Explore Transform LLC offers a tailor-made counseling and psychotherapy service in New Jersey, Maine, and the United Kingdom. Since the pandemic, we have operated fully online via a confidential video portal (teletherapy). In order to offer you an exceptional level of service, we have chosen to remain out of network.
We are committed to adopting an inclusive, person-centered approach to our psychotherapy and counseling service. We also recognize our privilege (and inevitable bias) and how this might influence our worldview. We are invested in continuously working to address this privilege and bias. Our lead clinician, Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC, is an experienced psychotherapist (Licensed Professional Counselor) in New Jersey, Maine, and the United Kingdom. Chris specializes in anxiety, depression, and trauma. Chris makes regular use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR), and they also integrate Mindfulness and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). No matter the approach, at the core of Chris' work is a person-centered perspective; this means that they will work hard to understand you, placing your voice at center-stage. Fun facts about Chris: Chris started out life as an attorney in the UK, and since then, Chris has been awarded a Masters in Counseling & Psychotherapy in 2010 (University of East London). That same year, Chris published research into male experiences of suicidal ideation and counseling interventions. More recently, in 2021 and 2022, Chris published two mental health books on depression, anxiety, and trauma, and Chris is currently working on a third. Aside from psychotherapy, their true passion is being a parent to two elementary-aged children. Chris finds that writing and parenting complement their approach to psychotherapy and counseling, as we are all continuously in a state of growth and change. Chris' work is greatly influenced by: Irvin D. Yalom, Dan Siegel, Jamie Marich, Jim Knipe, and Stephen Porges. Chris' roles and memberships-
Get in touch today. We would love to hear from you. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Explore Transform LLC Counseling and Psychotherapy in Bergen County, New Jersey www.exploretransform.com +1 (201) 779-6917 #EMDR, #FindanEMDRtherapist, #Polyvagal, #PolyvagalTherapist, #EMDRTherapy, #EMDRTherapist, #TraumaTherapy, #FindATraumaTherapist, #HealingFromTrauma, #FindATherapist, #ridgewood, #BergenCounty, #NewJersey, #teletherapy, #FindACounselor, #Counseling, #Psychotherapy, #MentalHealth, #Depression, #Anxiety, #Trauma, #Stress Thank you to Newsweek for asking me to be a contributor to their Life section. In this article I offer advice to someone who has experienced conflict with a close friend.
I hope my advice helps people. Read the article here. For more support with relationship conflict, get in contact today. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Explore Transform LLC Counseling and Psychotherapy in Bergen County, New Jersey www.exploretransform.com +1 (201) 779-6917 I am honored to have been asked to contribute to Selena Gomez’s new mental health platform.
Here is an article tackling loneliness, a pressing issue in this post-pandemic world. Read the full article here. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Explore Transform LLC Counseling and Psychotherapy in Bergen County, New Jersey www.exploretransform.com +1 (201) 779-6917 We register trauma in our body before we find the words to express it. In the words of Bessel van der Kolk, we understand trauma to be a “speechless horror”.
If we can register trauma in our body, we can learn to heal through the use of our body. We can learn to sense safety, and we can distinguish the past trauma from present reality. At first, this might seem scary. Our body might once have been a place of danger, shame, or bewilderment. But in time, with the help of an experienced therapist, we can learn to trust those internal cues that help us to become regulated again. When a therapist helps us to learn about our body, we learn about our triune brain. We learn that we have the neocortex (cognitive), mammalian (emotional), and reptilian (sensorimotor or body) brain, and this can help us to learn why we think, feel and act as we do. With this deeper level of knowledge, we can learn to regulate our responses to triggers in our environment, whether that is the sound of a slammed door or the face of an angry colleague. When we learn about our body with a therapist, we also understand that our responses are a matter of survival or protection, not a matter of dysfunction or weakness. Shame or pathology has no part in a trauma-informed approach. With the right help, it is possible to heal from your trauma. Book online today for a free callback. Alternatively, you can email us at chris@exploretransform.com or call us on +1 (201) 779-6917. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Explore Transform LLC Counseling and Psychotherapy in Bergen County, New Jersey www.exploretransform.com +1 (201) 779-6917 #EMDR, #FindanEMDRtherapist, #Polyvagal, #PolyvagalTherapist, #EMDRTherapy, #EMDRTherapist, #TraumaTherapy, #FindATraumaTherapist, #HealingFromTrauma, #FindATherapist, #ridgewood, #BergenCounty, #NewJersey, #teletherapy, #FindACounselor, #Counseling, #Psychotherapy, #MentalHealth, #Depression, #Anxiety, #Trauma, #Stress You have made it. You have the career you worked so hard for, and you have the things you never thought would be yours: A decent salary, benefits, people reporting to you, and a boss who actually likes you. Yet still the Imposter lurks in the background. The Imposter tells you that you are balancing on a razor edge, and all of this could disappear. The words that fill your day are ‘I am not good enough’. You are in the grip of Imposter Syndrome.
I have worked with many people who have struggled with this, and without the right help, it can cause widespread damage. Without tackling Imposter Syndrome, people can remain stagnant in their career, avoid commitment in personal relationships, and I have even worked with clients who have been unable to buy a home because they did not believe they would keep the career that would pay for it. The constant theme in their life is that they do not believe in any of their strengths, resources and achievements. So what on earth is going on? Why do some of us suffer from Imposter Syndrome? Here are some thoughts. Twisted Thinking from your Negative Voice Your Imposter Syndrome is coming from your Negative Voice. We all have one, but when you are in the grip of Imposter Syndrome you let this voice prevail, and it ends up impacting your thought process; you make assumptions in the negative, and you jump to conclusions about all sorts of things to prove the point that you should not deserve the status or accolades you have been awarded. David Burns calls this sort of thought process Twisted Thinking, and here are some examples -
Do any of these sound familiar to you? Who opened the door to the Imposter? When I help clients manage their Imposter Syndrome, I search for any ‘secondary gain’. Some clients continue to believe in the Imposter because they are somehow benefiting from this belief. This is especially so if a caregiver introduced this sense of disbelief in your own strengths and resources. We are so impressionable when we are young and our brains are forming; no matter how well-intentioned a caregiver, they may say certain things that open a door to allow an Imposter to creep in. For example, you may have had a parent who tells you that you are more of a sportsman than an academic, and so the doubts start to grow when you need intelligence in your career. Even when you have the evidence to show that you have done pretty well with your intelligence, there is an emotional pull away from this belief, because to accept it might mean that you reject (at least in part) that caregiver. Assertive Communication Often we feel like an Imposter because we are failing to meet our needs. We are so worried about being ‘found out’ that the last thing we want to do is draw attention to ourselves by asserting our needs. The trouble is, success requires us to speak up and assert our views and needs. You don’t have to live with this Imposter forever; there are simple things you can do.
Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Explore Transform LLC Counseling and Psychotherapy in Bergen County, New Jersey www.exploretransform.com +1 (201) 779-6917 #ImposterSyndrome, #SelfEsteem, #FindATherapist, #ridgewood, #BergenCounty, #NewJersey, #teletherapy, #FindACounselor, #Counseling, #Psychotherapy, #MentalHealth, #Depression, #Anxiety, #Trauma, #Stress It is okay to live under a little bit of pressure, because we all need this to keep going. But too much pressure can lead to stress, which means to burn out, or to break.
Stress can show itself in a number of different ways, but the common symptoms include racing thoughts (or even a blank mind), palpitations, nausea, tightness in the chest, and breathlessness. We all know that stress is unhealthy, we do not need to go into that. But if we work, and if we have children to care for, it is not always realistic to expect to have time to put our own needs first. This is especially so if we are working in a busy city where overcrowding is an issues. What makes things worse for us city-dwelling working parents, studies have found that people who work or live in cities are at greater risk of developing mental health issues (for example, The current status of urban-rural differences in psychiatric disorders, Peen J, Schoevers RA, Beekman AT, Dekker J). Sometimes a huge step towards stress reduction is realism. If we are realistic with what we can achieve, then the weight of expectation is instantly lifted. We might hope to achieve some sort of ‘downtime’, but if we limp towards the weekend without a moment to stop, then that should not be viewed as another failure. There may be things we can change, but we have to accept that sometimes we have set things up in a way for a particular reason. Instead of jumping straight into relaxation exercises or mindfulness, we first need to understand what makes us tick, or to use another phrase, we need to understand our process. Our ‘process’ includes the following -
Once we change these assumptions, or ‘must’ statements into preferences (for example, ‘I would like to be successful’ rather than ‘I must be successful’), then, if things do not work out as planned, this can de-awfulise the situation, and alleviate the stress.
Once we understand our process, we have more information to see why we might be how we are. We can then adopt a kinder voice when things don’t necessarily go to plan. For example, if you fail to find time for yourself, perhaps this is as a result of choices you have made, and those choices have been informed by your values. Once you change a perceived failure into a choice, life feels more in control than before. Then there are the blind spots. We may feel like we have no time whatsoever, but perhaps we are not looking hard enough. Time to unwind, to practice mindfulness or just be in the moment, can be a few minutes each day. It could be that we use part of the journey into work, or a moment on the toilet, just to stop our minds racing, and check in with what is happening in that moment. What are we aware of? Are we short of breath? Are our minds racing round corners of future uncertainty? We do not have to achieve anything in that moment other than just to stop. And sometimes that can be enough. If not, perhaps it can give us a little more space to realise what we do need. There are plenty more ways to combat stress, and perhaps you have encountered some of these. I have set out below a handful of tips, and I have also included a very simple relaxation exercise. The key point to take away from this is forgiveness. If you manage to remember a few of these tips every now and again, brilliant. The worst thing you can do is use these to beat yourself up, adding further stress with the idea that you are somehow failing –
Quick and easy relaxation exercise –
Find out more today. Chris Warren-Dickins, LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist in Ridgewood, New Jersey www.exploretransform.com References
#Stress, #Anxiety, #ToxicStress, #FindATherapist, #ridgewood, #BergenCounty, #NewJersey, #teletherapy, #Find#Counselor, #Counseling, #Psychotherapy, #MentalHealth I am delighted to collaborate with Bergen County Academies to present on The Harm of the Male Label.
Please get in touch if you would like further information chris@exploretransform.com Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist www.exploretransform.com #FindATherapist, #ridgewood, #BergenCounty, #NewJersey, #teletherapy, #Find#Counselor, #Counseling, #Psychotherapy, #MentalHealth, #Depression, #Anxiety, #Trauma, #Stress On Friday I had the honor of an invitation to the United Nations. I attended the Transgender Care Expert Panel, and I was eager to find out how I, as a psychotherapist who work with transgender, nonbinary, gender diverse and gender questioning people, can help tackle discrimination at a structural level. I only got a chance to speak at the end, so you will find me at minute point 1.01:54 onwards. The answer I got was a little brief, but it is the start of a debate that I hope to continue. The United Nations video also contains useful resources, so please do share this -
http://webtv.un.org/watch/panel-discussion-on-transgender-society/6053662594001/ Too often I find that the changes that need to take place are not necessarily at an individual level (ie, within the individual psychotherapy sessions I provide). A great deal of the anxiety and depression is caused by the discrimination experienced by people who are transgender, nonbinary, gender diverse and gender questioning. And we cannot ignore the shocking statistics: “48% of all transgender adults report that they have considered suicide in the past 12 months, compared to 4% of the overall US population” (NAMI). I encourage you to share the United Nations video and continue this dialogue. More importantly, I encourage you to identify ways to tackle discrimination at a structural level. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC www.exploretransform.com
Suicide rates are higher amongst men (AFSP: “in 2017, men died by suicide 3.54x more often than women”), and yet men are less likely to seek help for emotional distress (NIMH).
Studies show that there are no biological reasons why men seek help less often than women, so this must be learned: Men are taught not to seek help, but instead to remain silent. The NFL has recognised how deadly this silence can be. Last year the NFL released a report setting out the results of interviews with players and family members. A key finding was that there were several barriers in the way of players seeking help for their difficulties with mental health. These barriers included “fear that seeking help would negatively affect their careers”, “stigma around mental health challenges that keep players from seeking help”. Also last year, the Carolina Panthers hired the NFL’s first in-house therapist (Tish Guerin) to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health and professional football. This was hot on the heels of an essay shared by the Panthers’ Steve Smith. In this essay he opened up about his struggle with depression: “Despite all of my achievements, I routinely felt trapped, inferior, and alone.” Guerin has been quoted as hoping that a regular checkup with a mental health professional becomes as commonplace as a woman’s checkup with her Ob-Gyn. That would definitely be a step in the right direction. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Email - chris@exploretransform.com Telephone - (201) 779-6917 https://www.exploretransform.com/ Yesterday I was honored to have the Mayor of Ridgewood stop by my office. He really cares about Ridgewood, and it is great to know that key figures in the community consider mental health and wellbeing to be a priority.
After the Mayor's visit, I thought about the relationship between my role as a psychotherapist, and my influence on the wider community. I try my best to empower people to make the changes they need, but often they need more to achieve this change. They need change at a societal level. As a member of the American Counseling Association, I am aware that counselors are in a unique position to work towards social justice. As Charmaine Perry wrote, "counseling does not exist in a vacuum", and she suggested that counselors should become "advocates for our clients". Working with (and a member of) the LGBTQ+ community, I have seen how the need for advocacy has arisen. When I lived in the United Kingdom, I worked at an LGBTQ+ counseling charity, and the clients would sometimes include asylum seekers. They were fleeing countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Uganda, where they had experienced violent acts of homophobia. Yes, the clients needed to process their traumatic experiences - often it had been family members who had tried to kill them when they had found out about their sexuality. And yes, they had to make sense of the conflict between their identity as a gay man, their identity as a Muslim, and their identity as an asylum seeker. But they also needed advocacy - they needed help on a structural level. For example, they needed help navigating the British asylum process, they needed help with finding medical treatment, and they needed their counselor to have an awareness of the power imbalances and discrimination that they may experience. To advocate for a client, awareness is an important first step. And the process of raising awareness never ends. Get in contact today. You can telephone or use the online booking system. Chris Warren-Dickins LLB MA LPC Psychotherapist in Ridgewood, New Jersey Telephone - (201) 779-6917 www.exploretransform.com/ |