Berkshire Counselling and Psychotherapy Services

Domestic Violence And Counselling

Domestic violence involves: Physical violence is less damaging on a long term basis, strangely enough, than emotional/mental abuse as the victim can ask for help or gain attention if she cries out. Many more victims suffer in silence (they may be your colleague at work or your neighbour) because they are not hit or physically molested and thus they are confused about the abuse, because there are no visible scars to show. Your partner refuses your right to call your parents: is that an abuse?

Victims of domestic abuse keep questioning themselves and doubting their own decisions even after they leave the abusing partner; the reason being that they had started colluding with the abuser which is a very instinctive reaction in situations of trauma: after years of abuse the victim often gives in and starts following the abuser believing that the latter must be right; it is a way to protect oneself by agreeing to everything the abuser says in order to escape the next abusive blow.

The psychological trauma is carried on for years by some survivors of domestic violence; it takes psychosomatic traits like sleeplessness, nightmares, headaches/migraines, as well as emotional feelings of inferiority, feelings of shame/worthlessness, disgust with one’s self-image, restlessly going over the past which creates incapacity, in the person, to perceive the future with any hope.

Trauma from domestic abuse can stay with children for years as well. Surviving from an abusive environment that child has learnt to avoid the abuser or dissociate from what is happening at home as a way of surviving and may become very independent and capable using his/her intellect as a protective tool; often as adults they are successful and resilient and independent but internally they are aware they are anxious have an inferiority complex or develop specific phobias where the mind transfers those damaged parts that the person is not able to acknowledge.

Trauma in domestic abuse, child abuse takes the shape of chronic depression self confidence issues, chronic loss of performance, lack of sleep and functionality on one side of the spectrum but on the other side it can also take the shape of a very independent and strong personality who is failing in his/her relationships with friend, colleagues or spouse. they are prone to anger, rage , aggressive tendencies and will show symptoms in their sexual lives, performance fears and unsafely around relationships...because they are wearing the abuse as a weakness which they have repressed and along with that part they have also repressed all healthy capacity for vulnerable feelings, receiving love and care, opening themselves in a relationship because they had learnt very early on from abusive relationships that they are better off by themselves.

How can Reading and Wokingham Counselling services help with domestic violence survivors, child abuse survivors? Amreeta Chapman has over fifteen years' experience as a Psychologist who has worked with domestic violence, family therapy and child therapy in Mauritius and England. She has also trained as a solution focused counsellor in the U.K. and training as a Psycho-traumatologist so that she is able to help clients of trauma move from their schemata(abusive scripts in their head) into healthier belief systems. Although trauma victims have left the trauma years behind and are living functional lives they may be perpetuating their history of abuse via alcohol, drugs, destructive relationships and they cannot understand why.

Counselling and Psychotherapy with Amreeta is solution focused in terms of staying goal targeted and aiming to move clients into the future where they are living with their goals achieved but it includes trauma work as trauma survivors will find that they keep going back in circles. often the logic has understood and left the past but the person carries within her/his body and emotions beliefs, thoughts patterns, behaviour patterns caught in the past and reactivates the in their current lives. As your counsellor amreeta's job is to help client move at the mental, emotional and behavioural level into tasting and feeling what a healthy schemata is like.

Within 15-20 sessions of Counselling (trauma requires more sessions as compared to most other symptoms because the level of mental and emotional fragility is more severe) whether in Reading, Wokingham or Woodley Amreeta Chapman is working to help you as a the survivor of trauma that is still somewhere creating mistrust, anger, low grade depression, vulnerability in your present life, to move into the healthy life that you may already have created on the outside(you have a great job, great partner, great friends) but are not able to be present in that life because your schemata of trauma and abuse denies you that ability.

For more information or questions call Amreeta on 0118 926 9978 or 0786 129 3634. You can also email her your questions by clicking here. Please note that she may be with clients so do leave a message as she aims to answer you within two to three hours. Amreeta understands you are making a huge step ahead by contacting her and she will definitely answer you by call or mail whichever you prefer!

Practices in Reading/Caversham, Wokingham/Bracknell, Woodley/Twyford, Windsor/Slough, covering Berkshire.

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