Mind In Body Integrated Counselling Services, Mercedes Baines

I believe that the embodied experience is central to deepening self-awareness, healing and insight. I view our minds/bodies/spirits as an interconnected whole and encourage fully embodied living. With 25 years’ experience in the performing arts , I have found that my training in drama, voice, movement, scriptwriting, mask, physical theatre and dance and my professional work as a writer, director, producer, teacher, actor and performance poet has strongly influenced my approach to counselling and my understanding of the healing process. In my work with clients, creative expression is a forum for self-expression, personal exploration, healing, and strengthening connection. In addition to my one to one counselling work, I develop and lead experiential groups. My work with groups incorporates elements of theatre practice with my clinical training. Through the use of breath work, body awareness, movement, voice, writing and drama exercises, I encourage participants to deepen their understanding of their life experiences and use creativity to envision change and elicit insight. I am passionate about the unique meaning you make of the world & your circumstances & your ability to make positive changes in order to live a more fully embodied life. I believe that when you pursue fully embodied living you feel a greater sense of belonging, empowerment & purpose in your life.
Approaches/techniques: I am a certified Adlerian Therapist which is a cognitive psychodynamic approach allowing me to work both on the present ‘here and now’ concerns of a client as well as underlying mitigating factors that may be holding a client back from living a more fulfilled life. In addition to the Adlerian approach, I also work with clients using Mindfulness and Body Awareness Techniques, Expressive Arts, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Solution Focus Therapy, Metaphor Therapy, Attachment Theory and Motivational Interviewing techniques. Adlerian Therapy is complimentary to the aforementioned approaches and follows a holistic model of wellness which focuses on a person’s strengths while seeking to understand each person within their social contexts.