All feelings and mental experiences are normal. Though sometimes we experience them intensely or they get out of balance. When our inner functioning is at its optimum and we effectively use all of our innate potential, in our work and the rest of our life, we are at our peak “mental wellness.”

Mental wellness shows itself when we demonstrate:

• awareness of our own emotions
• initiative
• embracing change and the unknown
• purposeful attention
• creativity
• inner motivation
• having insights
• self-management.

These are all inner abilities that can be developed. You can improve your mental wellness with a proactive approach – just like going to the gym.

We have two minds: one that thinks and one that feels. We see this when, for example, we say we don’t care about our ex, as our eyes well up with tears.

Evolution grew the brain from the bottom up and its biological development today still roughly follows this course:

• The instinctive “brainstem” develops first: it regulates basic functions like breathing.
• Next comes the emotional centre: it learns and remembers feelings.
• Then the thinking, rational brain develops – this part let’s us use logic, plan, and have thoughts about our feelings. Culture and civilisation come from our complex thinking brain.

Our thinking brain and emotional brain are strongly connected. Studies of patients with damaged emotional centres show flawed decision-making despite a stable IQ – feelings are necessary for rational decisions. They need to work together harmoniously. But emotional memories and reactions can bypass the thinking brain and form without any conscious thought at all.

Emotional memories imprint the strongest. They can affect our reactions and decisions in the future. Many are formed in the first few years of life. This is when the thinking brain is not fully developed but the emotional centre is close to formed. In this way, life’s earliest experiences form potent blueprints.

Our individual blueprints – from birth through all our experiences in life – are explored in therapy. Really, therapy is just talking – but using skilful techniques it uncovers our emotional memories and our unconscious patterns.

In doing so we grow aware of their influence and – ultimately – have more choice in our life decision.

Our therapists are trained in a wide range of approaches. All have a Certificate/Diploma/Degree in one (or more) NICE recommended therapy for adults. The most common are integrated, psychodynamic, person-centred, psychoanalytic and cognitive behavioural. You can read more about the different approaches here. Our questionnaire will help you find the right therapist for you.

However, we think you are the best judge of who you want to work with. We believe the precise therapy model is not something to worry about in advance, and many therapists integrate a range of approaches. Ultimately, you know best what you want, who you feel comfortable working with and who you feel will get the best from you.

The first step is to have a chat and whilst doing so simply ask yourself – ‘Can I talk to this person?’

Decades of research has shown that it does. 28% of the British population have talked to a therapist at some point. Therapy is not new. “Talking cures” have been around for decades (or millennia, depending how you look at it). Since 1900 modern techniques have been empirically developed and therapy continues to be increasingly popular.

Therapy online is virtually the same as therapy in person in the same room as your therapist. The methodologies used are the same.

There are some key differences, however, in our delivery method:

• It’s convenient: no travelling time to and from your therapist’s location
• It’s comfortable: you choose where you talk, from the comfort of your own home, office or location of your choice
• It’s flexible: with The Circle Line, you choose when you have therapy, from first thing in the morning, lunchtime, late at night or at weekends.
• It provides a matching tool: guiding you through some considerations in choosing the right person for you and encouraging you to “shop around” at a low cost
• It can be anonymous: if you wish to talk and not use video, you can
• It can be disinhibiting: there is evidence that talking to a professional online allows us to be more open

Some say therapy online is less personal. Some say that the relationship between you and your therapist is less intimate. We say that is up to you. It is up to you how you use your therapy time, what you explore and if and when you want to find an in-person therapist instead. There is no right way, and there is a time and place for each methodology. We are here to give you options.

This is totally up to you and want you want and expect to achieve. Some people are looking to do some short term work, some are committed to a longer, deeper process. We would recommend having a series of at least 6 sessions with the same practitioner as a minimum. Ultimately, it’s up to you.

We’ll match you with 3 people that our matching technology suggests are suitable for you. You can change practitioner any time if you feel the sessions aren’t working for you for whatever reason. You can also change your answers to the questions to get new suggested practitioners.

We would recommend talking to your practitioner about any concerns before you stop your sessions. Sometimes our reasons for wanting to stop or find someone else are all part of the learning experience and can tell us something about what is really going on for us. As we always encourage… do talk it through.

The simple answer is the level and depth of the practitioner’s training. Here are some of the key differences between the two:

Our online Therapy Room will work with most modern browsers. We recommend Google Chrome! The technology we use is a standard part of most browsers, and the easiest way to check is to use this testing tool: 

http://test.webrtc.org

Allow access to microphone & camera, then simply press the green ‘Start’ button to start the test.

The tool will check whether your browser is capable of using our Therapy Room. Most are.