Kerry Jeffery
Kerry Jeffery is a hypnotherapist from Dandenong, Australia.
What sort of practitioner are you?
As an expert in emotional healing, I use my own unique blend of hypnotherapy, counselling and life coaching to help my clients create a strong foundation of emotional security. I specialize in working with clients who want to overcome toxic parent relationships and family trauma.
I use hypnotherapy to remove the effects of trauma, cognitive based skills to re-frame existing beliefs in a more positive, life-enhancing way and use skills based techniques to teach better communication, stronger boundaries and self-support. Basically I work to dissolve the barriers, whether anxiety or depression that are holding my clients back at a subconscious level, then teach them simple, powerful skills to give them confidence and emotional security.
Do you see clients from home or in a clinic?
I work from home and use Skype for international clients or those unable to come to my office.
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What problems/issues do you treat most frequently?
Trauma based, whether from toxic family environment, sexual, physical or verbal abuse, or other traumatic events that have caused them to doubt themselves or their self-worth.
What are your biggest frustrations running your practice?
Being at the stage where I am a “one woman show”. I do everything in my business from invoicing, website and marketing. I look forward to the time when my business can support technical and marketing help.
What do you find hardest about your daily work?
The administrative side. Writing and filing notes and keeping track of expenses and income though essential is something I would rather not have to do.
Do you find your professional body supportive and helpful? Do they help you create connections with fellow therapists?
While they are supportive, I find their requirement for things like life long supervision unless you upgrade to clinical membership to be unrealistic and unreasonable. The internet and things like facebook provide lots of opportunities to connect with other practitioners and form communities. Some professionals bodies struggle to create real value for the money they receive in membership fees.
What training have you done that has really helped you in your therapy work?
Having a background in my psychology degree set the foundation but without doubt the most valuable training that has very much changed how I work is the Rewind Technique. The effects I can get with it are utterly amazing and being able to see a client go from anxious and traumatized to calm and free of that trauma is truly satisfying.
How do you balance work and life?
Working from home means extra time spent keeping the house clean which is challenging with children at home.
I have very strong boundaries about ensuring that I get enough “me” time to unwind. Having friends who are also therapists who “get it” is essential to talk things through, especially when you are dealing with people who have been through trauma.
You have to draw a very firm line between your clients emotions and your own. Becoming comfortable with giving empathy and support, while not allowing yourself to take on your clients emotions or pain is essential for every therapist.
I also live with a chronic health condition which means that getting good nutrition and enough sleep is essential for me to function at my best so I practice the art of extreme self-care.
What frustrates you most about the way mental health is dealt with in your country?
That so many people are given anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication needlessly or labeled as “depressed” when they are dealing with past trauma or current stress.
Once a label is given, it can be for life and often it’s totally unnecessary.
Can you tell us about your most uplifting experience treating a recent client? (anonymously of course!)
I had a client with an extremely toxic mother who was prone to telling very scary stories or lies to get attention or cause trouble. My client was at the point where she could not be with her mother without resenting her, withdrawing from her or screaming at her. After one session resolving some early trauma caused by her Mother from childhood, she emailed me the next day absolutely thrilled to tell me that “it worked”! When she had arrive home after our session, her Mother had launched into a story of someone trying to break into the house and was acting hysterically and my client felt calm and was able to deal with her Mother and reassure her without any anxiety or upset at all. My client was absolutely thrilled to experience such a marked change in how she felt and how she reacted which was so different to how she had felt before.
You can read Kerry’s blog on living with an autoimmune disorder here.
Pictured above: Kerry Jeffery’s therapy room.
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FREE Reframing Book! Just subscribe to my therapy techniques newsletter below.
Download my book on reframing, "New Ways of Seeing", when you subscribe for free email updates
About Mark Tyrrell
Psychology is my passion. I've been a psychotherapist trainer since 1998, specializing in brief, solution focused approaches. I now teach practitioners all over the world via our online courses.
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