Creating Core Change
On a bright May morning I arranged to meet Tanya Collins, founder of Creating Core Change, in Naomi’s Café Bar. I have never met someone as naturally enigmatic as Tanya; her calm, staccato, near whisper of a voice, and her welcoming demeanour a perfect fit for her role as a counsellor of emotions. It is such a neat fit it is hard to imagine she has ever done anything else, but during our conversation it became clear she is a woman with a surprising past.
Before the interview proper we had a brief chat, and you find with Tanya that you immediately feel as if you are talking to an old friend, her demeanour somehow encouraging an open and positive dialogue. She had asked about my ambitions for the future, and I was soon beaming widely as I discussed what I would like to do with my writing, what I had done in the past, and how my shyness had impacted upon my life. Somehow Tanya has an innate trustworthiness that encourages open and honest dialogue.
Eventually I remembered the purpose of our meeting, and we both nursed large mugs; mine a fruit tea, hers a coffee, as I started the recording. I suspected this would be a tough subject to sum up neatly, and I was right, as we ended up talking for the entire morning, until other engagements forced a conclusion upon us.
Creating Core Change, in a nutshell, is all about emotions, but of course that covers a huge gamut of different subjects. It is this variety that makes the work so rewarding to Tanya, because every individual who comes through her door is different. She can act as an emotional Coach, performance coach, or therapist. Tanya is there to help people empower themselves to deal with unwanted behaviour or emotional responses, personal problems, depression, low self-esteem, anxiety, anger management, suicidal thoughts, emotional eating, and sports performance to name but a few examples.
Imagine, she said, being a professional footballer who has just missed a penalty in front of a stadium, and now has to step up and take another penalty. What is going through their mind? Focusing on the failure puts more pressure on their next action, and makes the chances of making a mistake higher. Her techniques can help overcome that fear, and bring positivity back into mind. That’s the central premise of Creating Core Change, emotional stability, taking control back from emotions that could otherwise overwhelm.
Behaviour, Tanya explained, is set in the first seven years of our lives, and once that pattern is set, it can become an unconscious response, something driving us that we don’t even realise is there. Tanya explained she is not a counsellor, she does not get you to relive the past in order to overcome it. Nor does she do CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), which helps people recognise the thought they are having, to help them change the impact. But what if you drop that person into a high stress situation? They may not have the time to stop and think, and so they relapse. Tanya’s techniques aim to change to internal driver, so it works at an unconscious level, to prevent what Tanya calls emotional high-jacking.
I was blindsided a little by the next answer. I had asked how long Tanya had been doing her business, and she replied that it was just over a year. I immediately responded with surprise, telling her I had imagined she had been doing this for many years now.
A potted history followed, beginning with a degree in physiology, which although fascinating, led Tanya to realise she wanted to work with people and not just hide away in a room studying. Social work of various types followed, and eventually led to a career in the prison service. I won’t dwell too much on the past, but it was clear from the conversation that this history of scientific study, social work, and working with prisoners, and prison staff, has provided Tanya with a wealth and depth of knowledge about the human psyche. At first glance I found it hard to picture her within a prison setting, my only understanding of such things being informed by film and TV, but as she explained how she could use her skillset to deal with the prisoners and staff, it became clear what she does is an extremely powerful tool, that empowers not only the client, but also the therapist. How foolish I felt for having judged a book by its cover!
Eventually the overtly structured aspect of the prison service led Tanya to seek self-employment. Where the rules and regulations of the service restricted how much time she had to focus on what she truly loved, helping people, going into business for herself meant she could at last follow through and see someone to an end result, without limitations. It was immediately clear from Tanya’s enthusiastic response that it is the people she treats that mean everything to her, something that stood out throughout the conversation. The pay-off for her, is when someone has been helped, even if what she has done is, as she put it, one part of that person’s jigsaw puzzle.
Now I don’t want to reveal everything Tanya told me about how her therapy works, because I feel that is for her to do, should you ever need help with any form of emotional concerns. However, what struck me is the clever way her methods deal with unwanted emotional responses. My primary understanding of traditional counselling is of lying on a couch revealing facts about your life that cause you concern, with the counsellor digging deeper and telling you it’s because you’re in love with your mother, or some such. The Spectrum therapy Tanya does is about coping mechanisms, empowering you with the ability to deal with the appearance of unwanted emotional reactions. Tanya showed me a simple image of a person with numerous layers, which she explained were the different experiences we build up as life progresses. These external layers can prove to be barriers that hold you back, and what she does is help peel away the layers you don’t like, and in essence become more authentically you.
The question of who Creating Core Change is for is really a moot one, because it truly is for everyone. Tanya’s clients vary wildly, from children to adults, with issues ranging from phobias, depression, to emotional eating and of course, as described earlier, many more. To ensure it is for you Tanya always offers the first consultation free.
Why should you choose Tanya? In simple terms, she says Spectrum therapy is extremely effective, but also trauma free. Spectrum therapy is not about dredging up the past. Indeed it was designed by a man who was treating soldiers with post-traumatic stress, where he didn’t want them to relive the horror that had affected them in the first instance. Spectrum therapy keeps you safe, and still offers an effective solution. Tanya explained that with traditional therapy the more you think it, the easier it becomes to think about it, the more you reinforce the thought, it basically wiring neurons in your brain to think and react that way. But you can break those links, and without resorting to drugs.
Tanya is a source of the most fascinating facts! And her facts are always backed up with references to research, and she demonstrates a genuine understanding of the science behind the facts. If nothing else, if you want an in-depth engaging conversation about human nature, this is one woman who would most definitely give you value for money!
Talk about the future made it clear that she is following her industry closely, and is concerned by the gaps being left by the government’s plans for counselling. In an ideal world, she explained, she would like to have the capacity to offer pro-bono work for the most vulnerable.
Another Tanya secret was revealed at this stage when she threw-away a casual comment about being a closet artist. Luckily she had sample pictures to hand of her sculpting and felt work, though sadly you’ll have to take my word for it, what I saw demonstrated a truly remarkable talent. If ever she experiences a dry spell in her therapy work, not that I’m wishing it upon her, I’m certain she could plug the gap by selling some of her art.
I tempted fate by asking if Tanya could sum up Creating Core Change in one sentence, a task, in this case I felt could be tougher than for others.
A brief pause and Tanya slowly said as follows:
I’m passionate about empowering people to make deep and lasting changes at the unconscious level, to help them become more authentic in themselves, and not be hijacked by unwanted emotional responses, or unwanted behaviours, either personally or professionally.
That’s it word for word. After which Tanya paused and concluded that it was rather a long sentence. I declared it a paragraph which caused her let out an embarrassed laugh, but I said I was sure I could make it work with a few well placed commas. However I also felt the first line, about empowering people was a good summary in itself.
The conversation did continue, but I now feel the need to draw this blog to an end, because it is about Creating Core Change, and as I said to Tanya as I stopped recording, the conversation we had contained enough content for numerous blogs. But this one is about the business, not the philosophy, or how science and spirituality can begin to merge.
So I’ll end this blog with one of Tanya’s interesting facts; our brain cannot process a negative.
Don’t think of pink of elephants.
Now, what are you thinking about?
The brain has to process the full sentence before you can deal with the actual instruction. So by saying what you don’t want the person to do, the likelihood of them has just increased, rather than decreased.
Don’t look down. Don’t press that button. And so on!
The point is you should give instructions in the positive. For example if you want your child to avoid tripping on a step, better to say, lift your feet and tread carefully, rather than, don’t trip on the step.
That is a simple example of the insights into human psychology, and is a very surface level indicator of the knowledge and thoughts Tanya has. Should you ever want to learn more I sure she would be more than happy to meet over a drink and impart that huge breadth of knowledge.
I left the café feeling topped up with positivity and almost light-headed, as if I had myself been through a form of therapy.
