Zoë Pool, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Zoë Pool

Bournemouth BH6 English
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Zoë Pool, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Zoë Pool

Bournemouth BH6 English
Email Therapist
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My Approach

When I first meet you as a client, my aim is to help you find ways to settle a little into being with me. I know that sometimes we need help to overcome conflicts and blocks in ourselves and in our relationships that may be confusing and difficult to face. I understand that you are a unique and complex individual, with many aspects of who you are, how you experience yourself, and how you have had to adapt as you confront life's struggles. I aim to provide a welcoming space where you can begin to focus on your therapeutic needs with me - as much you feel ready to. We can also focus together on what occurs in our sessions to understand what’s going on for you now within you and between us. This allows new elements of your awareness to emerge. My aim is that a trusting relationship can develop between us. I know this can take time. From a secure base of our sessions, we can begin to explore what brings you to therapy, what you are struggling with, and your hopes for the life you want to live. I believe it is also important to explore what you are interested in, good at, what you enjoy, your resources, what brings you alive.

About Me

With over 25 years working with a wide variety of individuals, II am interested in what has happened in your life, how you experience it, the impact of the past on your life, your relationships with others and with yourself, and what you make of it. I tune into your experience - mind, body, emotions, beliefs. I value your individuality and diversity, and the importance of understanding the relationships and contexts in which you find yourself. I specialise in working with people who recognise their need to recover and heal from the wounds of trauma - big and small adverse experiences. These might be acute and sudden and/or chronic and enduring.
I recognise that we all have different parts of ourselves as human beings, different aspects of who we are, different roles we adopt. Sometimes we are aware of different aspects of who we are and sometimes not. Sometimes it is hard to accept or even tolerate parts of ourselves that we want to get rid of or disown.
With compassion, I encourage you to become curious about which parts of your experience, which emotions, might be blocking you. I hold the belief that you are the expert in your own life, and that you have within you what you need. My role is to help you discover and access your own understandings.

I work with

  • Couples
  • Individuals

Special Interests

Like all UKCP registered psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors I can work with a wide range of issues, but here are some areas in which I have a special interest or additional experience.

People don't usually set out to become addicts. If you are relying on some substance or process, it may be that you are trying to ‘fix’, forget or solve something in your life, for example shyness, isolation, trauma, loss, anger, social anxiety etc. It may be your attempted solution has become the problem. Any addiction, substance, compulsion or repetitive habit or pattern of behaviour, can be a very effective but destructive way of escaping or numbing out from overwhelming or unbearable experiences. I invite you to consider that change is always possible, when you are ready take the first steps and put in the work. Overcoming addictions and associated difficulties is possible when you reach your personal 'rock-bottom', your turning point, and are able to take that first step towards admitting to yourself “I cannot beat this on my own. I need help."
When trauma or adverse experience has overwhelmed a person at the time when it was happening, the traumatic memories (images, sounds, sensations, smells, etc.) can fragment and become stuck out of the person's awareness in the brain’s neural network. Any memory of a traumatic event can “trigger” the person to connect to the negative feelings and beliefs associated with it. The aim of EMDR therapy is to facilitate adaptive responses that clear disturbing or distressing memories and update the neural network. EMDR therapy facilitates the reprocessing and clearing of the trauma and a reduction of associated symptoms, thereby creating new associations with memories and increasingly adaptive responses and behaviours. This happens through bilateral stimulation, (eye movements or bi-lateral tapping or audio pulses) a process that creates new neural pathways and the ability to access the stored trauma. By accessing distressing memories in the context of a safe environment, the aim is to set in motion updated information processing. This activates new associations between the traumatic past memories and more helpful understandings in the here and now. These new associations result in new learning and insights which reduces and eliminates emotional distress. This allows for the development of new realisations regarding the old traumatic memories.
I provide online therapy sessions via one of the reliable apps (e.g. ZOOM, SKYPE or VSee). This allows us to stay connected with each other, so we do not feel isolated by the distance. Of course, though it is a different experience from being physically in the same room, once the equipment and connections are in place, the therapeutic journey can continue with the same attention and focus. I have been providing online sessions in my practice for some clients for many years now, and of course, though it is a different experience from being physically in the same room, once the equipment and connection is set, the therapeutic journey can continue with the same attention and focus. Some people prefer online therapy to face to face sessions.
For over 25 years I have been helping people to overcome the consequences of different types of psychological and emotional trauma. These include critical traumatic events, single incidents, and the enduring impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on adult life. Without therapeutic help, some trauma survivors may suffer with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), dissociative disorders, addictions, complex grief, physical illnesses. I understand how trauma affects mind, body and soul, and the many complex ways people try to cope in their determination to survive. I understand how trauma diminishes a person’s freedom, hope and confidence in their ability to make good choices. If you have experienced trauma of one sort or another, you may have found ways to cope with life post-trauma in order to survive. Some of these survival strategies, though necessary at the time, might be harmful or self-destructive. Addictions, severe mood swings, self-harm, somatic symptoms, chronic pain, anxiety and depressions are some ways people deny and disconnect from the impact of trauma. Eventually these attempted solutions may become a serious problem and lead to limitations and fragmentation of your experience in one way or another. I understand how the impact of trauma affects people’s experience of different parts or aspects of themselves and their attachment relationships. Modern psychotherapy practice is informed by neuroscience and research, and I keep learning and updating my work through continual professional development I specialize in a multi-dimensional perspective to trauma recovery that includes attending to mind-body-emotions-spirit, within the context past, present and future. I am qualified and experienced in EMDR Therapy. See: https://drzoepool.co.uk/therapies/emdr-dorset-bournemouth-therapist
We are all relational beings, always in relationship with ourselves and with others. Conflict and emotional anguish can develop in intimate relationships when partners/spouses feel their needs are not validated or met in their relationship, and their trust in each other is lost. When a couple do not know how to soothe their own or each other’s painful emotions, or they invalidate certain aspects of each other, they can find themselves in a spiral of confusion, a dance of dispute and disconnection. People sometimes struggle for years in their relationships before they seek help and support from a professional therapist, often leaving it until they realise their relationships are in a pattern or cycle of crisis. Some people hesitate to enter therapy when their problems first begin, concerned that recognising a need for therapy confirms something is wrong with them that is affecting their relationships, perhaps problems that may even stem from childhood. It takes courage to acknowledge you are having problems. In addition to working with individuals to improve relationships, I work with couples or partners when both of you are ready and willing to explore your life experiences, your emotions, and how these impact your experience of yourself and your partner currently in your relationship. I prioritise safety, respect and connection for both partners and for the relationship.

Types of Therapies Offered

  • Existential Psychotherapist

What I can help with

  • Abuse
  • Addiction
  • Anxiety
  • Bulimia
  • Depression
  • EMDR
  • Employment Difficulties
  • Identity Problems
  • Online Counselling
  • Phobias
  • Post-Traumatic Stress
  • Relationships
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Spirituality
  • Supervision
  • Trauma

Types of sessions

  • Face to Face - Long Term
  • Face to Face - Short Term
  • Online Therapy
  • Telephone Therapy

Bournemouth Office


Southbourne
Bournemouth BH6 4HZ
UK

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London Office

drzoepool.co.uk
Online
London
United Kingdom

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UKCP College

  • Universities Training College (UTC)
Zoë Pool

Zoë Pool

Bournemouth BH6
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