REGAIN
CONTROL
OF YOUR LIFE
COUNSELLING
Worried?Stuck?
Unsure?
You needn't stay alone.
Depression • Anxiety • Panic attacks • Relationships • Bereavement • Self-harming • Self-esteem • Abuse • Confidence • Sexuality and gender identity • Over/under-eating • Work, Education & Career • Guided self-exploration • Office politics and team management
"What's happening to us?"
COUPLE COUNSELLING
Get insight on what you can no longer see.
Understand. Untangle. Make a new deal.
The sky is your limit.
Find out what's in your way, make new decisions, jump back into the driver's seat.
Office Politics.
Team Management.
Business Negotiations.
-
STOP. Are you suffering? You don't have to.
-
THINK. Understand the dynamics: games, ulterior transactions, drama triangles... Are they playing for or against you?
-
START taking the edge. Be a winner and regain control of your career.
EXECUTIVE COACHING
Tuesday, Wednesday or Sunday evening
Online calendar & booking
Online video
Counselling / Coaching (1-12 sessions)
or Psychotherapy (>12 sessions)
Sliding-scale fees
Low fees for students
English or French
Major cards accepted.
Hi! And a warm welcome to you.
Are you looking for someone safe and supportive to open yourself to? Welcome!
Are you feeling low at the moment? Are you going through a hard time? Are you missing something, someone? Or on the contrary, are you having too much on your plate? Are you conflicted, split, feeling cornered? Is it a recent problem? Or one that has poisoned all your life and that you are finally decided to address?
Whatever your reason, first of all I would like to congratulate you for your courage. It's never easy to ask for help.
It's good to talk to an empathic, ethical, non-judgemental therapist about things you're not comfortable discussing with a friend or your family. Talking therapy changes lives because it is safe, professional, ethical and confidential.
Please get in touch and we should be able to start your first session in no time and address your needs.
Who am I?
Eric.
Transactional Analysis Psychotherapeutic Counsellor.
Specialising in Counselling, Psychotherapy, and Executive Coaching.
Graduated from the world-renowned Metanoia Institute (London) in 2016.
Registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) No. 256610
Professional Civil Liability Insurance: Howden No. P17J4046
My full name is Michel-Eric Cizniar. I am British.
Does it sound French? That's because I was born there. In therapy, you may notice my slight Parisian slant. Oh la la! :-)
I am bilingual English/French and I do provide therapy in both languages as required by my clients.
How does therapy work?
-
First, I suggest you contact me by e-mail (psy@cizconsult.com) or click the button below.
-
I will send you an assessment questionnaire. This questionnaire is meant to protect your welfare and own safety. (Note: the service is confidential, but not anonymous.)
-
I will read the questionnaire carefully and check for any counter-indication for therapy or remote sessions. Safety first! Then, I will propose to take date for a first session.
-
The session lasts 50 minutes. Counselling and Psychotherapy: the first session is free (it is a taster session). Couple Couselling: it is not taster session (because the therapy is usually much shorter)
-
During the assessment session, I will listen to you and you will explain to me what is going on. I will also introduce you to the therapeutic contract that you will need to return to me after the session should you wish to continue.
-
At this stage, you are not engaged. You can drop here if you like.
-
To continue, please return to me the psychotherapeutic contract which binds us morally. as this is how I can start taking clinical responsibility. I advise committing to an initial 12 sessions (Counselling) that you will be able to extend (Psychotherapy). There is no minimmum commitment for Couple Counselling, work is extended on an adhoc basis after each session, as per required. Overall Couples spend usually 6 sessions in the therapy room.
-
You will be able to pay your sessions by bank transfer or debit/credit card, details will be provided in the invitations.
-
Remote sessions use Whereby which is a sort of virtual room accessible from a browser. There is no login or password. Just lock on the door at the time of your session and I will let you in!
-
In-person sessions happen at the pin on this map, with details provided in the invitation.:
Therapeutic approach and scientific background
There are about 50 different therapeutic modalities around, which I understand is more than you need... and makes your choice difficult and confusing. The good news is: research shows that the modality comes only third as a predictor of success of your therapy (Norcross, 2002). The most important factor is actually what we call the "working alliance", i.e. the capacity of the client and the practitioner to create a therapeutic relationship based on trust and safety, for the therapeutic transformation to take place. Other important factors are the professionalism of the practitioner and the adequation of the therapy to the needs.
I read on some websites "our modality, unlike the others, is the only one that works". This arrogant statement makes me wonder if its author can also transmute lead into gold? The reality is that nobody holds "The Truth". The good therapy is the therapy that works for you and is effective, the good therapist the one that you can trust and helps you meet your goals.
If you choose me as your therapist, we will mainly work under the Relational Transactional Analysis therapeutic modality. Being quite of a mainstream approach, a lot of information can be found on the internet. Nevertheless, I thought it useful to sketch what are, in my view, some of its main points.
Transactional Analysis was developed by psychoanalytically trained American psychiatrist Dr Eric Berne in the 1950s, and was originally designed as a cognitive psychoanalysis for short-term therapies.
Over the last 60 years, thanks to its lively community, Transactional Analysis has happily integrated other Gestalt and Person-Centred influences and has blossomed into several schools. Some of my professors at the Metanoia Institute were the world-recognized founders of the “Relational” T.A. School, and have published many books and papers.
Transactional Analysis’s original tenets are structural analysis, functional analysis, game analysis, and script analysis. These, by certain aspects, resemble Ellis’s and Beck’s CBT (although Berne wasn’t aware of their respective work and nor were they of Berne’s).
The Relational school stresses the importance of the therapeutic alliance between the client and the practitioner. I am trained to identify interpersonal dynamics such as projective identifications and transferences that may occur in the therapy room and which will inform me about my client’s world - your "unthought known" (Bollas, 1987).
A typical treatment plan could start with a therapeutic contract and could go through decontamination (cognitive therapy), deconfusion (therapy of the unconscious), through to redecision work and crystallisation.
As my client, you don't have to be aware of going through these steps, which I will wrap in the foreground therapeutic relationship in the pure Carl Rogers tradition. Although one of our review sessions may be a good opportunity to reflect on it. Some of my clients are surprised by their progress!
To summarise, Relational Transactional Analysis may be viewed as a powerful two-person (Starck, 1999) integrative psychodynamic CBT promoting sustainable therapeutic change. Without the homework. And by no means a costly, intangible, lifelong indulgence!
Conditions
-
This is an Adult only service. You need to be 18 or over.
-
For online video sessions, you need to have a good internet connection and a private space (bedroom, etc...) which allows confidentiality. You also need to be alone (1 to 1 person therapy). You cannot record the sessions. The therapy may not take place if the conditions are not fulfilled and payment will still be due.
-
There are strict rules regarding missing or rescheduling sessions (online or face to face) which will be explained as part of the administrative contract during the assessment session.
-
Therapy is confidential but not anonymous and abides by the same rules as the medical profession in terms of confidentiality.
-
There very specific cases where by law, confidentiality would be broken, which will be explained to you in the administrative contract.
-
It is possible to switch from one form of therapy to another under some conditions.
-
Remote or in-person is generally the client's choice, but remote is not adapted to the highest level of distress, which require more "holding". This is discussed during the assessment. Safety always comes first.