Dr Loumidis has helped
hundreds of people to overcome their problems.
He skilfully tailors
empirically based psychological therapies, of scientifically proven
efficacy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, to personal
sensitivities and individual circumstances.
- Over a lifetime, about one in three of us with have a problem with stress
- Over a 20 year period, 75% of women and 50% of men consult their GP about a mental health problem
- Anxiety and depression account for one-third of days lost from work due to ill-health
- Anxiety and depression are now the most common problems among long-term sickness benefits claims.
- These problems case as much severe impairments in social and physical functioning as chronic physical illnesses
- Anxiety, panic, depression, phobias, poor sleep, and trauma, are more common than psychotic illnesses
- Most people with common mental health problems do not receive any treatment.
Range
of Therapy
The choice of psychological treatment (or therapy) depends on your
individual needs and preferences and Dr Loumidis will discuss this
matter with you. Individually tailored therapies combining elements
from various
therapies are also available for certain types of problems. Dr Loumidis
offers a wide range of scientifically based and clinically tested
psychological treatments (or therapies). Every person is treated as an
individual and your idiosyncratic problem formulation will form the
basis of your individual treatment plan. Dr Loumidis will periodically
evaluate how well you are progressing, by using a range of outcome
measures and psychometric tests and
discuss your progress with you.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is the most researched
psychotherapy, which has been proved to be effective in the treatment
of several disorders (Department of Health, 2001). Behavioural and
Cognitive Psychotherapies are psychological approaches which are based
on scientific principles and which research has shown to be effective
for a wide range of problems. CBT helps people identify and understand
problems in
terms of the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The
approach usually focuses on difficulties
in the here and now, and relies on you and Dr Loumidis developing a
shared view of your problems. This then
leads to the identification of personalised, time-limited therapy goals
and strategies, which are continually monitored and evaluated. More
information is available from the British
Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP).
Counselling
Counselling is a systematic process which gives individuals an
opportunity to explore, discover and clarify ways
of living more resourcefully, with a greater sense of well being.
Counselling may be concerned with addressing
and resolving specific problems, making decisions, coping with crises,
working through conflict, or improving relationships with others.
Bereavement Counselling
When someone close to us dies or is in the process of dying, people may
have trouble coping with the intense feelings of grief, or may feel a
strong sense of isolation or confusion. Some people find it helpful to
talk about
these feelings with someone from outside their family or friends.
Bereavement counselling focuses on helping people and relatives
understand their grief and to adjust to life after loss. It can also
help people to understand other people around them who may be
expressing their grief in different ways.
Behavioural Therapy
Behavioural therapy is based on the principle that many of our actions
are the result of things that we have learned in the past or more
recently. The focus of behavioural interventions is on definable
behaviours that can
be readily monitored and addressed in therapeutic interventions. It is
a very directive therapy which sets objectives (in collaboration with
you) for you to attain. Dr Loumidis will offer you homework assignments
to help you understand your difficulties and achieve your goals. It is
particularly good for treating phobias, obsessional and compulsive
behaviour and can also be helpful in dealing with some sexual problems.
Anxiety management
and exposure therapy are particular types of behavioural therapy.
Anxiety Management
This approach involves a varying mixture of behavioural strategies. The
strategies commonly include education about the nature of anxiety (e.g.
fight-or-flight response), recognising hyperventilation, the
slow-breathing technique, relaxation training and graded exposure.
Stress management, assertiveness training and structured
problem-solving may also be included, depending on your needs.
Graded Exposure
People who avoid particular places or people because of anxiety (i.e.
those suffering from phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder or panic)
are encouraged gradually to face the things they fear, starting with
easy situations and building up slowly to harder things. Breathing and
relaxation techniques are used to help you remain in the feared
situation until the anxiety diminishes and you can learn that you can
cope with the situation. Dr Loumidis
will prepare you and provide you with support but will not always need
to accompany you in your assignments.
Compliance Therapy
This is a form of counselling, usually used for people with severe
mental illness who are reluctant to take medication. It encourages you
to take an active role in monitoring your illness and negotiating
treatment
decisions. Your views about medication are elicited, ambivalence
explored and options considered in an
atmosphere of support and empathy, avoiding blaming. This interactive
approach has proved more successful
than a simple didactic approach.
Family Interventions (for people with
schizophrenia)
A form of 'psycho-social intervention', this comprises giving
information to you and your family about the illness, and helping them
to improve their ability and confidence in tackling problems
effectively. The approach is broadly behavioural and the family is
encouraged to set realistic goals. This means that the family is able
to avoid making unrealistic demands on you and to make the environment
of the person who is ill less stressful. Relapse rates are reduced.
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal psychotherapy uses the connection between the onset of
symptoms and current interpersonal problems as a treatment focus. It
deals with current, rather than past, relationships, and maintains a
clear focus on your social context and dysfunction rather than your
personality.
Problem Solving Therapy
Structured problem solving can help you sort out and deal with stresses
that contribute to worry and depression. It involves encouraging you to
identify specific problems, to order them in terms of importance and
then to focus
on one problem at a time, writing down potential solutions and
identifying specific steps that they might take to implement the
solutions. A main aim is to assist you to incorporate the principles of
efficient problem solving and goal achievement into your everyday
lives. The aim is not for Dr Loumidis to solve your problems for you,
but to give you skills so that you can effectively overcome problems
and achieve goals for yourself. Self-management
is a key goal, with Dr Loumidis adopting the role of teacher or guide.
Motivational Interviewing
This is a directive, client-centred counselling style for eliciting
behaviour change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence.
Compared with nondirective counselling, it is more focused and
goal-directed. The examination and resolution of ambivalence is its
central purpose, and Dr Loumidis will be intentionally directive in
pursuing this goal. It can be helpful for people with alcohol problems,
drug addictions, gambling problems, and
also a wider range of problems where people are resistant or ambivalent
about changing.
Supportive Psychotherapy
Some people have ongoing difficulties in their lives which cannot be
resolved, who become disorganized when confronted with stressful
situations, or may have a personality style which makes it very
difficult for them to benefit from other treatments. Dr Loumidis will
offer a safe and trustworthy forum in which you discuss the troubling
aspects of your lives and act as a strong guide/authority figure,
outlining things that the you should do and not do. This type of
therapy is not exploratory and doesn't delve into the past histories.
Schema Therapy
Schema therapy is an innovative psychotherapy for personality
disorders, chronic depression, and other difficult individual and
couples problems. Schema therapy integrates elements of cognitive
therapy, behaviour therapy, object relations, and gestalt therapy into
one unified, systematic approach to treatment.
Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)
REBT (formerly known as RET) is a form of Cognitive Behavioural
Therapy. REBT is an action- and results
oriented psychotherapy which teaches individuals how to identify their
own self-defeating thoughts, beliefs and actions and replace them with
more effective, life-enhancing ones.
Psychosexual Counselling
This is a specialist form of counselling which can offer help for range
of problems such as general sexual problems (such as difficulty
reaching orgasm, pain during intercourse, problems controlling
ejaculation or in reaching
orgasm) sexual health concerns, sexual phobias and paraphilias, gender
dysphoria and sexual orientation difficulties.
Systemic Therapy
Systemic and family therapy aims to identify and explore patterns of
belief and behaviour in roles and
relationships. The therapist actively intervenes to enable people to
decide where change would be desirable and
to facilitate the process of establishing new, more fulfilling and
useful patterns. Therapy is often relatively short term.
Individually Tailored
Therapies
Often people's difficulties need to be understood and formulated using
more than one theoretical framework and
Dr Loumdis may choose a mix of techniques from more than one therapy
approach. The resulting therapy is pragmatic, tailored to the
individual.
References
WHO (2004). WHO guide to mental and neurological
health in primary care (2nd edition) London: Royal Society of Medicine
Press.
Clinics:
10 Harley Street, London
Apley Clinic, Telford
Holmfield Consulting Rooms, Leicester
Leicester Nuffield Hospital
Shropshire Nuffield Hospital
Wolverhampton Nuffield Hospital
South Bank Hospital, Worcester
Spire Clinic, Droitwich
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