The ancient Chinese concept of 心猿 – or monkey mind suggests that our minds are full of drunken monkeys who chatter incessantly and swing wildly between thoughts and emotions.

Mind monkeys represent our unruly thoughts and overactive emotions. They provoke lethargy, frustration, and self-defeating behaviour. They drain the energy that we need for change and make us feel stuck as a result.

Our mind monkeys will never go away, they are part of us.

 

Yes, our mind monkeys can frustrate us, exhaust us, and drain our energy. Fortunately, when our mind monkeys mellow, their positive strengths shine through. They give us energy, confidence, focus, and imagination. When we learn how to tap into their strengths, we gain access to their innate wisdom and they offer us clarity and foresight*.

Monkey therapy focuses on healing all the aspects of our psychological issues: our thoughts, emotions, body reactions, and neurological patterns. 

It’s integrative which means that it draws from various therapeutic practices to provide a holistic healing approach that suits your individual needs. Most importantly, it meets you wherever you are.

Monkey therapy integrates of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and a cutting-edge neuroprocessing technique called Brainspotting.

1. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy …Changing the way we think

CBT breaks down complex psychological issues into their interconnected parts – thinking, behaviour, and emotional reactions.

When we are young, we develop core beliefs about the world, others, and ourselves. Core beliefs help us navigate the world, keeping us safe and connected to others. These beliefs guide the way we think, feel, behave and relate, often without us even realising it. 

As we get older, our circumstances change, and the beliefs that used to serve us may not work for us anymore. 

CBT teaches us to:

• recognise often-hidden core beliefs that no longer serve us, 
• update negative core beliefs to be more adaptive, useful, and realistic, 
• break our negative thinking patterns, 
• change unhelpful behavioural patterns, and
• create actionable steps 

in order to strengthen our relationships, move us towards our goals, and realise our full potential.

2. Internal Family Systems  …Changing the way we feel 

Focusing on our beliefs, thinking patterns, and behaviour is not always enough. For example:

• We may believe, ‘I am good enough,’ however, in certain circumstances, we still feel unworthy.
• We may tell ourselves, ‘There is nothing to worry about ‘, but we feel deeply anxious nonetheless. 
• We may crave clarity, groundedness, and a sense of connection but we feel stuck in our overactive emotional patterns.

IFS focuses on the emotional parts of us that don’t respond to logical thinking.

All of our emotional responses serve evolutionary functions, either to protect us or keep us connected to others. Even difficult emotions like frustration, for example, which gives us the energy and courage to protect our boundaries.

IFS connects us directly with emotional parts of us that are often suppressed or hidden away. Rather than acting them out or suppressing them, IFS teaches us how to welcome those parts with compassion and patience. As a result, we learn to self sooth when we need it most. 

IFS strengthens our sense of groundedness and connection, enabling us to live our lives with clarity and confidence.

3. Brainspotting …Changing the way your past affects you

Brainspotting is a neuroprocessing intervention that targets specific psychological stuck points hidden in deeper regions of the brain. It is a simple yet powerful process. 

Brainspotting is similar to EMDR in that it engages specific eye positions. However, a benefit of Brainspotting over EMDR is that the process does not require “reliving” past traumas. Rather, Brainspotting focuses on a current stressor or stuck point in your life. 

I specialise in Expansion Brainspotting, which targets both the stuck point and resource spot in the same session. Expansion Brainspotting creates new positive neural pathways in association with the stressor – strengthening one’s resilience to the stressor. The result is a desensitising of past triggers in as little as two or three sessions.