The term "addiction" is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction, video game addiction, crime, money, alcoholism, work addiction, compulsive overeating, problem gambling, computer addiction, pornography addiction, etc.

Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioural components. These components combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with uneasiness, fear, or worry.

Anxiety is a generalized mood state that occurs without an identifiable triggering stimulus. As such, it is distinguished from fear, which occurs in the presence of an external threat. Additionally, fear is related to the specific behaviours of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats that are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress. It may help a person to deal with a difficult situation, for example at work or at school, by prompting one to cope with it. When anxiety becomes excessive, it may fall under the classification of an anxiety disorder.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Childhood trauma has profound impact on the emotional, behavioural, cognitive, social and physical functioning of children. Developmental experiences determine the organizational and functional status of the mature brain.

The impact of traumatic experiences on the development and function of the brain are discussed in context of basic principles of neurodevelopment. There are various adaptive mental and physical responses to trauma, including physiological hyperarousal and dissociation. Because the developing brain organizes and internalizes new information in a use-dependent fashion, the more a child is in a state of hyperarousal or dissociation, the more likely they are to have neuropsychiatric symptoms following trauma. The acute adaptive state can become persistent and maladaptive traits. The clinical implications of this new neurodevelopment conceptualization of childhood trauma are discussed.

Adults interpret the actions, words and expressions of children through the distorting filter of their own beliefs. In the lives of most infants and children these common adult misinterpretations are relatively benign. In many cases, however, these misinterpretations can be destructive. The most dramatic example occurs when the impact of traumatic events on infants and young children is minimized. It is an ultimate irony that at the time when the human is most vulnerable to the effects of trauma -- during infancy and childhood -- adults generally presume the most resilience.

This destructive misperception has permeated the mental health field. In the last ten years, our society has spent billions of dollars studying and treating adult trauma victims, primarily male combat veterans -- this despite the fact that many more females are traumatized by rape in our society than males by combat. In comparison, few resources have been dedicated to research or treatment focusing on childhood trauma, and only a fraction of those on studying or treating the traumatized infant.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Although acute pain is mostly physical in nature, chronic pain has a significant psychological component. The treatment of chronic pain should include both medical and psychological interventions.

Chronic pain can be present because your body is not healing, because physical damage is ongoing (e.g. in arthritis, cancer etc) or without a clear physical cause. Emotional symptoms usually develop when medical treatment does not eliminate the pain and can increase the intensity of the pain. However, the presence of emotional factors does not mean that the pain is imaginary.

Psychological treatment helps you to learn how to predict and manage the pain cycle, how to use coping skills to minimize pain, and how to maximize active involvement in positive life experiences, despite the presence of chronic pain.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

People experience depression in many different ways. It can occur suddenly or gradually, and can vary in severity and symptoms. Some people may be able to do everything they usually do but feel less energy, pleasure or concentration. Others find it difficult to get out of bed, dress, eat and take care of themselves.

There is a range of effective treatments for depression including antidepressant medication. However, if taking medication, it is usually beneficial to combine it with psychological treatment to deal with the underlying problems. Psychotherapy for depression will help to process experiences, emotions, and behaviours that contributed to or in the cause of depression, and through that will help to resolve this difficult state. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

DLE, the term describes ordinary, but very painful or complicated experiences of our adult lives, such as change of any kind (age-related, geography and culture related, work-related, and many other), adapting to new situations, coping with relational problems and many other events.

Some examples of DLEs are:

• Retirement
• Divorce
• Grief
• Immigration
• Job termination
• Harassment
• Midlife crisis
• Bankruptcy
• Illness, Injury

An eating disorder is to eat too much, or avoid eating, in a manner, which negatively affects both one's physical and mental health. Eating disorders are all encompassing. They affect every part of the person's life.

If you have an eating disorder, food, eating, exercise, body image is in the centre of your life.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most common eating disorders generally recognized by medical classification schemes with a significant diagnostic overlap between the two. There is a third type of eating disorder currently being investigated and defined - Binge Eating Disorder.

This is a chronic condition that occurs when an individual consumes huge amounts of food during a brief period of time and feels totally out of control and unable to stop their eating. It can lead to serious health conditions such as morbid obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss. It includes the emotion numbness, disbelief, separation, anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness that accompany the loss of someone or something loved. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioural, social, and philosophical dimensions.

Common to human experience is the death of a loved one, whether it is a friend, family, or other companion. While the terms are often used interchangeably, bereavement often refers to the state of loss, and grief to the reaction to loss.

Losses can range from loss of employment, pets, status, a sense of safety, order, or possessions, to the loss of loved ones. Our response to loss is varied and researchers have moved away from conventional views of grief (that is, that people move through an orderly and predictable series of responses to loss) to one that considers the wide variety of responses that are influenced by personality, family, culture, and spiritual and religious beliefs and practices.

Bereavement, while a normal part of life for us all, carries a degree of risk when limited support is available. Severe reactions to loss may carry over into familial relations and cause trauma for children, spouses and any other family members: there is an increased risk of marital break-up following the death of a child, for example.

Issues of personal faith and beliefs may also face challenge, as bereaved persons reassess personal definitions in the face of great pain. While many who grieve are able to work through their loss independently, accessing additional support from bereavement professionals may promote the process of healing.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

In psychotherapy we investigate how disease affects individuals' psychological well-being, and how psychological issues can contribute to the development of physical illness.

An individual who becomes seriously ill or injured faces many different practical stressors. The stressors include problems meeting medical and other bills; problems obtaining proper care when home from the hospital; obstacles to caring for dependents; having one's sense of self-reliance compromised; gaining a new, unwanted identity as a sick person; and so on. These stressors can lead to depression, reduced self-esteem, etc

Psychologist can provide techniques and other assistance that promote healing.

Therapy also concerns itself with bettering the lives of individuals with terminal illness. When there is little hope of recovery, health psychologist therapists can improve the quality of life of the patient by helping the patient recover at least some of his or her psychological well-being.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an illness that affects thoughts and actions and is believed to be rooted in a biochemical imbalance of the brain. OCD is classified as an anxiety disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) published by the American Psychiatric Association.

This puzzling illness is characterized by recurrent and disturbing thoughts (called obsessions) and/or repetitive, ritualized behaviours that the person feels driven to perform (called compulsions). Obsessions can also take the form of intrusive images or unwanted impulses. The majority of patients have both obsessions and compulsions, but a minority (about 20 percent) have obsessions alone or compulsions alone (about 10 percent). The person with OCD usually tries to actively dismiss the obsessions or neutralize them by engaging in compulsions or avoiding situations that trigger them. In most cases, compulsions serve to alleviate anxiety. However, it is not uncommon for the compulsions themselves to engender anxiety, especially when they become very demanding.

A hallmark of OCD is that the person recognizes that her thoughts or behaviours are senseless or excessive. However, the drive can be so powerful that the person caves in to the compulsion even though she knows it makes no sense.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

PD is characterized by inappropriate and faulty coping styles. Personality disorders are results of imperfect personality development and reflect patterns of the person's attempts to cope with the difficulties.

DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, Fourth Edition), defines a PD as an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that differs markedly from the expectations of the individual's culture, is pervasive and inflexible, has an onset in adolescence or early adulthood, is stable over time, and leads to distress or impairment. PDs are a long-standing and maladaptive pattern of perceiving and responding to other people and to stressful circumstances.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating mental disorder that follows experiencing or witnessing an extremely traumatic, tragic, or terrifying event. People with PTSD usually have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to.

PTSD, once referred to as "shell shock" or battle fatigue, was first brought to public attention by war veterans, but it can result from any number of traumatic incidents. These include kidnapping, serious accidents such as car or train wrecks, natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes, violent attacks such as a mugging, rape, or torture, or being held captive. The event that triggers it may be something that threatened the person's life or the life of someone close to him or her. Or it could be something witnessed, such as mass destruction after a plane crash.

Most people with posttraumatic stress disorder repeatedly re-live the trauma in the form of nightmares and disturbing recollections during the day. The nightmares or recollections may come and go, and a person may be free of them for weeks at a time, and then experience them daily for no particular reason. They may also experience sleep problems, depression, feeling detached or numb, or being easily startled. They may lose interest in things they used to enjoy and have trouble feeling affectionate. They may feel irritable, more aggressive than before, or even violent. Seeing things that remind them of the incident may be very distressing, which could lead them to avoid certain places or situations that bring back those memories. Anniversaries of the event are often very difficult.

PTSD can occur at any age, including childhood. The disorder can be accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or anxiety. Symptoms may be mild or severe -- people may become easily irritated or have violent outbursts. In severe cases, they may have trouble working or socializing. In general, the symptoms seem to be worse if the event that triggered them was initiated by a person -- such as a murder, as opposed to a flood.

Ordinary events can serve as reminders of the trauma and trigger flashbacks or intrusive images. A flashback may make the person lose touch with reality and reenact the event for a period of seconds or hours, or very rarely, days. A person having a flashback, which can come in the form of images, sounds, smells, or feelings, usually believes that the traumatic event is happening all over again.

Posttraumatic stress disorder can be treated, usually with a combination of psychotherapy and medications (for specific symptom relief, such as for the common accompanying depressive feelings). People with PTSD should seek out a therapist or psychologists with specific experience and background in treatment posttraumatic stress disorder.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

No relationship is perfect. However, it is important to address problems and unhelpful patterns that arise. Ignoring problems and failing to create understanding can damage relationships, self esteem, mood and performance. Effective work can be done working on your patterns in a relationship even if your partner does not wish to attend therapy or you are not currently in a relationship but have had difficult in the past.

Psychological therapy will help you make decisions by uncovering beliefs, cognitions, expectations, patterns of communication and behaviour within the relationship.

Therapy can teach new ways to think, communicate and behave. You can change old behaviour patterns and learn how to deal constructively with future difficulties.

Therapy can also help you recover from a break-up and process this experience in a way that will enhance your self-esteem and positively impact future relationships.

Difficulties arise not only in intimate relationships.  Therapy can also help you if you are finding that you are always disappointed by your friends or you feel bullied or uncomfortable in a working relationship.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Self-esteem, is the opinions, feelings and thoughts you have about yourself. Although childhood experiences play a large role, self-esteem can evolve and change in reaction to life events and experiences.

People with poor self-esteem determine their worth by how they are currently performing. They often put their efforts into maintaining a public "persona" (Carl Jung). Healthy self-esteem is based on our ability to see ourselves accurately and accept and value ourselves unconditionally. We all have strengths and limitations and people with good self esteem and confidence can acknowledge their strengths and limitations and work towards self improvement unhindered.

Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, involves intense fear of certain social situations - especially situations that are unfamiliar or in which you'll be watched or evaluated by others. These social situations may be so frightening that you get anxious just thinking about them or go to great lengths to avoid them.

Underlying social anxiety disorder is the fear of being scrutinized, judged, or embarrassed in public. You may be afraid that people will think badly of you or that you won't measure up in comparison to others. And even though you probably realize that your fears of being judged are at least somewhat irrational and overblown, you still can't help feeling anxious.

Although it may feel like you're the only one with this problem, social anxiety disorder is actually quite common. Many people struggle with these fears. But the situations that trigger the symptoms of social phobia can be different.

Some people experience anxiety in most social and performance situations, a condition known as generalized social anxiety disorder. For other people with social phobia, anxiety is connected with specific social situations, such as speaking to strangers, eating at restaurants, or going to parties. The most common specific social phobia is fear of public speaking or performing in front of an audience.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

Stress is a biological term which refers to the consequences of the failure of a human or animal body to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats to the organism, whether actual or imagined. It includes a state of alarm and adrenaline production, short-term resistance as a coping mechanism, and exhaustion.

It refers to the inability of a human or animal body to respond. Common stress symptoms include irritability, muscular tension, inability to concentrate and a variety of physical reactions, such as headaches and elevated heart rate. (Wikipedia)

Although stress can help you rise to a challenge, becoming over stressed or chronically stressed can interfere with your performance levels, physical health and relationships.

Common causes of stress include problems at work or in relationships, renovation or relocation, retrenchment or unemployment, a traumatic event, illness or disability, workplace bullying, change and unrealistic expectations placed on you.

It may not be possible to remove all the stressors from your life, however learning how to better manage your stress may help you to get things done.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com

It is common to feel uncertain about coming to see someone, especially if it is your first time. Many people find that they feel quite relaxed by the end of the first session. If you have any specific concerns, please feel free to raise this over the telephone or via email.

Psychotherapy is a means of discovering an 'awareness' of ones' thoughts, feelings, actions, perceptions and motives. In order to get relief from symptoms it is necessary to explore these patterns and behaviours and bring them into awareness. This works through the development of a relationship between the therapist and the client. This relationship is based on a mutual concern for the client's welfare where trust, care, confidentiality and safety are major components.

Source: http://www.wikipedia.com