Joanna Monaghan – Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy

‘The most basic of all human needs is to understand and be understood. And the best way to understand is to listen. Deep listening is the kind of listening that can help relieve the suffering of another person. You listen with only one purpose: to help them to empty their heart’
 

What brings you here?

If you are here, I am aware that you, or someone you care about, may be feeling in need of some support.
 
  • Do you feel like you have no control over your feelings, such as anxiety, anger or sadness? Do you struggle getting to, or staying asleep?
  • Or maybe you feel alone and that nobody really gets you? Like you have to do it all by yourself, because you can’t rely on anyone else? Are relationships difficult and confusing?
  • Do you sometimes feel like you don’t matter? That you are never good enough? Or that it is all your fault?
  • Maybe you feel like you can’t achieve the things you want? Or that you want to do things differently, but somehow feel stuck? 
  • Do people often tell you not to take it personally, and that you are too sensitive? Does being with other people sometimes feel like it is too much?
  • Do you often find yourself wondering what life is all about? Or feel hopeless or despairing?
  • Do you sometimes feel like you can’t think straight, or that you are going mad? 
Psychotherapy is, at its heart, a supportive human relationship that offers you the opportunity to explore these, and many other questions, in a safe, accepting and confidential space. Through deep listening and reflection we are able together to look kindly and honestly at many aspects of yourself and your life, at what makes us suffer, but also at what makes us happy. 

By bringing wise and compassionate attention to ourselves and to the different aspects of our being that may be hidden or hurting, we find that we are able to relate differently to our experience, enabling us to see ourselves more clearly, and to move towards the challenges, and also the opportunities of life in a more resourced way. 
 

About me

I'm a Mindfulness-based Core Process psychotherapist. I trained at the Karuna Institute and am registered with the UK Council for psychotherapists (UKCP) and the Association of Core Process psychotherapists (ACPP). 

I have personally experienced the benefits of psychotherapy and appreciate the changes it can help to bring about. It has supported me through times of difficulty, and challenged me to explore life in new and ultimately rewarding ways. 

I believe that all of us go through periods of mental and emotional distress in our lives, and that though painful, with the right support the process can be a transformative experience. Ultimately the symptoms of our distress are rooted in the things we go through in our lives. It’s not a question of what’s wrong with us, but rather what’s happened to us, and the ways we have adapted to help us survive. 

The work of psychotherapy is to enable us, as best we can, to come to terms with what has happened to us, and to support us to live more skilfully with the effects we experience in both our minds and our bodies. It is about helping us to find new ways to not only survive, but to thrive. 

My background is in international human rights, which included work to support mental health and wellbeing. And as a co-founder of the Safely Held Spaces project, I am a passionate advocate for more compassionate mental health support in the UK.
 

About Mindfulness-based psychotherapy

I practice Core Process Psychotherapy (CPP), one of the original mindfulness-based approaches to therapy, which integrates Buddhist and Western psychological traditions. CPP is firmly rooted in the understanding that at the ‘core’ of each of us is the potential to connect more deeply with the freedom and joy at the heart of our being, but that we often lose sight of this ‘core’ because of what happens to us during the course of our lives. 

Using a mindfulness-based approach in our sessions together, means that we take time to slow down and pay attention, without judgement, to your thoughts, feelings and body sensations in the present moment. By bringing kind awareness to how things are for you right now, we begin to get insights into how your life experiences, including expectations that others had of you, are continuing, often unconsciously, to cause pain and difficulty in your current life. In the light of this increased awareness, deeply held subconscious patterns can shift, freeing you up to discover a greater sense of freedom and possibility in each moment, and allowing you to create change, and to make more satisfying choices in your day to day life. 
 

Getting started 

I offer an initial meeting, free of charge, so we can start to explore what brings you to therapy, to see how we get on, and to review in person any questions you may have about how we would work together. This normally lasts about 30 minutes. 

If we both feel happy to proceed, we will arrange a regular time to meet each week. Sessions are held on a weekly basis, and are for 50 minutes at a cost of £65 per session. I also offer some spaces at a lower cost so if affordability is a barrier I would be happy to discuss this with you. The initial commitment is for 6 sessions, after which we will jointly review our work together and decide whether or how we want to take it forward. We can work together for an agreed time period, or on an open-ended basis. 

You can contact me on 07938 565223 or email joannampsychotherapy@gmail.com to arrange an initial session. All enquiries are treated in the strictest confidence, and if I cannot answer your call I will endeavour to reply within 24 hours. 











 
Therapy, Counselling, CBT, Group Therapy, Hypnotherapy, Massage, Acupuncture, Reflexology, Osteopathy, Reiki, Homeopathy, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Nutritional Therapy, Yoga in Islington, North London
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