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Have you experienced a separation which has been very painful?
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Are you finding it difficult to adjust and recreate meaning in your life?
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Do you feel alone and isolated?
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Are you feeling low and stuck?
If you have answered yes to any of these questions I would like to talk to you.
For some people the separation from a loved one through relationship breakdown, or death can trigger a profound and intense journey inside oneself to find meaning and a new sense of self.
"Deep loneliness is inherent in the act of self-creation"
I am conducting a research project (for professional training in counselling and psychotherapy). I am interested in exploring what these experiences have been like for you.
There are no right or wrong answers. I am interested in how it is for you.
Though this is not a counselling/ psychotherapy session sharing your experiences can be cathartic. Having someone to explore these issues with in a private, non-judgmental space can be useful in finding clarity.
Your sharing would help to inform my understanding of separation in my work with clients, and would be included (with all identifying details removed) in a research project to be submitted to the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education (CCPE).
Our meeting would last for one hour, and would take place in central Reading (RG1 or RG2) or in London W2.
If you are interested in taking part or would like more information please contact me on
07794 779531
elizabeth@trans-form.org.uk
There will be no charge for our meeting, as it is not intended as a therapeutic session.
I am afraid I will not be able to offer emotional support in this interview setting. Though if you would like I am happy to discuss your options for counselling / psychotherapy sessions separately.
Case study – Danielle’s experiences
Danielle* had been in a relationship with her partner for over 15 years. Despite feeling very much “in love” there was ongoing conflict in the relationship. When the relationship irretrievably broke down Danielle experienced an extremely painful intra-psychic separation of self, which unleashed feelings of deep helplessness from childhood.
Creating meaning for herself, without her partner and without the life they had together felt very difficult. She felt desolately and intensely alone, with nothing to fill the void. It seemed to her that she was wandering alone on the planet - walking at a different pace to everyone else.
The challenge she had was to rebuild her sense of self. Rogers refers to the tremendous swings of feeling which some clients experience through this process of reconstructing the personality,
as
"the most racking torment of pain, and a complete and chaotic confusion."
As Danielle discovered it is often through this journey into aloneness and the search for meaning that true growth occurs. Through the deep exploration of herself, who she is and what she wants she was able to find greater inner strength.
* Please note permission has been received for including this case study, and identifying details changed.