Counselling for Migraines « The Harley Psychology & Therapy Group

Counselling for Migraines

A migraine is a moderate to severe headache that is accompanied by nausea and sensitivity to light and sound and lasts for between 2 and 72 hours. In addition, some sufferers report experiencing a disturbance to vision, hearing, speech and/or physical movement prior to the onset of a migraine. Migraines are classed as chronic if the sufferer is experiencing symptoms for more than 15 days of the month. Women are three times more likely to suffer from a migraine than men.

Who Can Migraine Counselling Help?

Are your migraines interfering with your ability to meet your responsibilities and commitments? Do you feel overwhelmed by the frequency and intensity of your headaches? Do you often feel anxious and/or depressed? Do you feel that your current methods of managing your migraine are insufficient?

If you have answered ‘yes’ to one of more of the above questions you may benefit from our migraine counselling services.

A Recent Testimonial

“I had a course of CBT Counselling with The Harley Psychology & Therapy Group (Richmond) and although it didn’t provide me with the quick fix miracle solution I was hoping for, it has made my problems feel more manageable”.
Chris - Richmond

What Does Treatment Involve?

Step 1

To start with one of our Therapists will meet with you to find out more about your migraine symptoms and how they impact on you and your life. To build a picture of the type of counselling that would be helpful your Therapist will also ask you some more general questions about your health and wellbeing, relationships, current commitments and responsibilities.

Step 2

Armed with the information from step 1 your Therapist will then design an individualised counselling programme to help you to improve your symptoms and reduce the impact your migraines have on you. If appropriate this may include a review by one of our medical doctors.

Step 3

The core part of counselling for migraines is to identify the emotional/psychological influences that may be triggering or exacerbating your migraines and the current coping responses that may be maintaining them. Examples of these include hopelessness about the future, underestimating your ability to cope, self-blame and criticism and catastrophic thinking. Your Therapist will use a range of techniques including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you to reduce these influences and replace them with thinking styles that promote calm, confidence and balance. There is a wealth of evidence supporting this approach in the management of migraine so it is very likely that you will quickly begin to experience some benefit.

Step 4

Finally, your Therapist will help you to identify and then eliminate the influences that have made you vulnerable to developing migraines to ensure that the results of your counselling are long lasting. This step may include working to resolve residual feelings of anxiety, depression and low self-esteem and confidence.

Fees

Prices can be found on our Fees Page. If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to call 0203 504 9300 or fill out a contact form.

Locations

We have clinics in Richmond, Liverpool Street, Clapham, Marylebone, Fulham, Islington, Twickenham, Chiswick, East Dulwich and Nottingham. We also offer Online Counselling via Video.

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Therapists

All of our Therapists offer Migraine counselling for men and women, click here to view the team.

What Causes a Migraine?

To date the causes of migraines are unknown however some theories suggest that they may be due to over activity in the cortex or a disturbance in pain neurons in the brainstem.

Despite the lack of information on the cause of migraines there will be certain triggers to individual sufferer’s migraines that once identified can be avoided in order to reduce the frequency and/or intensity of an episode. Some of these triggers include:

1. Food/Drink

Alcohol
Cheese
Caffeine (inc. Chocolate)
Citrus fruits
Garlic
Milk
Nuts
Onions
Pickled foods
Wheat

2. Hormonal changes

Menstrual cycle
Menopause
Pregnancy

3. Sleep – either too much or too little

4. Stress

5. Strenuous exercise

6. Environment

Heavy weather inc. Lightening
Bright lights
Computer screen

What is the Treatment for Migraines?

The most effective treatment to ease migraines is a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapy.

Pharmacological preventative treatment for migraine includes analgesics (for pain) and antiemetic (for nausea).

There are a range of non-pharmacological preventative treatments available to aid relief from migraine including acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, physiotherapy massage and relaxation however the evidence supporting these treatments is limited. There is however a wealth of evidence supporting the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in the treatment of migraines. A CBT programme for migraines is based on the principles that anxiety, distress, self-blame, hopelessness and catastrophic thinking can exacerbate migraines. A CBT programme therefore aims to alleviate the patients symptoms by identifying and modifying maladaptive responses to episodes in order to break self-maintaining cycles and reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines for patients.