Approach

In collaboration with the client, Marlies designs a comprehensive action and treatment plan to facilitate change based on a thorough assessment of the client's situation, individual needs and preferences.

She takes an eclectic approach and may combine counselling methods such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Solution-focused and Choice Theory approaches. With these evidence based therapies, Marlies incorporates elements from psychotherapy, such as the Inner Space Techniques, Focussing, Gestalt, Art, Narrative and Sand Play Therapy. She also offers Mindfulness training, Meditation, Relaxation, Emotional Freedom Technique, Brain Gym and Bush and Bach Flower Remedies.

She believes in promoting self-esteem, motivation and self-mastery skills and puts a strong focus on helping the clients identify their strengths and resources. She also assists clients in the process of self-development work and provides a safe space for self-discovery.

Counselling is based on the development of a trusting relationship and strict adherence to confidentiality.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a form of brief psychotherapy that is based on the premise that our thoughts affect the way we feel and behave. The therapist helps the client to identify 'faulty thinking' patterns and practice replacing them with more helpful ways of thinking.

CBT requires a collaborative working relationship between client and therapist. The therapist seeks to understand what the client wants out of life and then sets an agenda for each session in which the client is taught how to think and behave in ways to achieve his/her goals.

CBT is a method that has proven to be very helpful in cases of depression, anxiety and panic disorder.

Reality Therapy

Reality Therapy is a cognitive behavioural approach in psychotherapy that is based on Glasser's Choice Theory. It focuses on identifying the 'quality world' of the client, the things he/she values, believes and desires. The therapist will then challenge the client to reflect on whether their choices and behaviours are consistent and helpful in regard to achieving the life quality desired, or whether they are unhelpful. The client is strongly encouraged to make choices and to take action and control of his/her own life.

Reality Therapy has been proven to be a useful tool for educational and behavioural issues at school for children and adolescents. It is also a helpful approach for addressing relationship problems.

Solution-Focused Therapy

Solution-focused Therapy is another brief therapy that has a strongly future focused orientation. As opposed to analyzing a problem and past issues associated with it, Solution Focused Therapy is goal directed and focuses on solutions to the problems that brought clients to therapy. It furthermore holds that the client is the expert who has the solution to his problems within. The role of the therapist is to help identify and draw attention to existing strengths and resources of the client, that is to point out choices that have worked in the past and encourage the client to do more of them. Likewise the therapist will also help to identify solutions that have not worked and encourage the client to discontinue them.

For more information see:

What is Solution-focused Therapy?
Ezine Article: Solution-focused Therapy

Motivational Interviewing

Motivational interviewing evolved from experience in the treatment of problem drinkers and is frequently used to address addictive and substance abuse behaviours but has been successfully applied to other issues as well. It is based on the premise that the motivation for change cannot come from without but must evolve within the client. The therapist works in partnership with the client and assists with the exploration and resolution of ambivalence. This process plays a key role to generate intrinsic motivation for behaviour change in the client. It is furthermore conceptualised that clients go through different stages in regard to readiness for change. He/she may be content with the status quo, start consider change or may have already implemented change. The therapists will adjust his/her involvement and strategies pending on where the client is placed on the cycle of readiness for change.

Narrative Therapy

Narrative therapy holds that our identities are shaped by the accounts of our lives found in our stories or narratives. This approach encourages the client to examine, evaluate, and change their relationship to a problem by acting as an "investigative reporter" who is not at the centre of the investigation. It is the therapist's role to ask questions that help the client to extenalise the problem and investigate its influence on his/her life thoroughly. The term "narrative" reflects the multi-storied nature of our identities and related meanings. Narrative therapy is a brief therapy approach.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be described as a mental state that is characterized by concentrated awareness of one's thoughts, actions or motivations. Mindfulness has its origins in Buddhism and has lately been adopted by Western Psychology to address a number of medical and psychiatric conditions, as well as chronic pain and stress. Mindfulness Meditation has also been clinically shown to be effective for anxiety and panic, depression, obsessive thinking, strong emotional reactivity, and a wide array of medical and mental health related conditions.

Mindfulness is a brief therapy as it will only take a limited amount of time to teach its key principles. However, the practice and refinement of mindfulness applied in everyday life situations is an ongoing process.

Focussing

Focussing was developed in the 50ties by Gendlin, a philosopher and psychotherapist, during his research with Carl Rogers. It is a technique that can be successfully used in any kind of therapeutic situation. It consists of sensing vague, still unformed feelings in the body and then connecting this sensing (which Gendlin called the 'felt sense') with words and images that describe it. During this process there is often an opening or release in the body. The role of the therapist is to help the client presence and deepen the felt sense by reflecting the words and images back to the client.

Focusing is a technique that can be successfully used in any kind of therapeutic situation and may also be applied outside of therapy in peer-to-peer sessions to address a variety of issues.

Inner Space Techniques (IST)

ISIS, which stands for Inner Space Interactive Sourcing, is a technique for sourcing and transforming conditioned emotions, attitudes and beliefs. ISIS was developed for a therapy context by a group of physicians, psychologists, naturopaths and health practitioners working with Samuel Sagan M.D., the founder of the Clairvision School of meditation.

IST combines processes of self-knowledge and inner exploration, such as ISIS; energetic healing (as in acupuncture, but without needles); clearing techniques designed to deal with negative and parasitic energies; relaxation, energy management and meditation practices.

IST empowers clients by giving them an active role in the healing process. For more information on IST visit innerspacetechniques.com

Relaxation Techniques

There are a wide range of activities that helps a person to reduce levels of anxiety, stress or tension, to relax and to attain a state of increased calmness. In the context of your treatment you may be taught some breathing and progressive muscle relaxation exercises and/or be introduced to visualisation and the benefits of meditation.

Meditation

Meditation refers to a range of techniques that are practiced to help stop the chatter of the mind and internalize consciousness. The regular practice of meditation can lead to deep levels of self-exploration, inner awakening and shifts of consciousness. Most of these techniques originated in Eastern religious or spiritual traditions and have been used by many different cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. These days, many people practice meditation for health and wellness purposes to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, pain, insomnia, and to address physical and emotional symptoms that may be associated with chronic illness.

Meditators commonly report feeling a deep state of relaxation, mental calmness and emotional balance after their practices and there seems to be a large body of practice based evidence of its health and psychological benefits. Experiments have shown that people in the state of deep mediation commonly show decreased muscle tension, lowered blood pressure and a slowing down of the heart and breath rates. Results of a study on children suffering ADHD found a 35% improvement in their symptoms after having practiced meditation twice a day.

For more information see:

Inner Space Techniques
NCCAM: Meditation for Health Purposes
ABC Science News: Meditation helps kids with ADHD

Sand Play Therapy

Sand Play Therapy is a projective technique in which the client creates a three-dimensional picture with miniature figures in a tray of sand. It facilitates unconscious processes to become visible which then can be explored and solutions to problems can be trialed. The client takes the lead in the session and the role of the therapist consists in being the facilitator, providing a supportive and safe environment.

Sand play therapy can be a helpful tool for the clarification of issues and playful investigation of possible solutions to a problem. It is also useful in the exploration of emotional issues that are deeply seated and which are difficult to express with words.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a powerful and highly effective personal development tool which can be used in versatile ways. It is based on the premise that negative emotions are caused by a disruption of the energy system of the body and consists of a combination of affirmative statements and the tapping of meridian points in order to release negative emotional charges and stress.

EFT is based on a simple technique that can be learned in one session and later be applied to a wide range of situations as needed. Practiced based evidence suggests that EFT has alleviated people from symptoms experienced in PTSD and phobias, diffused anxiety, anger and symptoms of physical pain, successfully addressed issues of addictive behaviours and helped to facilitate weight loss, the re-establishment of self-esteem, coping with transition and change and many more issues.

Bush Flower Essences

The Australian Bush Flower Essences were developed by Ian White, an Australian herbalist, naturopath and homeopath following his insights and inspirations he received during meditation. Similar to the Bach Flower Remedies, they consist of tinctures made by immersing flower and plant material in spring water. Their value has been described as being a catalyst to help resolve a vast range of negative emotional states, restore emotional, spiritual and mental harmony and develop intuitive abilities.

Bachflower Remedies

The Bach Flower Remedies were developed in the 1930's by Edward Bach, an English bacteriologist and homeopathic physician. They consist of homeopathic dilutions of flower material and are used primarily for emotional and spiritual conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress. The most well known flower remedy is the Rescue Remedy combination.

Brain Gym

Brain Gym has been developed by Paul and Gail Dennison's work in the 1970s in their search for more effective ways to help learning disabled children and adults. It consists of a number of exercises, the Brain Gym movements, which are said to create new neurological pathways in the brain and activate it for optimal storage and retrieval of information. Brain Gym is part of Educational Kinesiology which is a form of Applied Kinesiology.