Essex therapist teams up with local homeless charity to improve staff wellbeing
Published:
Read Time: 2 mins
As anxiety levels soar under UK Covid-19 restrictions, an Essex therapist has teamed up with a local homeless charity to tackle trauma-related mental health using a pioneering technique.
Claire Gaskin BSc., a psychotherapist with over 25 years’ experience is providing one-to-one therapy and group sessions for staff working for HARP, a charity based in Southend-on-Sea, which helps local people who are homeless or at risk of losing their home.
The project began just as COVID-19 hit and proved even more valuable in providing psychological and emotional support through the worst of the pandemic. As we go into a second national lockdown, the project has been extended to March next year because it’s been so successful.
Although HARP already supported staff with training and tools for dealing with challenging behaviour from service users, they realised that there was a gap in helping frontline workers to manage the emotional and psychological impact of those situations.
HARP CEO Jackie Bliss commissioned the initial twelve-week pilot after hearing about Claire’s innovative approach to help people, especially working with stress and trauma-related issues.
Claire uses a pioneering technique called Brain Working Recursive Therapy (BWRT), that dissolves mental health issues often with just a few sessions. BWRT has its roots firmly in neuroscience.
Claire Gaskin from Benefit Therapy says “BWRT is a very effective and powerful technique. The advantage is that it doesn’t require a lengthy course of treatment like some psychological therapies, so it can work fast which makes it cost effective and people feel better quicker.
Claire says “One aspect of this style of therapy that makes it so successful is that it’s largely content-free. People don’t have to disclose details of the experiences that have brought them into therapy. This can make all the difference to someone in reaching out for help.”
Millie West, HARP Housing Support Worker who worked with Claire says “Without speaking about the ins and outs of what I was going through, which is normally very painful, I was able to feel comfortable and really open myself up to the therapy - which was completely different to anything I had done before. The effects continue to be amazing.”
If you’d like to find out more about the therapy, visit http://benefittherapy.co.uk/
Ends
Editors notes
What is BWRT?
BWRT® is currently used by 2,500+ psychologists and therapists worldwide to treat a range of conditions including phobias, fears, anxiety, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
It’s an immensely powerful style of working that can dissolve problems often with just one treatment and no medication required. Because of the rapid nature of the therapy, there are huge potential savings for health care.
BWRT® was created by UK-based author and psychotherapist Terence Watts who is a Fellow with the Royal Society of Medicine. His treatment has been referred to as the “silver bullet therapists have been looking for.”
About HARP
HARP is a charity based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, which helps local people who are homeless or at risk of losing their home. The charity provides a mixture of immediate-term emergency services and accommodation, and longer-term support and housing.
