Humanistic Psychotherapist and Counsellor in Woking, Surrey

Welcome to my Website

Hello, I'm Howard Widdicombe. Thank you for visiting my web site.

The 'value' of Psychotherapy?

Making the most of ourselves and our lives by doing the best we can, is a very basic motivational instinct that we all recognise within us. Each one of us has the potential to take charge of and influence our own life. Most of the time we seem to do 'just fine' but occasionally we experience ourselves or our lives as 'out of sorts' for a wide variety of reasons. Our natural instinctive reaction is to try to understand 'why' things have gone wrong and 'what' we can do to make things better again. Often the harder we try the worse things can seem to become.

Unfortunately knowledge, information and insight, of themselves, are not sufficient to bring about the change in our internal personal experience of ourselves and our external perception and judgements about our situation/circumstances. We need to become aware of and learn

• (a) 'HOW' we have developed the unconscious, habituated patterns of sensation, thinking, feeling and behavioural responses that are not working for us and have contributed to our current level of dissatisfaction


• (b) 'HOW' to influence, regulate and differentiate these outdated neuro-biological response patterns to create a new self-awareness which, in turn, can lead to the creation of the attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviours necessary to lead more personally satisfying, rewarding and fulfilling lives.

The neurobiology of learning and behaviour

Over the past 30 years or so rigorous scientific and medical research together with advances in technology have been making extraordinary discoveries about the fundamental natural processes that underpin the creation of our thinking, feelings and sensations - the neurobiological basis that forms our awareness and shapes our responses to our own internal experiences and influences our perception and judgments about our external situation and circumstances - in summary 'how' we function as human beings.

In response to this pioneering research and emerging understanding of the neurobiological basis of learning and behaviour, new , innovative and highly creative approaches have emerged which are providing us with a theoretical framework and practical methodology to explain and work with this perspective.. It is changing the way we practice psychotherapy and guiding us in the direction of more effective work. If you would like more detailed information, please click on the link My Approach

My areas of work

I use this approach/perspective to work with a wide range of concerns including:

• Anger & conflict
• Anxiety
• Autistic spectrum disorders
• Behavioural difficulties
• Bereavement
• Bullying
• Career Coaching & Development
• Change & transition
• Communication skills
• Dependency
• Depression (feeling low)
• Developmental delay
• Dreams
• Eating disorders
• Envy & jealousy
• Fear & phobias
• Grief & loss
• Guilt & shame
• Learning difficulties
• Loneliness & isolation
• Obsessions
• Panic
• Parenting skills
• Personal growth & development
• Relationship issues
• Self-awareness
• Self-confidence / esteem
• Sexuality
• Stress
• Trauma
• Valuing difference in others
• Work related issues

I also provide Clinical Supervision for Counsellors and Psychotherapists and Coaching and Mentoring for all those with ongoing responsibility for people as part of their work.

In addition to my psychotherapy practice I continue to design and run numerous workshops and seminars on personal and professional development through my business consultancy practice The People Partnership. This is for people who work in private, public and not for profit organisations. I also provide Coaching and Mentoring for individuals.

You will notice that I sometimes refer to services or events from other counsellors or psychotherapists. There are also links to other web sites that you might find useful.

Geographical coverage

My practice is based in Woking, Surrey. I also see clients from a wide area that includes:

• Addlestone
• Aldershot
• Ascot
• Bagshot
• Basingstoke
• Bisley
• Byfleet
• Camberley
• Chertsey
• Chobham
• Clandon (East & West)
• Farnborough
• Farnham
• Fleet
• Frimley
• Godalming
• Guildford
• Horsley (East & West)
• Lightwater
• Milford
• Ottershaw
• Sandhurst
• Shalford
• Sunningdale
• Woking
• Worpleston
• Yateley

I hope that you enjoy my web site and find it interesting and useful .If you have not already discovered the subsections under the About me and The way I work links, you may want to visit the following links below for more information.

• Personal History
• Professional Background
• Training and qualifications
• My Practice
• Professional Support
• Business Psychology

This site is regularly updated and I welcome any comments you may have. If you:

• like what you see
• find my site interesting
• believe you would like to work with me

please contact me for details.

Acknowledgements

I am indebted to the work of:

• (a) Stanley Keleman, the Founder of the Centre for Energetic Studies in Berkeley California,(web site - http://www.centerpress.com) who has pioneered an approach called Formative Psychology


• (b) Stephen Porges, Director of the Trauma Research Centre within the Kingsley Institute at Indiana University (web site - http://stephenporges.com) who developed the Polyvegal Theory – insights into the autonomic nervous system and its function in experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues. He explains how the nature of our lives are shaped by the intricate structures of the brain in interaction with the social world surrounding us.


• (c) Bessel van der Kolk, Medical Director Trauma Centre at JRI, Professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine who writes that Porges explains that “our experiences of safety and reciprocity are biologically encoded defining the quality of our lives. Basic safety is essential not only for having satisfying relationships, but also for optimally activating the higher brain structures responsible for creativity and generativity. By defining the core features of “safety” as consisting of internal visceral sensitivities that define how we deal with threat and approach our surroundings, Porges invites us to focus on how the fundamental wiring of our brains, including our voices and our faces, organise our internal experiences of ourselves and our external lives - our families, social relationships and the institutions (e.g. work places) we have organised to govern our lives. Most psychiatric problems are expressed in failures of attunement and reciprocity. When we understand the biological foundations of reciprocity - the transformative power of feeling safe – and identify those elements/components of our central nervous system that optimise health, growth and restoration we can develop innovative methods to gain a sense of safety, mutuality and belonging”. The transformative


• (d) Gerhard Zimmermann (web site - https://www.stressmanagement.de), an experienced medical Doctor from Mainz working in the field of behavioural medicine who has worked extensively with Stanley Keleman for over 20 years, combining his medical knowledge with this experiential psychotherapeutic approach. He has developed a number of practical exercises that enable us to connect with our own process and influence, regulate and differentiate old unconscious habituated response patterns if they are not working for us


• (e) Phine Dahle a Psychotherapist based in Southampton (web site - http://southamptonpsychotherapy.co.uk) who runs exercise classes using this perspective that enable participants to grow a personal sense of self and respond appropriately to the situation/circumstances they encounter during their lives.