Eileen has managed various mental health Units and has written a Health Authority Approved Care Programme for treating eating disorders in the community. She established the first Therapeutic Community, outside of a hospital setting, for the treatment of psychological issues in a non-medical environment. For this Eileen was registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection as a Service Provider, Clinical Director, Unit Manager and Responsible Person.
In recognition of her outstanding contribution to those suffering with eating disorders, Eileen was nominated for a National Award by the Eating Disorders Association in 2005. She has appeared on television and is involved in a series of programmes on the radio about raising psychological and emotional awareness in the community.
Psycho-synthesis, Transpersonal Psychology, movement and drama therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Solution-Focused and Cognitive Behavioural therapies are all part of Eileen's training, as well as her main discipline in Personal Construct Psychology.
Eileen offers a client-based, holistic and integrated service, she is led by the client's need at the first meeting. She is clear and non-judgemental in her approach. An ongoing assessment of the situation is an integral part of therapy to ensure that the client participates in their own progress or recovery. This ensures that the client is empowered and respected at all times.
Depending upon the need of the client, Eileen can offer one to one consultation in England and in Southern Spain.
Eileen also offers intensive therapy for the treatment of eating disorders in Spain. This includes working with the individual and family sessions where necessary. Ongoing support is also offered for the client, family and friends in the form of structured contact and strategy planning. Although family involvement is often useful, confidentiality is of prime concern as trust is a core issue for most people and it must therefore be totally respected. Interspersed with these intensive sessions are planned email and telephone contact.
As human beings we are all subject to addictions whether they are the result of social conditioning or conscious choices we make in life. They show themselves in our patterns of behaviour, our thoughts and belief systems.
Of course generally speaking they do not become a problem for us. In fact they give us the structure that forms our daily lives as we behave in a trance without conscious thought for most of our time. Do you make a decision about what you do when you get up in the morning, or do you start your day with your eyes still half closed as you stumble to find your way to the bathroom?
The problem with addictions is when the degree of the dependence upon any particular behaviour is so extreme that it begins to ruin our lives, relationships and our mental health and physical
well-being.
ADDICTION TO SUBSTANCES
"The use of mood altering substances is something that I have protected to the very last despite all the damage they have caused because I could not see how I could manage my life and my emotions without them."
The great paradox of recovery is that it is only when we give up trying to control our moods and emotions that we do find peace of mind. We learn to distinguish those things we can change from those we cannot and realise that there is "more to me than my emotion and my behaviour".
ANGER AND ANXIETY
This approach applies to how we manage substance addiction, addictive behaviour such as the compulsive helper, anxiety and anger as they all form that part of our support system that we cannot imagine life without. Anger and anxiety can be very useful tools to control others in our lives. Understanding why we need to do this, without judgement is the basis of all change.
LOW SELF ESTEEM, FOOD ISSUES
Low self-esteem is the underlying cause for most of our emotional pain. When our sensitivity to the world we live in is great, then we need something to help us deal with that pain. For some people food and weight are the tools of choice, we all know that food and weight are not the issue but are merely the silent language of emotional pain. The same is true of drugs and alcohol.
So the question then is, "...how do I manage my world and my pain without these tools?"
The physical effects and the traumas we impose upon our minds, bodies and spirits cannot be ignored and the approach must be an holistic one.
RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS
Relationships will suffer when addictive behaviour and thinking is present. The same level of consciousness is necessary when we start to work with people and their partnerships. Learning to hear what is being said without automatically preparing our reply is one of the basic skills in repairing damaged and suffering relationships.
Understanding without blame is the way to healing any relationship. It is of course necessary to look into our past but it does need to be done in a way that comes from a desire to repair and empathise rather than blame and criticise. Learning how to do this and deal with the sometimes justifiable anger and resentment is a process that allows the respectful release of these emotions.
One of the problems we face today is that there is no appropriate expression for our anger. Physical exercise is an important way of releasing trapped emotion and in many of our schools today this is no longer part of the curriculum. Hence we have football violence and other anti-social expressions of emotion, of course that is very simplistic and the problem is more profound than just exercise.
This approach is not just relevant to marriages and other committed relationships, but to work, school, college and any situation where the interaction with another is causing pain, anger, frustration and misunderstanding.
WEIGHT LOSS
Once again the emphasis must be on understanding why the behaviour with food is so important to that person. We all know that yo-yo dieting does not work so why are so many people obsessed with it? Society does all it can to maintain that obsession as it is the focus of a great commercial industry. Research shows that 97% of people who go on a diet will weigh more a year later than they did at the beginning.
It is crucial to understand that it has little to do with self-control, lack of will power and all of the other traits that characterise society's attitude to weight loss. The investment in the behaviour, an understanding of how food affects our physical and mental health and how binges create cravings, are all aspects to be addressed when looking at how to maintain weight loss.
TRAUMA
Deep trauma can affect a person many years after the event which precipitated it. Recognising this and learning how to manage the resulting anxiety and panic is the basis of working with this painful life experience.
Understanding and support must be given in practical ways as well as offering emotional and often spiritual support as the loss of the sense of self can be profoundly disturbing to the sufferer.
It is important to create strategies and ways in which the daily life of the sufferer can be managed whilst working on the issues and memories trapped within.
A non-judgemental and empathic approach is the basis of this way of working with all of the above issues.
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