EMDRUK is Donna Butler’s trauma and therapy service.
| Professional Title: | Integrative Psychotherapist, Bereavement and Trauma Specialist. |
| Contact Number: | 07712 139885 |
| Email: | donna.butler@emdruk.com |
| Membership: | UKCP / IATE / EMDR ASSOC’/ NMC |
I am an Integrative psychotherapist, having trained at Brighton & Sussex Universities and the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education in London, where I gained a Masters in Psychotherapy.
My training had a solid grounding in science based education but through my work in acute services I realised, at times, words were not enough to express an experience. I use multi- media/arts in my therapy practice and also as a powerful tool to engage workshops and conference delegates.
I am an Eye, Movement, De-sensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) practitioner and work with clients who have experienced trauma, either in their personal lives or in the work place.
I am passionate about the NHS and have 30 years experience working in the Health Service, originally as a RN, of which I spent 16 years in the area of acute emergency services in Brighton (A&E). For eight of those years I supported patients, relatives and staff following trauma, stress and bereavements.
For the multi professional NHS staff to consistently provide compassionate, highly skilled patient care, I strongly believe that we have to look after the well – being of the staff .
I solely introduced the innovative Health Employee Learning and Psychotherapy service (‘HELP’). I manage a fantastic team, we offer psychotherapeutic support and workshops to staff across Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals.
My other area of broad experience is working with the local authorities and the courts, with regards to child protection issues and repetitive cyclical behaviours of child neglect / protection within families. Some individuals have a difficult and abusive start to their lives. By a multi – professional approach/ support and input , this, in many cases can be turned around.
I offer specialised one to one therapeutic input to private clients , from the Psychology Sussex Clinic in Hove. I also provide couple and group therapy. The group therapy draws on my extensive experience of critical de brief facilitation with the Emergency Services – Fire, Ambulance and Police personnel.
In being experienced with individual and group work, I regularly provide individual coaching . I work in an advisory role to organisations, with regards to stress management and implementation of service continuity and resilience.
I am a member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR UK Association) and the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and I am bound by their ethical framework for good practice.
A preview of what LinkedIn members have to say about Donna:
“I worked closely with Donna to plan and deliver the SHINE staff engagement week. The focus of the week was helping staff recognise the impact of our highly pressurised work environment on individual well-being, behaviour and performance. I was really impressed with the breadth of Donna’s knowledge and her ability to engage with staff across the organisation about the impact of stress. She is a confident, articulate presenter who ran a session on stress at the leadership conference for 250 staff which brought energy and enthusiasm to the whole event. She also delivered a mindfulness exercise to the conference and later to over 200 staff at drop-in sessions. Even the most sceptical of attendees was won over with how powerful the exercise was and feedback was overwhelmingly positive (over 86% of attendees rated the session positively). I really enjoy working with Donna as she is a great team player, easy to get on with and really passionate about her work, which comes across in everything she does.”
Donna has lead the BSUH HELP service since 2010
Here is an article from the Evening Argus in 2013 describing the work they do
Brighton hospital staff benefit from in-house stressbuster
Evening Argus 2013
Stressed hospital workers have been benefiting from the support of a dedicated in-house therapist.
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust was the first in the south east to appoint someone specifically to provide emotional support and advice to staff.
The service, provided by psychotherapist Donna Butler, has proved so popular there is now a waiting list.
Most NHS organisations offer staff sessions with external counsellors but managers in Brighton wanted someone based within the trust.
Ms Butler, who worked in A&E for 16 years and is a registered nurse, understands the pressures staff face and how the trust works.
It is claimed that working directly for the trust means she can monitor a person’s progress and pick up on potential troublespots more efficiently.
NHS workers have come under increased pressure with a combination of a national pay freeze, potential job losses and staff shortages as managers work to make millions of pounds worth of savings.
In its first year the service dealt with 250 individual referrals and now it sees between 80 and 90 people in a three-month period.
Regular clinics are held at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal in Haywards Heath.
The service has also been extended to staff from the Hove Polyclinic and the Park Centre for Breast Care in Brighton.
Ms Butler said: “A lot of people just need one or two sessions to chat through an issue when previously they would have taken time off work.
“The prevention of stress-related sick leave is cited time and again in feedback from users of the service, along with other benefits for individuals’ work and personal lives and the wider hospital.”
Ms Butler deals with employment and personal issues such as bereavement and work-related stress or the aftermath following an incident.
She meets with new staff when they start and runs workshops on stress management as well.
She said: “At first we mainly worked with nurses but now we are seeing people from all areas of the hospital as word of mouth has got around about what we do.”
The scheme marks its third anniversary next month.