My Approach

I am a UKCP accredited Integrative Psychotherapist, having had experience working on a short-term and long-term basis, both in the public and private sectors in the UK with people of all walks of life (+18/adults only), presenting a wide range of issues such as depression, anxiety, relationship problems, etc. I have also had specialist training and have gained years of experience working with trauma, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Complex PTSD.

Being an integrative therapist means that I acknowledge and value the uniqueness of each person as no one single approach can suit every person, therefore, in my work, my integration is tailor-made in response to each client's presentation and unique needs.
My training to become an accredited Psychotherapist was comprehensive, demanding and lengthy, which also included my own personal therapy. It also includes a re-accreditation every 5 years, with yearly renewals, which also requires keeping engaged in CPD (continuing professional development).

HOW CAN PSYCHOTHERAPY HELP
We may all find ourselves sometimes needing another person to talk to or support us at times or someone who can ‘walk with us’ through a transition time.
On other occasions, we may feel worried and/or confused about our past or present circumstances, experiences, issues in relationships, etc. that can lead us to feeling without motivation or not knowing what do.
Sometimes in our lives we may have also lived very difficult and/or traumatic experiences that may have left us feeling shaken, even years after the event, finding it difficult to move on.
It is not always easy to talk to close ones about certain things and taking that first step can be quite difficult, but psychotherapy can certainly help during all these processes.
Psychotherapy can also offer a place for exploration for those who are considering a change in their life or for personal development.
In my practice I offer you a confidential, compassionate and non-judgmental space where you can talk about and explore things that are important to you within a helping relationship. Psychotherapy offers a confidential, neutral space to work through hard feelings, increase insights, enable behavioural, emotional and psychological change and growth, helping us to find new perspectives to understand and manage things.
If you would like to have a free consultation, please contact me and we can discuss further how my approach can support you during this time.

Note: I only work ONLINE at the moment with clients who are working with me face-to-face and sometimes need an Online session. Therefore a hybrid approach is OK, but I also require to have face-to-face sessions with my clients too due to the way I work.

HOW DO EMDR AND SENSORIMOTOR WORK TO PROCESS DISTRESSING MEMORIES/EVENTS
"We don’t survive trauma as a result of conscious decision-making. At the moment of life threat, humans automatically rely upon survival instincts. Our five senses pick up the signs of imminent danger, causing the brain to turn on the adrenaline stress response system. Later, we may pay a price for these instinctive responses: we have made it without bearing witness to our own experience" (Fisher, 2023). During moments of alert, high anxiety, stressful situations, our nervous system simply wants to make sure you get out of there (fight or flight) or keeps you safe by freezing you or shutting you down (e.g. people who cannot fight or flee situations). This means that encoding memory in those moments is not a priority, but simply getting you to be safe. When your brain can’t process these stressful or distressing events, because the focus is on getting you away from danger, then this memory or experience does not get fully processed and it therefore remains fragmented with implicit (unconscious) and explicit components. Implicit components, such as a sensations in the body, tension, holding the breath, emotional overwhelm, impulses, sounds, smells, etc. can become activated in the present by similar (or remotely similar) elements in the environment (or internal reminders), but they are not felt like memories, they are simply re-experienced in the present.
Therefore, the Sensorimotor Approach together with EMDR can provide you with the interventions that can finally help you process and integrate those fragmented components of the experience/event/memory so that you do not get triggered in the here and now anymore. Undoubtedly, traditional talk therapy is an important part of resolving traumatic experiences, but sometimes it may lack“…techniques that work directly with the physiological elements, despite the fact that trauma profoundly affects the body and many symptoms of traumatized individuals are somatically based...” (Ogden and Minton, 2000).

LENGTH OF THERAPY
Therapy length can vary from short term for specific issues to long term therapy where more deeply-rooted issues that may include past traumas, developmental issues (attachment inadequacies, relational trauma), etc. may need a longer period of work; as the work progresses the depth of the exploration can bring about new themes that clients were not aware of before.

About Me

I am a fully qualified/accredited psychotherapist and member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP). I adhere to its code of ethics and practice. I am also member of a) Regent's School of Psychotherapy and Psychology, and b) Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College.

I am a recognized provider for the health insurance companies Aviva and AXA PPP and VitalityHealth. Fees may vary from my normal fees and they will depend on each insurer. Each case will be discussed on a individual basis.

TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS:
- EMDR trained therapist with Richman EMDR Training Ltd.

- Certificate (Level 2) 180 hours: Emotional Processing, Meaning Making, and Attachment Repair of the SPI (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute) Training Program. Find me on: https://sensorimotorpsychotherapy.org/therapist-directory/m-antonieta-olguin-cigarroa/

- Certificate (Level 1) 80 hours: Affect Dysregulation, Survival Defenses, and Traumatic Memory of the SPI (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute) Training Program in Affect Regulating, Attachment, and Trauma. I am also registered with SPI

- Advanced Diploma in Integrative psychotherapy (ADIP)(Regent's University London) Systemic and psychosexual therapy; gestalt and focusing approaches; critical psychopathology; Cognitive Behavioural Therapy; Jungian and Transpersonal approaches.

- PGdip in Psychotherapy & Counselling (Masters of Arts, Level 7) (Regent's University London) Psychodynamic, existentialist and humanistic theories & therapeutic approaches.

- Foundation Certificate in Psychotherapy & Counselling (Regent's University London)

- MEd Master of Education (Cantab) (Cambridge University)

- PGCE (University of Hertfordshire)

- BA (Hons) 1st Class (University of Hertfordshire)

I work with

• Individuals
• Private healthcare referrals

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.

Types of Therapies Offered

• Integrative Psychotherapist

What I can help with

• Anxiety
• EMDR
• Post-Traumatic Stress
• Stress
• Trauma