Psychology in Action is a private psychology service in the West Midlands. Clients are helped to overcome their stress, emotional problems, relationship problems or troublesome habits. Series of confidential therapy sessions are offered to assess and address issues such as depression, anxiety, phobias, effects of poor attachments, loss, grief and trauma.

Specialist screening assessments can be undertaken for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Psychology In Action was established in 2007, and is recognised by medical insurance companies, medical health providers, and legal professionals. We accept self-referrals and referrals from GPs. We have experience in providing a discreet, exclusive service to high-profile clients from a variety of professional backgrounds, who need emotional and psychological support for stress management and other difficulties.

Psychology in Action utilises and integrates a combination of different approaches to treat individual problems. Click on the link to explore therapies offered. We also provide life coaching for healthy people who wish to improve their lives in specific ways, such as finding a new relationship or changing careers.

Treatments

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy enables you to face your present situation and create strategies to improve your quality of life. We help you to challenge the way you think and devise better ways of addressing your problems.

CBT is effective for the treatment of a variety of problems, including mood, anxiety, personality, eating, substance abuse, and psychotic disorders. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends CBT as the treatment of choice for a number of mental health difficulties, including post-traumatic stress disorder, OCD, bulimia nervosa, and clinical depression.

Solution Focused Therapy

Solution Focused Therapy empowers you to recognize and identify the skills, strengths, and abilities you possess, allowing your self-esteem and self-confidence to blossom and grow.

By helping you identify negative and positive aspects of your life, we assist you in constructing a concrete vision of a preferred future for yourself. We aid you in identifying times in your current life that are closer to this future, and examine what is different on these occasions. By bringing these small successes to your awareness, and helping you to repeat these successful things, we encourage you to move towards the preferred future you have identified.

Marital Therapy and Family Therapy

Problems are rarely isolated, but are often the result of relationship problems in a marriage, partnership or family. We draw upon the strengths and commitments that exist within the family to improve communication and understanding, allowing you to overcome difficulties.

Family therapy uses discussion and observation to study the relationships between members of a family group, rather than the specific problems of the individuals. Depending on the issues of the group, we may review past incidents and suggest alternative ways family members might have responded to one another during it. Alternatively we may observe patterns of interaction that the family might have not noticed, which may be sources of conflict within themselves. We aim to produce a more cohesive and stronger relationship between the group - the family or the couple.

Relaxation Therapy

Relaxation Training teaches you to cope with the stresses and anxiety produced by daily living. We use a biofeedback device (Relaxometer, EMWave2-Heartmath) to help you recognise when your body is under stress and when you are at peace. We then use that knowledge to teach you muscle and mental relaxation exercises to practice daily.

People respond to stress in different ways, namely, by becoming overwhelmed, depressed or both. Relaxation techniques are often employed as one element of a wider stress management program and can decrease muscle tension, lower the blood pressure and slow heart and breath rates, among other health benefits (Childre and Martin 1999, Servan-Schreiber 2005).

Person Centred Therapy

Person Centred Therapy gives you trust in yourself, helping you to use your vast potential to understand and resolve your own problems. A therapeutic relationship can strengthen your own, self-directed growth.

We provide you with an opportunity to develop a sense of self, allowing you to realize how your attitudes, feelings and behaviour are being negatively affected. This helps you to find your true positive potential, and guides you in finding your own solutions to your problems.

Play Therapy

Play Therapy encourages children to actively and spontaneously communicate with a therapist, helping them relate to the external world and express their anxieties.

This therapy uses play to communicate with and help children, to prevent or resolve issues with behaviour. It can help them towards better social integration, growth and development. The objects and patterns of play, as well as the willingness to interact, can be used to understand behavioural issues. Play therapy can also be used as desensitization to change disturbing behaviour.

EMDR

EMDR is a powerful new psychotherapy technique invented by Shapiro in 1987, research data suggests that EMDR has been effective in helping people who experience PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, phobias,disturbing memories and other emotional problems. EMDR theory suggests that stimulated eye movement may help the psychological processing of trauma. The technique 'unlocks' the negative memories and emotions stored in the nervous system and it helps the brain successfully process the experience.

Light Therapy

Psychology in action is able to offer “Light Therapy – Lightwave stimulation’ for a combination of difficulties, it is the only centre outside London (The Sound Learning Centre – 12 The Rise, N13 5LE), to provide such a service.

Lightwave Stimulation (LWS)

The literature on coloured light indicates the importance of light for the functioning of the body and its usefulness for psychological and emotional healing. Theoretical basis of ‘Light’ has a long history of therapeutic use. The more modern pioneers include Edwin Babbit, Auguste Rollier, Niels Finsen (Nobel Prize winner), Dinshah Ghadiali, Harry Riley Spitler, John Downing and Jacob Liberman.

The sound learning Centre have reported that When Lightwave Stimulation (LWS) had been used, clients have rated their improvements in:

-Increased alertness
-Improved concentration
-Improved sleeping
-Improved eating or toileting patterns
-Reduced tantrums and aggressiveness
-Reduced impulsivity or overactive behaviour.

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Alpha-Stim for Insomnia

In conjunction with Light therapy, we also offer experience of Alpha-Stim for anxiety, insomnia and depression. Studies have repeatedly verified positive results; ongoing research is being conducted by Leicester University. The safety and effectiveness of Alpha-Stim is backed by 100 independent clinical research studies. Unlike with medications, there is no risk of addiction or lasting side effects.

The National Health Services (NHS) published their research findings in the Journal of Affective Disorders, which included 161 volunteers suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), who had experienced unsatisfactory relief with other therapies.

According to Dr. Richard Morriss, principal investigator of the study and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Nottingham, found that “Alpha-Stim CES was more effective at achieving remission than expected. As well as improvements in anxiety, there were improvements in depression and insomnia,” (The Sunday Times). This suggests that the use of Alpha-Stim was complement to psychological treatment.

About Alpha-Stim^®

Alpha-Stim is a non-invasive prescription medical device (prescription not required outside the U.S.) that is FDA cleared to provide fast, safe and effective treatment of anxiety, insomnia, depression, and pain. The Alpha-Stim AID utilizes cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES) to deliver the only patented waveform which is clinically proven to significantly decrease anxiety and comorbid depression. The Alpha-Stim M uses CES to treat mood and sleep. Alpha-Stim can be used alone, along with other therapies, or as an adjunct to medication (without the risk of drug interactions). There are no serious adverse effects and no risk of addiction.

On 10th February 2021 BBC one demonstrated the use of Alpha-Stim as a treatment for insomnia. Click Here For Further Information.

Pluralistic Therapy

The idea that problems and difficulties rarely occur in isolation and therefore, more than one approach to a solution is needed. Pluralistic therapy is organised around ongoing engagement in shared decision making between the client and therapist. The therapist invites their clients to engage in conversation and dialogue around their goals for therapy, how these goals can be broken down into achievable tasks (Cooper and McLeod, 2011). In seeking to find the combination of ideas and methods that are most effective for each individual client, pluralistic therapy can be organised as a form of integrative therapy, this is an approach that combines ideas and methods from different therapy theories.

A range of methods may include: Bibliotherapy, auto-biography, self-instruction/self-talk techniques, recording and self-monitoring, physical exercise, exposure-based homework, reflecting on dreams, becoming aware and identifying emotions. The individual is actively involved in their own process of learning and change, in a way that they acknowledge and accept the important aspects of the process which can take place outside the therapy sessions (McLeod and McLeod, 2020).