Agoraphobia is a type of phobia that causes an individual to experience intense anxiety and fear about not being able to escape a situation, or of being in places where help may be unavailable. Triggering situations commonly include being in large crowds or on public transport such as the underground.

Claustrophobia on the other hand, although similarly a type of phobia, is defined by intense anxiety and fear triggered by being in confined spaces.

Whilst it is entirely normal to feel anxious about certain situations, for those of you experiencing Agoraphobia or Claustrophobia, you will likely experience excessive levels of fear and anxiety, which are likely disproportionate to the actual level of danger posed by the situation. This fear reaction however often feels out of our control and automatic. Consequently, these phobias can have a hugely debilitating impact on your quality of life, wellbeing and ability to function in day-to-day life.

It is not uncommon for Agoraphobia and Claustrophobia to be accompanied by panic attacks and other uncomfortable physical symptoms of anxiety including:

• a racing heart(palpitations)
• sweating
• feeling dizzy or faint
• finding it hard to swallow
• trembling or shaking
• pain or discomfort in your chest
• struggling to breathe
• numbness and pins and needles

Treatment for Agoraphobia & Claustrophobia

The evidence shows that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is highly effective in the treatment of both Agoraphobia and Claustrophobia, and in reducing the impact that these phobias have on your life.

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for either Agoraphobia or Claustrophobia at Sanctum please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Anxiety is familiar to everyone at some point in our lives. It is usually a normal, useful and effective response in times of coping with stress, and something that can be understood and managed. However, some people experience intense and prolonged periods of anxiety and that, if left untreated, can develop into a debilitating anxiety disorder.

These include:

• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Health Anxiety
• Panic Disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
• Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD)
• Specific Phobias
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 

Treatment for Anxiety

Effective treatment for anxiety can alleviate most, if not all of the distress and disability associated with anxiety, whilst teaching you new skills to cope with and recognize normal and adaptive experiences of anxiety. Treatment typically seeks to deal with the symptoms of anxiety, enable acceptance and works towards resolving the issues causing the anxiety wherever possible. The following therapies are evidence-based treatments for anxiety disorders:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for Anxiety at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Bipolar Disorder, formerly known as ‘manic depression’, is a condition that affects a person’s mood, which can swing from one extreme to another, with varying symptoms during highs or lows. Unlike simple mood swings which we can all experience from time-to-time, each extreme episode of Bipolar Disorder can last for several weeks (or even longer), and some people may not experience a “normal” mood very often.

People with Bipolar Disorder may have periods or episodes of:

• Depression – feeling very low and lethargic
• Mania – feeling very high and overactive (less severe mania is known as hypomania)

Treatment for Bipolar Disorder

The issues experienced in Bipolar Disorder are unique to each individual and so it is important that the approach is tailored to each and every person.

Interventions often include both psychiatric and psychological treatment options, which may necessitate a referral to a psychiatrist who can advise on the most appropriate form of pharmacological intervention (psychoactive medications) in tandem with psychological therapy with us at Sanctum. While you are welcome to explore psychiatrists yourself, we are also happy to offer support in finding a suitable psychiatrist for you as well.

Psychological treatment can help you to deal with depression, the impact of the condition on your day-to-day life and to recognise the triggers and early warning signs of an episode of depression or mania. An effective therapy in the treatment of Bipolar Disorder is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT).

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for Bipolar Disorder at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Body dysmorphia or Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a mental health condition where a person spends a large quantity of their time worrying about flaws in their appearance. These flaws are often unnoticeable to others.

BDD affects both men and women and people of any age, but it is most common in teenagers and young adults.

Symptoms of BDD include:

• worrying a lot about a specific area of the body (particularly the face)
• spending a lot of time comparing looks with other people’s
• repeatedly looking in mirrors or avoiding mirrors altogether
• going to a considerable effort to conceal flaws – for example, by spending a long time combing hair, applying make-up or choosing clothes
• picking at skin to make it “smooth”

BDD can have a serious impact on a person’s daily life, including work, social life and relationships. It can also lead to depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

Treatment for Body Dysmorphic Disorder

It can be very difficult to seek help for BDD, but it’s important to remember that you have nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed about. Seeking help is important because your symptoms are unlikely to go away without treatment and may worsen over time.

The following therapies are recommended as being effective in the treatment BDD:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

Some people will also benefit from a review with a psychiatrist, which is something we can help you seek out, whilst we cannot offer it ourselves here at Sanctum.

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for BDD at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Childhood abuse and trauma is defined by the Children’s Act (1989) as actual or likely harm to a child including ill-treatment (sexual, physical and emotional abuse) and impairment of health (physical or mental) or development (physical, intellectual, emotional, social or behavioural).

For both ongoing victims and survivors of Childhood Abuse and Trauma, it is not uncommon for the individual to be unsure about whether their experiences are/were abusive. Nonetheless, these early experiences are significantly implicated across a wide range of mental health difficulties, making it important that you seek the right support promptly.

If you suspect or know that you are a survivor of Childhood Abuse and Trauma, we strongly recommend that you access support. Help is at hand, and it is important to know that these experiences were not your fault. A range of specialist therapies are available to support you dependent on your individual needs including:

• Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Trauma (CBT-T)
• Compassion Focussed Therapy
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

We’re here to help.  If you would like to know more about treatment options for childhood abuse and trauma at Sanctum, please contact us so that you can feel confident in the decisions you make about your treatment.

Everyone can feel upset or sad from time-to-time, however, when these feelings are persistent, overwhelming or are affecting your ability to function on a daily basis, it may be that you are experiencing Depression. Depression is a serious mental health condition. It is not a sign of weakness or something that you can just “snap out of”.

Depression affects people in different ways and can cause a wide variety of symptoms. These symptoms range from lasting feelings of unhappiness and hopelessness, to losing interest in the things you used to enjoy. You may also feel very tearful. There can be physical symptoms too, such as feeling persistently tired, sleeping poorly, having no appetite or sex drive, and experiencing various aches and pains.

The symptoms of Depression can range from mild to severe. At its mildest, the person may simply feel persistently low in spirit, while severe Depression can make someone feel suicidal, and that life is no longer worth living.

The good news is that with the right treatment and support, the majority of people with Depression can make a full recovery.

Treatment for Depression

Many people wait a long time before seeking help for Depression, but it’s best not to delay. The sooner you see a specialist, the sooner you can be on the way to recovery.

A combination of anti-depressant medication and psychological therapy has been shown to be the most effective treatment of Depression.  The recommended treatments include:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
• Compassion Focused Therapy

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for Depression at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Dissociation is the experience of feeling disconnected from yourself and/or the world around you. This experience may be very mild, infrequent and last only a couple of seconds, or it may be more severe, frequent and last for much longer periods of time.

It can be helpful to think of dissociation as sitting along a spectrum. There are times in normal, everyday life where we may temporarily disconnect from the world, such as when we’re daydreaming. This is a very common and normal experience, where we briefly lose focus and connection with what is happening around us. For example, we may lose track of a conversation that we were involved in or may not be able to recall the route we have just driven. Importantly, we can usually reconnect the moment we realise that we have disengaged, and so the experience resolves and does not require intervention.

At the more severe end of the spectrum however, frequent and pervasive dissociation may cause significant disruption to a person’s ability to function in their day-to-day life, and it may cause them great distress. Examples of dissociation include:

–       Derealisation: feeling like the world around you is unreal, foggy or lifeless. Your emotions, physical sensations, thoughts and senses may be become numb and distant, and you may feel like your brain is shutting down. Everything feels surreal

–       Depersonalisation: feeling like you are disconnected and floating outside of your body, and/or observing yourself from the outside. As above, you may feel like you are shutting down, and an extreme experience of this may result in fainting

–       Dissociative Flashbacks: feeling like you are caught in a tug of war between the past and present, where the ‘past’ is currently stronger and keeps winning. You may feel like you are repeatedly being pulled into the past, where you vividly relive a traumatic experience as if it were happening again in the here and now. It may feel hard to keep yourself anchored in the present moment

–       Dissociative Amnesia: not being able to remember information about yourself or life, or having significant gaps where you can’t remember what happened

–       Dissociative Identity: feeling like you are switching between multiple and different identities or personalities

These types of dissociation commonly occur when a person feels emotionally, physically and cognitively overwhelmed by a situation they are confronted with, or when that person feels unable to cope with or remove themselves/escape from the stressor. Dissociation is therefore often seen as an automatic and involuntary response to trauma, which may in fact be adaptive during a traumatic event as it helps an individual to survive or ‘get through’ in that moment. However, dissociation can become problematic when it persists after a trauma has passed.

These dissociative experiences indicate the likely presence of more complex mental health needs that require intervention and support, such as:

• Childhood Abuse & Trauma
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Psychosis

The good news is that there are many different types of treatment available to help people who struggle with Dissociation. This includes learning more about what dissociation is; identifying what causes and triggers it for you; learning skills to help you to manage dissociation and stay more grounded; and psychological therapy to address its cause.

Treatment for Dissociation

A combination of anti-depressant medication and psychological therapy may be used in the treatment and management of Dissociation, based on the mental health condition it is associated with. Treatments include:

• Trauma Focused Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT-T)
• CBT for Psychosis (CBT-P)
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

All of which are available at Sanctum, delivered by highly skilled and experienced practitioners.

Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a specific type of Anxiety Disorder that causes a person to feel anxious about a wide range of issues, rather than about one specific event. It may be difficult for the person to identify what they’re feeling anxious about. Not knowing what triggers the feelings of anxiety can increase its intensity, and the person may worry that there is no solution.

People with GAD often find that their anxiety has a significant impact upon their lives and that they feel persistently anxious most days. It can cause both psychological and physical symptoms. These vary from person to person, but can include:

• feeling restless or worried
• having trouble concentrating or sleeping
• a sense of dread
• feeling constantly “on edge”
• difficulty concentrating
• irritability
• dizziness or heart palpitations
• muscle aches and tension
• trembling or shaking
• shortness of breath

Treatment for Generalised Anxiety Disorder

The most effective approaches for the treatment of GAD include:

• Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy

We’re here for you. If you would like to enquire about treatment for GAD at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Bereavement refers specifically to the process of recovering from the death of a loved one.  There are various stages of mourning after bereavement, and the accompanying sense of grief and loss might come with a range of different emotions such as anger, sadness, anxiety and guilt.  The process of adapting to a significant loss can vary dramatically from one person to another. There is no right or wrong way.

The experience of grief and bereavement is not something a person can be expected to recover from completely, but time typically tempers its intensity. The term ‘Complicated Bereavement’ refers to a persistent form of bereavement that dominates a person’s life, interfering with daily functioning for an extended period of time. Help and support is at hand.

Treatment for Grief and Bereavement

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Narrative Therapy can all be helpful in enabling you to understand your loss and how it has impacted upon you and your life, whilst supporting you on your journey through the stages of grief. For some people, meeting and talking with others who have been through similar experiences is also incredibly effective.

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about support for your experience of Grief and Bereavement at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Health Anxiety, previously referred to as ‘Hypochondria’, is a type of anxiety disorder where the individual experiences excessive worry about their health. For example, that they may have cancer. The individual may subsequently fear that they are going to die or be significantly debilitated as a result.

For someone with Health Anxiety, you might experience the following symptoms:

• constant worry about your health
• frequent checking of your body for signs of illness such as lumps, tingling or pain
• frequently seeking reassurance from others that you’re not unwell such as your GP
• worry that your GP may be wrong or have missed something
• obsessive research into health information such as on the internet or in the media
• avoidance of anything related to serious illness such as on TV or in the paper
• acting as if you were ill even though not confirmed, such as by avoiding physical activity
• anxiety-related physical symptoms such as headaches, and a racing heart which you might mistake as evidence of illness

Treatment for Health Anxiety

Evidence shows that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is highly effective in treating Health Anxiety. If you would like to know more about treatment for Health Anxiety at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

‘Self-Esteem’ is related to how we view ourselves and others, and is concerned with the thoughts, beliefs and feelings we have about ourselves, our world and our future. Low Self-Esteem therefore refers to negative self-perception and negative feelings about one’s future and world, which culminates in a sense of low-self worth. For example, common beliefs include ‘i’m not good enough’; ‘i’m unloveable’, ‘i’m not attractive enough’ and so on.

It is normal for us to all experience negative or critical thoughts about ourselves from time-to-time. For people with Low Self-Esteem however, these experiences can be persistent, recurrent and debilitating.

The symptoms of Low Self-Esteem can include:

• negative or critical thoughts and commentary about ourselves
• negative predictions about what could go wrong
• anxiety and low mood
• increased avoidance and use of coping behaviours to alleviate these thoughts and feelings, but which often maintain and reinforce them
• isolation and loneliness

Treatment for Low Self-Esteem

Effective treatments for Low Self-Esteem include a specialist variation of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy developed by Melanie Fennell, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Compassion-Focused Therapy.

We’re here to help. If you would like to know more about treatment for Low Self-Esteem at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition in which a person experiences frequent obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours of different sorts.

To explain the terms:

• An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly and involuntarily enters the mind. This causes feelings of anxiety, disgust, shame or unease.
• A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that someone does to temporarily relieve the unpleasant feelings brought on by the obsessive thought.

OCD can be distressing and significantly interfere with a person’s life, but treatment can effectively enable a person to manage their symptoms.

Treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Evidence has shown the Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is highly effective in treating OCD and reducing the impact that this condition has on your life. Medication has also been found to be an effective treatment of OCD, and is often recommended in conjunction with psychological therapy for maximum effect. For this you would need to see a psychiatrist, something we can help you arrange if you so wish.

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for OCD at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

A panic attack is the sudden and unexpected experience of intense fear and anxiety that occurs alongside overwhelming physical symptoms. Panic attacks are relatively common, and most people will experience at least one in some form throughout their life. Panic Disorder is a form an anxiety disorder, where people experience recurrent panic attacks.

Symptoms of Panic Disorder include:

• intense anxiety and fear
• avoidance of situations for fear that they may trigger a panic attack
• anticipatory anxiety – ‘fear of fear’
• frightening and distressing physical symptoms which may trigger and worsen during the panic attack

Common physical symptoms include:

• a racing heart (palpitations)
• faintness or dizziness
• sweating
• nausea or a churning stomach
• chest pain and shortness of breath
• trembling and shaky limb
• hot flushes or chills
• a choking sensation
• numbness, pins and needles or tingling
• dry mouth
• ringing in your ears
• a sensation of feeling disconnected from your body
• a feeling of dread or fear of dying

Panic attacks are commonly mistaken for physical health problems, for example feeling as though you’re having a heart attack. They can therefore feel very incredibly frightening. We recommend that you first speak to your GP to rule out any underlying health conditions. Where no physical health difficulties are found, it may be that you are experiencing Panic Disorder.

Treatment for Panic Disorder

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) has been evidenced to be highly effective in the treatment of Panic Disorder.

We’re here to help. If you would like to know more about treatment for Panic Disorder at the Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Psychology is increasingly being applied to physical health conditions, to support people in the self-management of their long-term chronic conditions. It aims to support greater treatment adherence, improve quality of life and reduce the impact of these conditions on people’s mental health. Conditions where psychology is increasingly being applied include:

• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Respiratory Diseases such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Asthma
• Neurological conditions such as brain injury and Epilepsy
• Cancer
• HIV/AIDS
• Chronic Pain
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Mental health difficulties commonly associated with long-term physical health conditions include:

• Anxiety Disorder
• Depression
• Panic Disorder
• Self-Harm
• Suicidality

Treatment for Physical Health Conditions

Psychological treatment of long-term physical health conditions is routinely delivered alongside medical professionals as part of a multidisciplinary team approach. Whilst many of these conditions may not be ‘curable’, many people with chronic conditions greatly benefit from psychological treatment and support. A number of treatments have been shown to be effective which are offered at Sanctum including:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Mindfulness-Based Therapies
• Motivational Interviewing (MI)
• Narrative Therapy

We’re here to help. If you would like to know more about treatment and support for Physical Health Conditions at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Psychosis is an umbrella term used to describe various symptoms associated with different mental health conditions such as Schizophrenia. These symptoms include those that cause people to perceive or interpret things differently from those around them. This might involve experiences such as hearing or seeing things or holding unusual beliefs, which other people don’t experience or share. For many people, these psychotic experiences can be highly distressing and disruptive, interfering with everyday life, conversations, relationships, and finding or keeping a job.

Common symptoms of Psychosis include:

• anxiety and fear
• paranoia and suspiciousness
• visual hallucinations and/or voice-hearing
• ‘delusions’ or ‘unusual’ beliefs not shared by others, including those of a paranoid or grandiose nature (e.g. having a special super power
• disorganised thoughts, speech or behaviour
• disordered thinking such as jumping between unrelated topics and making ‘unusual’ connection between thoughts
• unresponsiveness, also known as ‘catatonia’
• difficulty concentrating
• sleep difficulties

Almost anyone can experience a brief psychotic episode; experiences are surprisingly common. Psychotic episodes are treatable and sufferers can make a complete recovery so do please seek treatment if this is something that you are struggling with. It is important that Psychosis be treated as soon as possible, as early treatment intervention can improve its effectiveness and promote greater recovery.

Click here for an excellent resource from the British Psychological Society about psychosis which features extensive information in accessible language.

Treatment for Psychosis

Treatment for Psychosis involves a combination of medication and psychological therapy depending on how it manifests for you. As such, consulting with a Psychiatrist in addition to psychological therapy can often be necessary. This is something we can support you with here at Sanctum.

We offer effective and evidence-based psychological treatments for Psychosis. These include:

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp)
• Family Therapy
• Narrative Therapy

We’re here to help. If you would like to enquire about treatment for Psychosis at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Self-Harm is the act of someone hurting or harming themselves. It includes:

• taking too many tablets, incurring an overdose
• cutting
• burning
• banging their head or throwing themselves against something hard
• punching themselves
• sticking things into their body
• swallowing dangerous objects

We understand that self-harm usually occurs in response to a state of high emotion, distress and unbearable inner turmoil. Whilst it may be planned in advance, for some individuals, it happens in the spur of the moment. Some people may self-harm once or twice, whilst others may do it regularly, and it can be hard to stop.

Some people may harm themselves in less obvious ways, but this is still serious. An individual may behave in ways that suggest they do not care whether they live or die –  taking drugs recklessly, having unsafe sex, binge drinking, or starving themselves.

Treatment for Self-Harm

Treatment for people who self-harm usually involves seeing a psychologist to help develop a joint understanding of the function of their self-harming behaviour, in addition to discussing your thoughts and feelings, and how these affect your behaviour and wellbeing. It will involve teaching you new skills and discovering alternative coping strategies that help prevent further episodes of self-harm. It is also important to talk to your support network (Family, friends, loved ones) about your self-harm. If you think you may be at risk of Self-Harm, it is important that you have a specialist assessment and access urgent help.

We are highly skilled at working with the management and treatment of Self-Harm. We offer the following evidence-based treatment options for Self-Harm:

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

We’re here for you. If you would like to enquire about treatment and support for Self-Harm at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

There are a wide range of Sleep Disorders that can affect the quality, timing and amount of sleep an individual gets. Whilst we can all be affected by sleep difficulties at some point in our lives, when these difficulties become persistent and chronic, they can have a significant impact on our day-to-day functioning and cause distress.

Commonly known Sleep Disorders include:

• Insomnia
• Narcolepsy
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea
• Restless Leg Syndrome

Sleep Disorders are known to contribute to and exacerbate a number of mental health conditions, and can also be symptomatic of them. They are known to be associated with:

• Anxiety Disorders
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Depression
• Psychosis

Treatment for Sleep Disorders

A number of therapies have been shown to be effective in the treatment of Sleep Disorders including:

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Mindfulness-Based Therapies

In some cases medication may also be used in conjunction with therapy, in which case a referral to a psychiatrist may be necessary. We are able to support you with this to ensure you receive the care you need.

We’re here to help. If you would like to know more about accessing treatment for Sleep Disorders at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is a highly common anxiety disorder, which involves a long-lasting and overwhelming fear of social situations. SAD usually starts during people’s teenage years and it is a relatively common and normal experience for us all from time-to time and across particular situations. For example, public speaking. For some people it gets better as they learn new ways to cope, although for many it does not go away on its own. It can be very distressing and have a significant impact on people’s lives, but there are effective ways to help people overcome it.

Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

SAD is more than mere shyness. Many people will occasionally worry about social situations, but someone with SAD may feel excessively worried before, during and after these situations. We understand social anxiety as sitting on a spectrum, with SAD sitting at the extreme end.

You may have SAD if you:

• dread everyday activities, such as meeting strangers, starting conversations, speaking on the phone, working or shopping
• avoid or worry excessively about social activities, such as group conversations, eating with company, and parties
• excessively worry about doing something you think is embarrassing, such as blushing, sweating, stuttering or appearing incompetent
• find it difficult to do things when others are watching – you may feel like you’re being watched and judged all the time
• fear criticism, avoid eye contact or have low self-esteem
• experience symptoms such as feeling sick, sweating, trembling or a pounding heartbeat (palpitation)
• experience panic attacks, where you have an overwhelming sense of fear and anxiety

Treatment for Social Anxiety Disorder

Psychological therapy is an effective treatment for SAD, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are highly recommended approaches to help people understand, manage and overcome the underlying causes and symptoms of SAD.

We’re here for you. If you would like to enquire about treatment for SAD at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

A Specific Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder, characterised by intense anxiety and overwhelming fear or disgust of particular things. Common examples include:

• Animal phobias – such as dogs, rodents, spiders or snakes
• Environmental phobias – such as heights, deep water and germs
• Situational phobias – such as visiting the dentist or flying
• Bodily phobias – such as blood, vomit or having injections
• Sexual phobias – such as performance anxiety or fear of contracting a sexually transmitted infection

Whilst it is entirely normal to feel anxious or fearful of certain things from time-to-time, for those of you with a Specific Phobia, you may likely experience excessive levels of fear and anxiety, which are disproportionate to the actual level of danger posed by the situation. This fear reaction however often feels out of our control and automatic, even though we may recognise this. Consequently, these phobias can have a hugely debilitating impact on our quality of life, wellbeing and ability to function in day-to-day life.

It is not uncommon for Specific Phobias to be accompanied by panic attacks, anticipatory anxiety and other uncomfortable physical symptoms of anxiety including:

• a racing heart(palpitations)
• sweating
• feeling dizzy or faint
• finding it hard to swallow
• trembling or shaking
• pain or discomfort in your chest
• struggling to breathe
• numbness and pins and needles

Treatment for Specific Phobias

The evidence shows that Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is highly effective in the treatment of Specific Phobias, and in reducing the impact that these phobias have on your life.

We’re here to help. If you would like to know more about treatment for a Specific Phobia at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

Everyone experiences feelings of stress from time-to-time and in modern-day life, this is commonly deemed ‘normal’. However, it is important to recognise when ‘acceptable’ amounts of stress are beginning to increase. It may start to cause you physical and emotional exhaustion that requires help and support. The pressures of modern-day living can cause even the strongest of us to ‘burn-out’, and this can have adverse effects on our ability to function ‘normally’ or cope.

Causes of Stress

Managing stress is something most of us must learn in order to engage and function in everyday life. Some causes of stress include:

• financial worries
• family responsibilities
• feeling compelled to compete or be perfect
• high expectations and pressures from self and others
• working in a high stress environment
• the influence of social media and modern-day technology

Treatment for Stress

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy can be very effective in enabling people to develop stress management strategies and to explore different patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving that may be contributing to the experience of stress.

We’re here for you. If you would like to enquire about treatment and support for stress at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.

The term ‘Suicidality’ refers to ideation, thoughts, planning, gestures and attempts of suicide, and very sadly for some, the finite act of taking their own life. It is not a mental health disorder of its own accord, but rather it is considered a symptom of and associated with other mental health conditions and difficult circumstances.

It is estimated that in the UK, a person takes their own life every two-hours, and twenty-times as many attempt suicide. Whilst rates of suicide overall have decreased in the last few years, it continues to be the leading cause of death in young people aged between 20-34 years old, and the leading cause of death in men under 50-years old in the UK. Research shows that three-times as many men will die from suicide compared to women, and it is suggested that socio-cultural influences such as stigma and gender-related expectations continue to prevent men from accessing help.

Some mental health conditions associated with Suicidality include:

• Abuse and Trauma
• Depression
• Personality Disorders
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Self-Harm

Treatment for Suicidality

Many people wait a long time before seeking help for Suicidality, but it is best not to delay. You are not alone. The sooner you seek professional help, the sooner you can be on your way to recovery and building a life worth living. If you think you may be at risk of suicidality, it is important that you have a specialist assessment and access urgent help.

Depending on your individual needs, a combination of anti-depressant medication and psychological therapy has been shown to be most effective in the treatment of Suicidality. Here at Sanctum we can support you psychologically, however a referral to a psychiatrist may be necessary to seek pharmacological support such as antidepressant medication. We can aid you in finding a suitable psychiatrist for your needs.

Some of the evidence-based treatments we can offer include:

• Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
• Compassion Focused Therapy
• Acceptance and Oommitment Therapy
• Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT)

We’re here to help. If you would like to access support and treatment for your experience of Suicidality at Sanctum, please contact us to arrange an assessment.