Bullying

Are you or one of your loved ones experiencing social rejection, exclusion or aggression?  These are different forms of bullying and it can cause a lot of emotional trauma.

• Perhaps the reforms and proposals you are advocating at work are being sabotaged or are met with opposition and hostility?
• Perhaps, your colleagues view you as competition and you find yourself being excluded from information or meetings at work.
• Perhaps you find your boss intimidating and aggressive.
• If you are a student,  are you experiencing aggression, being made fun of or isolation?

The first thing I will do with you is you stabilise emotionally as you are bound to be experiencing a lot of anxiety, fear and low moods, if not depression.  You need to be able to function better, sleep, eat, exercise and strengthen yourself emotionally.  For this to happen, I will commence with clinical hypnotherapy.

Clinical hypnosis will be used for ego strengthening, staying calm and stress-coping.  Once you are more stable emotionally, we will begin with therapy.  This will include teaching you meditation, calming breath and negative thought stopping techniques.

With over two decades of experience working with these issues, I can tell you that there is hope and things can change for you.

Together we will identify what I call bullying ‘hotspots’ , ‘triggers’, ‘personality traits’ and ‘psychological agendas’ specific to your situation that propagate the hostility.

Bullying ‘hotspots’ for students for example, are places like playgrounds, bathrooms, canteens or pantries, and times during trips/excursions/tournament trips are particularly common for bullying to take place.

We will also identify ‘triggers’ which make you vulnerable to these experiences and these are both external and internal.

Your own internal triggers for example could be that you are too guarded, or that you ‘overshare’ things inappropriately. It could be your own fears, anxieties, communication style, personality, past experiences and choices that could be setting you up as a target.

Often, it may also have absolutely nothing to do with you.  I will you understand whether this could be due to jealousy, competition, a threat perception, your own talents and intelligence that is working against you. In these cases, I will you understand how you can use these to work for you rather than against you.

You may be caught up in anticipatory anxiety, fear and a sense of hopelessness and sadness. When this happens, you will likely engage in unful behaviours like staying at home, not making an effort to go out and meet people, not enjoying life and not looking after yourself.

Based on the information that emerges from these and my own clinical judgement, I will recommend a number of treatment plans most suitable for you.

This could be EMDR therapy, CBT, TA, clinical hypnosis, etc  (you can read more about these techniques under the Psychological Therapies menu)

We will then proceed to look at options and these could range from looking at ways to minimise bullying triggers, expanding your sociogram (i.e. the extent of your social networks and interactions), as well as techniques to improve your assertiveness and self-confidence, self-soothing strategies, and stress-coping strategies.

The ultimate aim is to equip you to pro-actively address the bullying and come to solutions which can either eliminate it, or not allow it to emotionally affect you.

Most importantly, through the techniques of mindfulness and therapy sessions, I hope to be able to give you support and emotional strength during this rough journey.

If you have someone in your life who is a victim of bullying, we can . To learn more, Contact Us.