Individual Therapy at Koira Psychology
Whether you are feeling anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, or simply stuck, Individual Therapy at Koira Psychology offers an opportunity to slow down and make sense of what you are experiencing. Psychologists Jerodine and Mark Newman use a depth-oriented approach that can help you move towards greater self-acceptance, contentment, and lasting psychological change.
Looking Beyond the Symptoms
Many people begin therapy because they are struggling with persistent anxiety, recurring depression, chronic stress, relationship difficulties, or a sense of feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck. These experiences can have a profound impact on daily life, affecting our relationships, work, confidence, and sense of wellbeing.
At Koira Psychology, we recognise that while these symptoms are often the expressions of deeper psychological and emotional processes rather than problems that exist in isolation.
Therfore, our approach to therapy is depth-oriented. Rather than focusing on just reducing your symptoms, we also work with you to understand why they have developed, what they may be communicating, and what underlying patterns continue to maintain them. By understanding these deeper processes, therapy aims to create meaningful and lasting change, rather than temporary relief.
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change”
Carl Rogers
Therapy Tailored to Fit You
No two people have lived the same life, developed the same personality, or experienced the same challenges. The combination of your history, relationships, values, strengths, and ways of coping are unique to you.
For this reason, we do not believe therapy should follow a single formula or rely on the same techniques for every client. Instead, we take the time to understand who you are, what has shaped your life, and what you hope to achieve in therapy.
Our aim at Koira is not to fit you into a model of therapy, but to adapt therapy to fit you.
“The attempt to escape from pain, is what creates more pain.”
Gabor Maté
Developing a Deeper Understanding
Every person's story and personality is unique. Therapy is not about applying the same solution to everyone, but about understanding how your life experiences, relationships, personality, and emotional patterns have shaped the difficulties you are experiencing today.
Together, we explore your inner world with curiosity rather than judgement. We seek to understand recurring patterns, internal conflicts, ways of relating to others, and the coping strategies that may once have protected you but no longer serve you.
This process often helps people develop greater self-awareness, emotional acceptance, and a clearer understanding of how to live a better life.
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely”
Carl Jung
More Than Coping
Learning practical coping strategies and medications can be valuable, particularly during periods of significant distress. However, coping strategies and medications alone do not resolve the underlying causes of psychological distress and relationship problems.
Our aim at Koira is not to help you manage symptoms, but to understand the factors that continue to generate them, to work towards a resolution.
As therapy progresses, many people develop a greater capacity to:
understand, accept, and regulate their emotions
increase self-care and self-acceptance
respond more thoughtfully, rather than react automatically
develop healthier boundaries in relationships, and find connection balanced with autonomy
build courage to face fear and be assertive
reconnect with their values, purpose, and sources of meaning
When the underlying causes of psychological distress begin to change, your symptoms of anxiety, depression, and emotion dysregulation become less intense and less frequent, rather than simply being pushed down and managed.
"We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us."
Virginia Satir
The Therapeutic Relationship
One of the most important parts of therapy is the relationship between you and your psychologist.
We believe meaningful change occurs only when the therapeutic relationship is safe, collaborative, and respectful. Therapy should always provides a space where strong emotions can be explored without judgement, new perspectives can emerge, and different ways of relating to yourself and others can gradually develop.
"Follow your heart but take your brain with you."
Alfred Adler
Lasting Change
Our goal is not simply to help you feel better today.
Our goal is to help you understand yourself more fully, find the courage to navigate life's inevitable challenges, and make changes that continue long after therapy has finished.
Whether you are experiencing anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, grief, trauma, or simply feeling disconnected from the life you want to live, Therapy at Koira Psychology offers a place to slow down, understand what is happening beneath the surface, and work towards meaningful and lasting change.
How Individual Therapy at Koira with Jerodine and Mark can help you with these problems
-
Anxiety is a natural response to something that has harmed us in the past, and may harm us in the future. Feeling low levels of anxiety from time to time is healthy and normal. However, many of us frequently experience extended periods of high anxiety, and be unaware of the cause. We can also feel helpless when trying to lower how anxious we feel. One of the main goals of therapy is to identify the cause of your anxiety and help you find a way to reduce your anxiety to an appropriate level.
-
Depression is what happens to us when we cannot cope with life’s difficulties and the strong emotions that come with these difficulties. To stop this overwhelming emotional experience, we disconnect from ourselves and others, which leads to depression. Therapy can help you to find a way to accept and live with life’s difficulties and strong emotions, so you can stay connected and keep living a healthy life.
-
The one thing that is constant in life is change. We are constantly having to adjust and find new ways to live. But change is hard to accept and to do. In therapy, we help you accept the changes in your life, and assist you in finding new ways to adapt and thrive in this ever changing world.
-
Stress is good for us, in small doses over short periods of time. Low-level stress can lead to strength and growth. However, if we are overwhelmed with long periods of stress or high doses of stress, it can damage our health, relationships, and quality of life. In therapy, we help you to identify how you can better respond to stress, and avoid creating additional stress in your life.
-
Death and loss in life are inevitable. The healthy response is grief. However, grief and sadness can be emotionally overwhelming, and we may unconsciously seek to avoid it. In therapy, we can help you to face your loss and accept what is very painful to accept, so you can start to live again.
-
We are experiencing emotions (feelings) all our lives. However, in our childhood, we are often forced to hide and repress particular emotions to keep parents, teachers, older siblings, friends, and coaches happy and connected with us. This habit of hiding and repressing emotions can become a lifelong habit that is hard to break. Many of our clients have said “I know what I am thinking, but I have no idea how I feel right now”. Therapy can help you identify what emotions you are feeling and break this pattern of repression.
-
If you experienced trauma or relationship breakdowns when you were a child, it is possible that when you feel either an intense emotional reaction or when you feel numb, something has reminded you of this childhood trauma. In therapy, we can help you accept and separate your past trauma from your present life, so you can live in the present.
-
Sometimes our responses to a problem or difficult situation are ‘way over the top’. We will ‘blow up’ or ‘shutdown’ over small things, and our response will harm our relationships. Therapy can help you identify the cause of your over-reactions and help you start a new pattern of reacting to situations in a way that helps increase connection and peace of mind.
-
Kim thinks he ‘totally sucks’ (low self-esteem). Jane thinks she is ‘f#$king amazing’ (high self-esteem). In reality, both of these perspectives come from a lack of self-acceptance. We all have strengths and weaknesses. We are all of equal worth as humans. Low and high self-esteem are both protective walls that will isolate you from others and disconnect you from your true self. Therapy can help you accept both sides of you, the side that does well and the other side that makes mistakes, so you pull down the false esteem wall, be yourself, and accept yourself.
-
Most of us find it hard to know what is ‘our task/role’, and what is not ‘our task/role’ in relationships. If we are not sure, we can develop unhealthy boundaries. At times we will do and care too much for others, and not do or care enough for ourselves. In therapy, we can help you to adopt healthy boundaries in relationships to find a better balance between self-care and care for others.
-
Healthy relationships are based on both sides being heard and respected. If you win an argument, you will often lose a friend. Healthy relationships don’t have winners and losers. In therapy, we can help you to find balance in your approach to resolving conflict in a relationship, through assertive communication, accepting differences, and increasing co-operation.