new. The Golden Germ In alchemical imagery, the germ at the centre of the egg was sometimes described as the “sun-point”: the tiniest dot from which all being has its origins. It is the ‘golden germ’, waiting to be stirred into life by devoted attention. There is a close parallel here with the therapeutic process. The therapist devotes herself to the client’s inner world, attending carefully to what is fragile, hidden or only just beginning to take form. Over time, the client internalises that quality of attention. She learns to sit patiently with herself, to listen inwardly and to become the devoted attendant to her own unfolding. Perhaps this is part of what Anna was doing in the dream. She was giving her own emerging life the warmth, patience and constancy that had once been offered to her in therapy. Precious New Life The eggs were golden even before they hatched. Whatever was forming inside her already carried value, although it had not yet revealed its final shape. And when the shells eventually broke, the babies who emerged were golden too: living, healthy embodiments of the promise contained within the eggs. Gold has a particular significance in alchemy. It represents what is most precious and enduring, and is often linked psychologically with the Self—the deeper wholeness of the personality that gradually emerges as we integrate more of who we are. This does not mean that Anna had reached some perfected state in which all future difficulties would disappear. Therapy does not turn us into gold by removing everything painful, messy or contradictory. It helps us to become more whole: more able to hold the light and the darkness without banishing either. The babies were new and vulnerable. They needed to be held. Anna cradled them to her ‘like precious jewels’. This felt to me like the heart of the dream. She recognised the value of what had been born and responded with tenderness. These new aspects of herself were not to be criticised, neglected or immediately put to work. They were to be cherished and protected while they grew. The number three may also be significant. In symbolic terms, three often suggests movement and creation. Where two can represent a pair of opposites, three introduces something new: a third possibility born from the tension between them. Anna had spent a long time caught between opposing parts of herself. Perhaps the three eggs represented the new life that could emerge once those opposites were allowed to meet. Of course, the dream belonged to Anna, and her own associations mattered far more than any fixed interpretation. We explored what the number three meant to her, what she felt as she sat upon the eggs, and what it was like to hold the babies in her arms. Dreams speak in a language that is deeply personal, even when they draw upon images that have appeared in myths and stories for thousands of years. Yet the overall feeling of the dream was unmistakable. Formed Within the Darkness Something precious had survived the darkness. More than that, it had been formed within it. The golden babies had not appeared despite the long period of difficulty. They had grown quietly inside it, warmed by devoted attention, waiting until the time was right to be born.