Therapy Approach

About therapy with Lizzy

Lizzy uses an integrative approach in therapy, combining the Art Psychotherapy and EMDR approaches with the trauma-informed and anti-oppressive models. Both Art Therapy and EMDR are what is known as bottom up approaches which aim to support you to gain a better understanding of what is interfering with daily life and discover new ways of managing by working with where issues are rooted.

Bottom-up therapy approaches focus on the the root of the problem, not just the symptoms. These approaches engage the lower regions of the brain that are responsible for things such as our reflexes, survival responses, and unconscious memories where the root of an issue is often stuck. Working with these parts of the brain allows for deeper processing of negative images, emotions, beliefs, and body sensations that keep a person stuck in patterns of beliefs and behaviours that no longer help them. To read more about bottom-up therapy approaches, please click here.

Art therapy

Art therapy is primarily a psychodynamic approach, meaning that the focus is on how early experiences can impact on our behaviours, thoughts, and feelings in the present. This approach aims to enhance self-awareness by making sense of these connections and offers the opportunity to work through them.

Creating art in therapy can be a way to give form to past or present experiences that are otherwise difficult to communicate word alone. Through the process of making art, we can begin to unpick the difficult or heavy emotions and experiences in a safe, therapeutic space in creative and dynamic ways that allow for safe distance.

There is no need to any "good" at art as the process of making art is what helps a person access this past stuff. There will never be an expectation from me to make art or about what you make. Some clients make art in each session, some never do and prefer to talk only. Some have a mixture of both. It is entirely up to you how you chose to spend each session.

Art therapy is a legally protected title in the UK, requiring a certain level of training and for the art therapist to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). To find out more about art therapy, please visit the British Association of Art Therapists website.

EMDR

EMDR, or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, is a specialised form of psychotherapy designed to support processing of difficult experiences and issues. Originally developed to support people with PTSD, EMDR is now used for many different types of difficulties and is recommended for processing traumatic memories.

During processing sessions, the therapist uses bilateral stimulation through eye movements, physical tapping, or listening to sounds. This keeps the all parts of the brain online and allow memories to be fully processed. In this way, EMDR aims to remove the emotional charge of the memory and stop it from causing distress in the present.

EMDR requires specific training and specialist skills to deliver it safely. Lizzy completed their training with Richman EMDR Training; is working towards their accreditation; and is registered with the EMDR Association UK. To find out more about EMDR, please visit the EMDR Association UK and Ireland website.

The Trauma-Informed Approach in Therapy

A trauma-informed approach is informed by psychology, neuroscience, attachment, and trauma theories. The trauma-informed model steps away from labelling people as problems and instead looks to understand how current distress and mental health issues are affected by what has happened in their lives.

This approaches involves understanding and working with the nervous system to create a felt sense of safety to facilitate emotional recovery. It aim to support a person to gain a better understanding of what is interfering with daily life and discover new ways of dealing with this.

Lizzy uses Judith Herman's 3 phases model which starts with stabilising any difficulties e.g. anxiety, flashbacks, panic attacks, depression, sleep issues, etc., by building up emotional regulation strategies and creating a felt level of safety. The focus then moves to processing what causes issues and supporting a person to take care of their needs, environment, and relationships.

To find out more about trauma informed practice, please click here to visit for more information about the Power Threat Meaning Framework or the Scottish Government website

Getting started

Lizzy offers a free 20-minute phone or zoom consultation appointment to see if they are the right therapist to support you.

Lizzy aims to respond within two working days where possible and will check the practicalities work for you first.

Lizzy will then offer a day or so following this for you to reflect on whether it feels like a good fit, and if so, then send out the documents to get started.

What to expect

If you would like to start working together, your first few appointments

are used to gain an understanding of what has had happened in the past and the issues you wish to address. Together you would then decide on how best way to support you with this.

To give some ideas of what sessions may look like in practice, therapy sessions may focus on things such as:

• creating and practising coping strategies

• building a greater understanding of issues

• reflective conversations on your thoughts, feelings, and life experiences

• goal setting and action planning

• working with protective mechanisms or processing experiences to create change

You are the expert

Everybody’s experiences and difficulties are unique and therefore so is the pace and length of the therapy.

Lizzy feels that each of their client's is the expert in their experiences and so they are best placed to decide what is right for then. Lizzy may offer suggestions of ideas for focus or strategies to practice, but it is always the client's choice as to what they focus on.

Lizzy Pittock is an inclusive practitioner and welcomes people of all ages from all communities, ethnicities, LGBTQIA+, and people with disabilities.

Therapy for emotional wellbeing

Art, EMDR, and trauma therapy services in Glasgow and online