CHILDREN & ADOLESCENTS

Dr. Claire Hayes has a particular interest in helping children, adolescents and their parents understand and cope with anxiety and/or depression. She uses primarily a psychoeducational approach which means that she works with parents and young people to explore what is going on for them, explore the meaning for them and develop practical ways of developing resilience. All of Claire’s sessions last approximately 90 minutes and the first appointment is always for parents only. 

  • Meet with parents

    This gives parents the opportunity to describe their concerns and for Claire to take a detailed developmental history. If appropriate, she will use the ‘Coping Triangle’ process (© Hayes). This is based on cognitive behavioural principles and can be very helpful in facilitating parents to explore their own feelings, thoughts, beliefs and actions in relation to their concerns about their child as well as learning ways to help him or her cope. The session concludes with a focus on recommendations and parents generally leave with practical suggestions.

  • Meet with the child/adolescent

    One or both parents will be present for the initial part of this session and then, depending on the child’s age, they may leave for approximately an hour before re-joining. During this time Claire will work with the young person to explore what has been going on to cause concern and to see if the ‘Coping Triangle’ process will be of benefit. When parents return, she and the child/adolescent will summarise together what they had been discussing. The focus will then be on steps that the young person and/or parents can take to cope better.

  •  First follow-up appointment:

    These may take place with parents only, child/adolescent only or parents and their young person together. The initial focus will be to explore how things have been and if there have been any improvements and/or continue to be areas of concern. Depending on what is required, Claire will help the young person and/or parents cope better using a combination of cognitive behavioural, relaxation and visualisation approaches.

 

WORK WITH ADULTS

Dr. Claire Hayes has over twenty five years experience of providing professional support to adults who wish to improve the quality of their lives. She helps them to understand their stressors (past and present) and to develop practical, effective strategies for change.  In helping people cope with a wide range of psychological issues, including anxiety and depression, Claire draws on the various training and experience she has gained to help people:

  1. Gently look at what is causing them distress
  2. Explore the meaning of this for them
  3. Focus on key steps they can take to develop resilience
  • Initial Meeting:
    Developing and maintaining a respectful and supportive relationship is at the core of Claire’s work. During an initial appointment she helps adults she is working with to put current challenges in context of their life story, to explore patterns of vulnerability and resilience and to focus specifically on what changes they choose to make to improve their situations.

    If it is appropriate Claire may use the ‘Coping Triangle’ process (© Hayes). This is based on cognitive behavioural principles and can be very helpful in facilitating people to explore their own feelings, thoughts, beliefs and actions in relation to their concerns as learning ways to help him or her cope. The session concludes with a focus on recommendations and people generally leave with practical suggestions.

  • Subsequent Meetings:

    As Claire’s style is primarily ‘psycho-educational’, her sessions last approximately 90 minutes. She usually recommends that adults meet with her three times over a two-month period with follow-up sessions if or as required. These provide an opportunity to review how things have been since the previous appointment, to identify key areas of concern and to focus on Claire can support individuals, couples and/or families to continue to make changes to improve the quality of their lives. The content of sessions vary according to the individual needs of people and may include cognitive behavioural principles, relaxation and/or visualisation methods to help people ‘take their power back’ from their fears and to build self-compassion and resilience.