The decision to seek support from a psychotherapist often means life has reached a point where it no longer seems manageable. Whatever may be causing the issue, the nervous system has responded to these stressors in now unhelpful ways, resulting in anxiety, depression, compulsive behaviour, relationship challenges, or difficulty with daily functioning. In many cases, the foundation for such responses began long ago, thus entrenching core patterns of thought, feeling and behaviour. While these patterns initially emerged and developed to protect us in the past, they are no longer adaptive in our present day.