Lecturer in Integrated Cancer Care and Spirituality:
Psychotherapist and Autogenic Training Therapist
Psychotherapist and Autogenic Training Therapist
CLIENT WORK: • Psychotherapy • Autogenic Training
AT - supportive statement...
“The news that I definitely had cancer had been given to me by a surgeon walking away from me down a corridor. A few months later I had a toxic reaction to one of the chemotherapy drugs I was taking.
Ruth Sewell began teaching me AT at our first independent session together after we had met at the Bristol Cancer Help Centre. I had been treated for breast cancer two years previously but had never done any relaxation therapy before.
At the time I was unable to relax, my limbs felt very tense and jerky as if they had electricity in them. My mind kept racing and I had trouble sleeping and sometimes suffered from nightmares. My energy levels were rock bottom. I also felt that my mind and my body were quite separate and I had no control over either of them. During AT I learnt to hear my inner voice and understand what I really needed and wanted.
Ruth taught me AT over a period of 8 weeks, one small part at a time. We did the exercise together in the session and then I would do it at home three times a day. Then the following week she would add on the next part and so on.
I found immediately that I was beginning to relax. From the very first time we did AT together I loved the sensation of relaxation in my body. It was if my body experienced great relief at being able to let go of the enormous tension it was holding at last. I found I could sleep and in fact I slept a lot as I got in touch with my own exhaustion. I also found it much easier to release emotions, by crying sometimes or at other times they just seemed to rise up and go while I was relaxing. The deep relaxation I feel during AT is something I had never felt before.
I have been using AT for five years now and it is a fantastic tool, which enables me to relax, to sleep and also to calm pain. I have found that both headaches and neuralgia have been eased by using AT. When I do AT first thing in the morning it grounds me and calms me to face the day. At night it helps me to sleep more deeply. AT has given me a way of taking care of myself, during good and difficult times and ensuring that I stay well and healthy whatever life throws at me.”
Nicola Sellars - previous AT client of Ruth’s
Nicola Sellars -