Victoria Garland: Counselling Psychologist and Psychotherapist in London

“Between stimulus and response there is space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
Victor E. Frankl

About Me

Victoria Garland

I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and Psychotherapist.

I use my knowledge of the psychological and physiological function of the human body as an approach to the treatment.

Having supported clients for more than 10 years, I have worked in a variety of settings. Some of which are the NHS, occupational health, private practice and in academia. I am a lecturer and a clinical and research supervisor of students on the doctorate programme of the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) at Middlesex University.

My commitment is to provide a confidential, non-judgmental and empathetic environment. This will enable you to feel safe and supported. We will work together to explore your challenges and how you can address them.

a woman with arms raised above overlooking valley at sunset to signify freedom experienced with therapy

About Trauma Therapy

One of the most challenging decisions you can face is how to make a choice, understand and take control of your life. The fact that you are reading this suggests that you are ready to do this.

In my practice, I employ trauma therapy approaches to enhance the healing process. Different parts of our brain register and react to unpleasant life experiences. These experiences are stored in our body and are subsequently reactivated by triggers in the present. Thus, for the healing process to be successful, your brain, mind and body need to feel safe.

By nature, I tend to integrate different approaches. Amongst others, I have been specifically trained in The Existential Approach, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing), DBR (Deep Brain Reorientation), ImTT (Image Transformation Therapy) and CRM (Comprehensive Resource Model) methods. Together, we will work on the root causes of your difficulties and how to change them.

EMDR Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR) is a type of psychotherapy that helps with processing and recovering from past experiences that are affecting the patient’s mental health and wellbeing.

This involves using side to side eye movements combined with talk therapy in a specific and structured environment.

Consequently, EMDR helps with processing the negative images, emotions, beliefs and body sensations associated with traumatic memories that seem to be stuck. Undoubtedly, these can contribute to a range of mental health problems.

EMDR ultimately provides the person with a different perspective and relieves the symptoms they might be suffering.

Deep Brain Reorienting

In Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) we work with a knowledge of the brainstem systems involved in orienting to a stimulus – internal or external – and in responding to it at a brainstem level.

Healing from adversity is an organic process that has somehow been blocked by the traumatic experience – or the responses of others to it.

This approach allows the participant to process the memory in an emotionally manageable way, changing how it is represented/accessed in the brain’s natural defensive system.

Image Transformation Therapy

Image Transformation Therapy, or ImTT for short, uses a breathing and visualization technique to help clear out unpleasant emotions and the memories that are associated with them. The emotions, which can range from shock and freeze, to terror and horror, are sequentially breathed out of different parts of the body after some preparation from the therapist. After this, you are asked to identify an image that’s related to the trauma you can repeatedly deconstruct in your mind’s eye until it either no longer can be brought into working memory or it is transformed into a positive-feeling image. In a similar way, you sequentially breathe out of your body the particles from the deconstructed image until there are no more of these particles left in your body.