Jessica Andexer

I offer therapy that is mindfulness based, as well as neuroscience informed.

What does this mean?

The sessions are an opportunity to explore your current life difficulties, with a focus on developing tool and skills to manage daily life with a little more ease.

The sessions are framed around what you'd like to gain and how you're feeling on the day. Issues such as anxiety, excessive worrying, high stress states or feelings of disconnection from yourself, others or the natural world can be explored.

My training is as a psychotherapeutic counsellor and mindfulness facilitator. I have also done a great deal of training in the neurobiology of stress and distress, how anxiety, past trauma, overwhelm, neurodivergence and disconnection show up in our bodies, in our nervous systems and consequently in our emotional states, the way we perceive the world, and how we form relationships with others. 

Developing mindful skill, noticing and identifying feelings and body states, and learning how to alter and best respond to these with somatic/movement based, breathwork and mindfulness tools, can aid our well-being in profound ways.

We cannot change the past, or the world we live in, but we can become educated on how our brains, bodies and emotions respond, and take charge, compassionately, of how we respond to ourselves and others. Finding ways to shift out of states if distress, overwhelm and disconnection, and into feelings of calm and ease.

There is a huge body of evidence around mindful therapeutic interventions, as well as how we can alter our states of stress and distress using body and mindfulness based techniques.

There is likely more doing, and a bit less talking in this way of working, and this won't suit everyone.

For more detail of how I work please take a look at my website.

Initially we will look at how life is for you, what your concerns are, how you manage on a day to day basis, what skills you already have to manage difficulty, your current relationships and how they function. Out of this exploration we will make a plan together of what areas you'd like to work on and what this will involve.

Sessions will include:

Breif explorations of:

How you're currently feeling.

What thoughts and beliefs are around for you.

How your general mental and emotional life is.

How you're experiencing these things in your body.

Over time and learning, we can incorporate how the above are framed with an understanding of your brain/nervous system state

Explorations of and learning around:

Mindfulness based interventions that work for you, these are personalised and neuroscience informed.

Breathing techniques that may be useful, also personalised/neuroscience informed.

Tapping/EFT and other somatic based work.

These will take up a large part of each session.

My hope is, you will gain skills, hacks, tool and understanding you can apply in daily life. This way of working is active, and involves you taking responsibility for applying and practicing learning in between sessions.

This way of working is collaborative, practical and empowering. You take what works from sessions and leave what doesn't, and build a map of understanding yourself and your needs and the tools that aid your well-being

I offer a free 15 minute chat before any initial session if it would feel useful to do this, just get in touch.

The Supervisory Space:

We can apply psychodynamic, attachment-based, integrative, humanistic, mindfulness-based and/or neurobiological thinking about your work.

I have specialism in the area of video conferencing work, I'm happy to offer guidance in this area around - relationship development, co-created space, contracting, boundaries, safeguard ++

We can explore client issues, relational issues, boundaries in the work, difference and diversity, social and societal issues and their impact +

We can also look at neuroscientific thinking around trauma, stress and anxiety states to your work, or simply to develop your own understanding of these ideas. I am trained in both polyvagal theory application, as well as many neurobiological and somatic perspectives of trauma/distress/anxiety. I can offer insight and guidance on incorporating these ideas into your practice gently,  whilst holding your core theoretical approach in mind.

Self-care and understanding the impact of your work is of very great importance to me. Now more than ever, those who support others need to be well resourced, nourished and cared for themselves. I offer neurobiologically informed ideas, tools and thinking to aid in this.

The space I offer is grounded in my belief, that being able to explore our own and others differences is vital to good practice. I welcome and make room for exploration of how class, race, LGBTQIA+, cultural identity, gender, religion, spirituality, neurodiversity, disability, health and wealth status impact who we are, how we feel and how we experience the world around us. I am particularly keen on aiding professionals in giving thought to how they can make their practice accessible to those who identify as neurodivergent and/or disabled.

This is an affirmative space, where everyone is welcome, and where I too am committed to my own on-going learning, self reflection and development.

I deliver bespoke trainings to psychotherapists and counsellors.

My training is both Psychodynamic and later Integrative.

Since qualifying in 2007 I have worked in private practice, the NHS, University, many voluntary sector organisations, in trauma, mental health and homelessness services. I helped set up North London Rape Crisis, and have set up and facilitated set up of other therapeutic services.

My ongoing CPD and training has focused on: the neurobiology of trauma, stress and anxiety, somatic approaches to trauma and wellbeing, polyvagal theory and it's applications as well as mindfulness approaches and body based techniques.

I also offer training in making all therapeutic spaces more accessible to those who identify as neurodivergent.

The trainings I deliver are in these areas:

- Applying Polyvagal theory to client work

- Applying new neurobiological and mindfulness based techniques to client work

- Applying Polyvagal theory, neuroscience, somatic and/or mindfulness based techniques to therapist well being and self care.

- Understanding the impact of trauma through a neurobiological lens.

- Understanding neurodiversity and making therapeutic spaces accessible to those who identify as neurodivergent.

Trainings can also be bespoke.

I have delivered trainings for a wide variety of organisations, including many counselling services, trauma and mental health services, female offender services, disability services, in private settings, for individuals as well as in corporate settings. 

I have taught trainees, seasoned therapists, social workers, support workers, job centre staff, mental health professionals, as well as led groups and workshops for the public and for clients of therapeutic services.

My methods are fun, engaging and my trainings are experiential and interactive.

Please see my free online workshop for an example of my teaching style: 

https://bearinmind.online/blog/45-min-workshop-responding-to-stress-and-anxiety/

Trainings are available online, or can be created as video, audio and text based experiences for you.

Trainings can be as one to one consultations or for groups.

Please contact me to discuss your needs, as well as for fees and availability