Bilyana Wharton is an experienced psychotherapist assisting clients to overcome the aftermaths of trauma and abuse. Her therapy work encompasses conditions such as C-PTSD, Anxiety Disorders, Depression and Relationship Issues.
True to her instinctive and artistic nature, she has transitioned through career in music and teaching to training as an integrative psychotherapist and hypnotherapist. Studying at Chrysalis Courses UK sparked the interest in the multi-model integrative therapy. Using the T.I.M.E. model, Bilyana utilises strategies and modalities of different therapy schools and theories, including CBT, Gestalt, Transactional Analysis, Attachment Theory, Parts Therapy, Relational Therapy and Hypnotherapy.
Bilyana Wharton, Integrative Psychotherapist and Hypnotherapist
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about yourself and your life so we can get to know you better.
I want to think of myself as an ordinary person who quietly changes other people's lives. There is nothing superbly exciting about my life or myself apart from the pure joy of being alive, our love in our family, my gratitude for my amazing friends, and the sense of purpose I gain from my work with my clients.
We live on a small holding on the outskirts of the lovely village of Seamer near Scarborough, and my husband and daughter look after their small flock of sheep and enjoy lambing in spring. We have chickens and enjoy fresh eggs daily; I make my kefir and cook from scratch. Between all of us, we run three small businesses within the hospitality, construction, and property industries. Life is vibrant and busy with four dogs, two cats, extended family, and all our business-related commitments. We all have different vocations, and those enrich our lives immensely.
What inspired you to transition from a background in pedagogy and music to a career in psychotherapy and hypnotherapy?
The core of that decision is my fascination with human psychology and curiosity about what drives our behaviour and why we become who we are.
Music makes people connect through every range of emotions possible. Working as a pianist in high-end hotels and clubs, at the end of the evening, people would approach me with curiosity that often turned into self-disclosure. Music acted as an emotional connective, touching an emotional string that resonated in them, and they responded with trust towards me. The impermanence of my position, in a sense, made them feel safe speaking about their challenging experiences, and I would listen with respect and empathy.
Can you share how your personal experiences have shaped your therapeutic approach, especially when working with clients dealing with childhood trauma and complex PTSD?
The most significant influence was my training and experience with the HOPE organization during my studies with Chrysalis. The centre where I had my placement was helping survivors of sexual abuse within two departments: adult survivors and children. Relational trauma, in most cases, is inflicted by someone close to the victim. Simultaneously, I worked with the aftermath of the darkest side of human nature and, at the same time, witnessed the survivors’ resilience and the transformational power of the therapeutic relationship.
Trauma is not something we remember; it is re-lived, keeping the person a psychological hostage to the past, and through doing so, it robs them of becoming who they truly are meant to be.
Krut Vonnegut once said, “The past is the story we tell ourselves.” I tell my clients that the story they tell themselves seldom has anything to do with the truth. They have the power to change, heal, and rewrite the chapters. Psychotherapy provides a safe environment for that to happen.
How do you integrate various therapeutic modalities, such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and the T.I.M.E. therapy model, to tailor treatments for individual clients?
The T.I.M.E. model stands for Temporal, Integrative, Multi-Model, and Emphatic. It is a conceptual structure where you can integrate any model, theory, or psychotherapy approach by utilizing strategies and ideas and tailoring those to suit the client's intricate needs. The approach is client-oriented, giving the freedom to improvise and respond to what the client brings into the session.
For example, with some clients, I may use the understanding of our internal processing as a collaboration on three levels: Head – Heart – Gut. The Head is our first brain, cognition, rationality, and logic. The heart is emotions, attitudes, and belief systems, and the Gut feeling is our intuition, a unique sense developed throughout lifetime experiences. All three are interconnected and operate on psychological, neurological, and physiological levels. Cognitive behavioural therapy can be used in the therapeutic process to address cognitive distortions, self-defeating or contradictive beliefs, and the client's self-concept.
Different psychological approaches are like various styles of music. As a therapist, I need to assess and understand the client and offer a treatment that serves their unique needs and circumstances.
What motivated you to offer supervision sessions for counsellors and hypnotherapists, and how do these sessions benefit you and the practitioners you supervise?
The value of supervision is something I have discovered very early in my practice. It is another way of safeguarding the client and assists successful recovery. We troubleshoot challenges and gain different perspectives, sometimes through the eyes of a different therapeutic approach. Supervision is a safety net and a collegial environment that challenges you most constructively. It keeps us all honest and psychologically safe, explores our vulnerabilities, and keeps in check our abilities, limitations, and expertise. It never ceases to amaze me how rewarding it feels to know we have and can give this collegial support.
If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?
It is not a change in the industry but how we can better use our knowledge. Once upon a time, for generations, families would have lived in the same place, had a more extensive familial support network, knew their identity, and adhered to similar values. The world has changed, and I work with many young clients and couples who struggle to navigate life and relationships. The rate of divorce and separation, movement of people, and freedom of choice are so great that our young generation is left unsupported and having to rely on their own devices to make sense of life and relationships. Relational intelligence can be a subject at schools, and family therapy can be the first thing to explore before separation. Before making life-changing decisions, I implore anyone to consider how that will affect every aspect of their lives and those they love.
Life is uncertain, relationships get messy, and therapy offers a safe space to make sense of it all.
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