Angus Bailey

I offer in person therapy as well as online (via Zoom.) 

My working hours are from 9am to 5pm Monday to Fridays. 

I will from time to time be away but will be available to work online or via telephone when that is the case unless I'm on  holiday. 

Hello I'm Angus. I am an Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist with a background training in Person Centred, Psychodynamic and Gestalt approaches. I have also trained in Emotional Freedom Technique. Prior to my private practice I worked at Off The Record as a counsellor and supervisor which provides free services for young people. I have also worked as a counsellor at the Freedom Project (an LGBT+ youth group), the Orchard Academy, the City of Bristol College and Oasis Talk (a social enterprise counselling service.) Additionally I have experience as a program assistant on the Level IFS trainings. My interests are in Zen meditation, poetry, short story writing, hiking and cooking. 

You may have noticed that you have different parts to you and recall or have heard others say something like  â€˜part of me wants to stay in the job/relationship and part of me wants to leave it.’ These parts, as the examples show, think, feel and believe in different things (like the members of a family) and often battle internally which causes distress. By understanding the intentions of these parts you will be able to feel more connection, compassion and curiosity towards them and thus move towards a more trusting relationship where they no longer hijack, overwhelm and control you. 

IFS is a Neurobiological and Mindfulness based approach which goes beyond just managing emotions as is often the case in mainstream approaches. Above all however it is a relational approach and like any healthy relationship trust is essential and is something we would aim towards. All parts of you are trying to help and need to feel acknowledged. When they feel this they can put more trust in you. IFS can aid in steering towards this culminating in a harmonisation and reintegration of  the parts of your inner system (that became fragmented earlier on in life) many of which were once adaptive but are now maladaptive. The result can be increasing self leadership with you being considerably more at ease in the world.

There are 3 broad categories of parts that we all have. 

1)The Firefighters- these  are present orientated and behavioural protectors. They can include comfort eating, drinking alcohol, watching TV, exercising, taking drugs and getting angry. Their job is to protect by soothing us. 

2) The Managers- these are solution focussed and future orientated- the thinking mind. They can include everything from what time an appointment is to being critical of others or oneself. Their job is also to protect but they do this instead by trying to improve us and not sooth us like the firefighters above.

3) Exiles- these are past orientated and can show up as feelings such as sadness, despair and shame. They are our 'inner children' which we often feel in the body. They are looking to be protected, seen and heard

With me you would learn how you experience your parts. For example  anger manifesting in the chest as a tense and hot sensation.  From this awareness we begin the journey of relating to them as they all have a story and want to be heard with the reasons for what they do. For example a part that is burdened with anger was essential in the past for fending off an abuser but today the abuse is no longer occurring.  However the part carries on as though it was and subsequently alienates loved ones. Another part then criticises this angry behaviour and shame occurs.  Understanding, with warmth towards  these parts is the path to healing.

There are many ways to get to know parts. Some examples include writing from a parts perspective, using figurines to represent the parts, movement, sculpting play dough, drawing, and using empty chairs (speaking from the part.)

For real change to occur some exploration between sessions is encouraged at a pace which is right for you and with whatever time you can afford. It's a bit like going to a personal trainer once a week so that in order to get the best from the sessions you would hopefully be able to dedicate some time in  between. 

I offer an initial consultation of 30 minutes which costs £20. In this meeting I would learn whatever you would feel comfortable sharing about what brings you to therapy and what you would like to explore and gain from the sessions. 

Short term work would normally last between 6 to 12 sessions. This might be more goal specific, with a focus on more immediate issues. With long term work we would explore deep rooted issues, for example childhood traumas.  Above all the initial meeting is a chance for us to see if we could be a good match and for you to find out further about how I work. 

Some of the early sessions involve adjusting from seeing yourself from a 'mono mind' perspective to a multi conscious awareness and getting to know yourselves ie your parts/your inner ecology. There is some psycho education at the beginning with getting to know how the modality works, a little of which has been explained above.