Santina Camilleri Counsellor/Mind-Body Practitioner/MBCT Trainer Specialises in Addictions
Counselling Services
Individual Counselling
A safe therapeutic and transformative space to heal your mind, body and heart.
On Line sessions
On line sessions are also available from wherever you are.
Workshops
A safe therapeutic and transformative space where we come together on our healing journey.
We get used to ignoring uncomfortable or unpleasant feelings like it is the most normal thing to do. We have even got used to lying to ourselves and of course to others too. Maybe to avoid conflict, or to avoid criticism or maybe in order to feel accepted, loved, seen or validated.
How much longer can we ignore how we feel? How can we honestly live to our fullest life if we supress, we lie, deny, hide, cover, reject. ignore, betray our own personal experience of our life?
As the years go by we come to realise how uncomfortable life has become.
What does it feel like to be you?
The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.
(Bessel van der Kolk).
This space is a safe space of self-awareness and transformative work. A journey of exploring and challenging internal barriers (thoughts and beliefs) that not only influence your emotional state but that shape your life, very often in a very limiting way.
This space is a journey of moving towards wholeness, to a conscious and mindful way of experiencing your life. A space where you learn how to let go of old patterns and create new ones where the focus will not be just on your current state of mind but where a whole new foundation is built, where you can then return ‘HOME’.
Inner Work
We all have an inner world.
Ignored, rejected and supressed.
A world unknown to us.
We live in our heads, in our thoughts, constantly exhausted,
and disconnected from our bodies. We invest all our energy in our external worlds.
A mindful compassionate approach is used in order to create a safe space within the self, fostering understanding and acceptance, removing judgment and criticism, which liberates you from whatever it is you are holding on to.
We are human.
Feel, Reveal and Heal
For 24 years Santina managed various Units in one of the two major drug addiction rehabs in Malta.
Santina has met with thousands of people battling with addiction, she has sat by their side and listened to their stories… some she would meet in rehab, some in prison cells, some in psychiatric wards, others on the streets, others we have lost. Santina has worked up close and personal with many people. People struggling with addiction, with anxiety, with depression, with loss, with daily life.
Her understanding of this deeply complex behaviour, addiction, has, over the years evolved into a wider, deeper understanding of addiction.
She has come to realise how addiction goes far beyond the obvious of substances. Some of these so called addictions often go unnoticed, unseen, denied or merely misunderstood.
Our current focus on understanding addiction is merely to find alternative ways of filling the void. For example one trying to quit smoking cigarettes then starts indulging in food, believing he is making progress.
Although some alternatives are socially acceptable, (food is far more socially accepted than cigarettes). These beliefs keep us feeling empty and disillusioned.
Consequences of course vary, but if you stop and think about it, many of the following compulsive behaviours (alcohol, excessive eating, excessive exercising, hypersexuality, internet and other technological addictions, shopping addiction, various forms of gambling, prescribed medication, fame and power, porn and many others), are becoming more and more commonplace today. Many may be understood as not problematic until the person realises that he can not function without that behaviour. Remove the behaviour and the person collapses.
Socially-accepted behaviours are behaviours that are normalised despite their harmful consequences.
Are we ready to delve deep into these voids/dark spaces that addictions tend to fill (even if for a brief moment) and find out really and truly what they are about instead of constantly making an effort to ignore them like they don’t exist.
Addiction is not merely about symptom control and is clearly much more complex than that, addiction will always remain a compensation for the sense of being devalued as a human being.
“In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts,” (Mate, 2008) emphasizes the importance of viewing addiction not just from a clinical or moral view but from a complex human experience that is intertwined with deep emotional pain and trauma.
In today’s world it is evident that people fill their lives with excessive hours at work, excessive exercise, overthinking, obsessive behaviours in relationships, food, prescribed medications, shopping, pornography, video games, gambling, betting, social platforms, well….. the list is endless.
Today we are more and more driven to believe that we need to add value to our lives, and we usually by rely solely on external validation. This is where it becomes clear that addiction is not merely about the drugs. Drugs is just one of many behaviours we interact with, nor is it just about the behaviour.
We fail to come to terms that we are now stuck on the ‘hamster wheel‘ always doing something. We unconsciously create a life for ourselves that just does not add up to health, wellbeing and happiness, yet we keep searching for it somewhere ‘out there’.
We have been programmed to search ‘out there’ to feel complete. Another disillusion.
We are living in a very toxic society that strives off external consumerism and validation.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
We start searching for meaning in our lives, time and time again but rarely ever finding it. We start sensing a feeling of helplessness, often becoming bitter at the world out there.
Becoming triggered by all the factors out there, our anxiety starts accumulating… till one fine day you start to feel you are losing control, it becomes too much to handle and the symptoms start appearing, your heart starts pounding and your hands are trembling.
“That’s basically it. Feeling alienated within the system: a system that demeans people, marginalizes them, exploits them, and creates a situation in which our value depends only on our capacity to consume.”
Glover
Why do people feel the way they do? Are we aware of how we feel or are we all just living in our heads, in our thoughts? What concept do you hold of yourself? What relationship do you hold with your emotions, with your discomforts, with your fears and pain? How do you react or respond ? How do you show up in the world? How do you cope? What do you find difficult to cope with?
Is it a sense of not fitting in, of not being good enough, is it anger, fear, frustration, loss, boredom, loneliness, guilt, shame, a lack of a sense of belonging, a yearning to fit in, to be accepted, to be heard, to be seen, to be loved…..validated and acknowledged, the list is endless really.
We are also conditioned to believe that our worth is tied to our level of productivity and achievement. So we invest in an image of perfection, far from the true meaning of being human and truly alive. Imperfect.
In turn, over time the cost of not tuning into ourselves often leads to more stress and anxiety, where other symptoms start appearing, like depression, insomnia, burnout, stomach upset, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, high blood pressure, to mention a few, like the physical body can not keep up and attempts to get our attention through various symptoms, hoping we will listen and tune in.
In a culture that idolizes doing more, acquiring more, being more, we might find it very difficult and uncomfortable to pause, to rest, to listen.. We have come to believe that if we are not productive than we have wasted a day.
We have learnt from a young age to wear masks and cover up how we feel that we have now become unrecognizable even to ourselves.
Is something wrong with me?
For 24 years Santina managed various Units in one of the two major drug addiction rehabs in Malta.
Santina has met with thousands of people battling with addiction, she has sat by their side and listened to their stories… some she would meet in rehab, some in prison cells, some in psychiatric wards, others on the streets, others we have lost. Santina has worked up close and personal with many people.
Her understanding of this deeply complex behaviour has over the years evolved into a wider understanding of addiction, she has continued exploring this very misunderstood circumstance called ‘Addiction’. She has come to realise how addiction goes far beyond the obvious of substances. Some of these so called addictions often go unnoticed, unseen, denied or merely misunderstood.
Our current focus on understanding addiction is merely to find alternative ways of filling the void. For example one trying to quit smoking cigarettes starts indulging in food. Although some alternatives are socially acceptable, unfortunately many could result in being just another disillusion. Consequences of course vary, but if you stop and think about it, many of the following compulsive behaviours (alcohol, excessive eating, excessive exercising, hypersexuality, internet and other technological addictions, shopping addiction, various forms of gambling, prescribed medication, fame and power, porn and many others), are becoming more and more commonplace today. Many may be understood as not problematic until the person realises that he can not function without that behaviour. Remove the behaviour and the person collapses.
The reason they are referred to as socially-accepted addictions is because people are becoming more desensitized to these behaviours.
Are we ready to delve deep into these voids/dark spaces that addictions tend to fill and find out really and truly what they are about instead of constantly making an effort to ignore them like they don’t exist.
Addiction is not merely about symptom control and is clearly much more complex than that, addiction will always remain a compensation for the sense of being devalued as a human being.
“In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts,” (Mate, 2008) emphasizes the importance of viewing addiction not just from a clinical or moral view but from a complex human experience that is intertwined with deep emotional pain and trauma.
In today’s world it is evident that people fill their lives with excessive hours at work, excessive exercise, overthinking, obsessive behaviours in relationships, food obsessions, prescribed medications, shopping, pornography, video games, social platforms, well….. the list is endless.
Today we are more and more driven to believe that we need to add value to our lives by relying solely on external validation, where it becomes clear that addiction is not merely about the drugs. Drugs is just one of many, nor is it just about the behaviour.
We fail to come to terms that we are now stuck on a ‘hamster wheel’ always doing something, while at the same time creating a life for ourselves that just does not add up to health, wellbeing and happiness, yet we keep searching for it somewhere ‘out there’.
We have been programmed to search ‘out there’ to feel complete. Another disillusion.
We have become a very toxic society that strives off external consumerism and validation.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
We start searching for meaning in our lives, time and time again but rarely ever finding it. We start sensing a feeling of helplessness, often becoming bitter at the world out there.
Becoming triggered by all the factors out there, our anxiety starts accumulating… we do not realise as anxiety is well over normalised, till one fine day you start to feel you are losing control, it becomes too much to handle and the symptoms start appearing, your heart starts pounding and your hands are trembling.
“That’s basically it. Feeling alienated within the system: a system that demeans people, marginalizes them, exploits them, and creates a situation in which our value depends only on our capacity to consume.”
Glover
Why do people feel the way they do? Are we aware of how we feel or are we all just living in our heads, in our thoughts? What concept do you hold of yourself? What relationship do you hold with your emotions, with your discomforts, with your pain? How do you react or respond ? How do you show up in the world? How do you cope? What do you find difficult to cope with?
Is it a sense of not fitting in, of not being good enough, is it anger, fear, frustration, loss, boredom, loneliness, guilt, shame, a lack of a sense of belonging, a yearning to fit in, to be accepted, to be heard, to be seen, to be loved…..validated and acknowledged, the list is endless really.
We are also conditioned to believe that our worth is tied to our level of productivity and achievement. So we invest in an image of perfection, far from the true meaning of being human and truly alive. Imperfect.
In turn, over time the cost of not tuning into ourselves often leads to more stress and anxiety, where other symptoms start appearing, like depression, insomnia, burnout, stomach upset, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, high blood pressure, to mention a few, like the physical body can not keep up and attempts to get our attention through various symptoms, hoping we will listen and tune in.
In a culture that idolizes doing more, acquiring more, being more, we might find it very difficult and uncomfortable to pause, to rest, to listen.. We have come to believe that if we are not productive than we have wasted a day.
We have learnt from a young age to wear masks and cover up how we feel that we have now become unrecognizable even to ourselves.
Is something wrong with me?
For 24 years Santina managed various Units in one of the two major drug addiction rehabs in Malta.
Santina has met with thousands of people battling with addiction, she has sat by their side and listened to their stories… some she would meet in rehab, some in prison cells, some in psychiatric wards, others on the streets, others we have lost. Santina has worked up close and personal with many people.
Her understanding of this deeply complex behaviour has over the years evolved into a wider understanding of addiction, she has continued exploring this very misunderstood circumstance called ‘Addiction’. She has come to realise how addiction goes far beyond the obvious of substances. Some of these so called addictions often go unnoticed, unseen, denied or merely misunderstood.
Our current focus on understanding addiction is merely to find alternative ways of filling the void. For example one trying to quit smoking cigarettes starts indulging in food. Although some alternatives are socially acceptable, unfortunately many could result in being just another disillusion. Consequences of course vary, but if you stop and think about it, many of the following compulsive behaviours (alcohol, excessive eating, excessive exercising, hypersexuality, internet and other technological addictions, shopping addiction, various forms of gambling, prescribed medication, fame and power, porn and many others), are becoming more and more commonplace today. Many may be understood as not problematic until the person realises that he can not function without that behaviour. Remove the behaviour and the person collapses.
The reason they are referred to as socially-accepted addictions is because people are becoming more desensitized to these behaviours.
Are we ready to delve deep into these voids/dark spaces that addictions tend to fill and find out really and truly what they are about instead of constantly making an effort to ignore them like they don’t exist.
Addiction is not merely about symptom control and is clearly much more complex than that, addiction will always remain a compensation for the sense of being devalued as a human being.
“In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts,” (Mate, 2008) emphasizes the importance of viewing addiction not just from a clinical or moral view but from a complex human experience that is intertwined with deep emotional pain and trauma.
In today’s world it is evident that people fill their lives with excessive hours at work, excessive exercise, overthinking, obsessive behaviours in relationships, food obsessions, prescribed medications, shopping, pornography, video games, social platforms, well….. the list is endless.
Today we are more and more driven to believe that we need to add value to our lives by relying solely on external validation, where it becomes clear that addiction is not merely about the drugs. Drugs is just one of many, nor is it just about the behaviour.
We fail to come to terms that we are now stuck on a ‘hamster wheel’ always doing something, while at the same time creating a life for ourselves that just does not add up to health, wellbeing and happiness, yet we keep searching for it somewhere ‘out there’.
We have been programmed to search ‘out there’ to feel complete. Another disillusion.
We have become a very toxic society that strives off external consumerism and validation.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
We start searching for meaning in our lives, time and time again but rarely ever finding it. We start sensing a feeling of helplessness, often becoming bitter at the world out there.
Becoming triggered by all the factors out there, our anxiety starts accumulating… we do not realise as anxiety is well over normalised, till one fine day you start to feel you are losing control, it becomes too much to handle and the symptoms start appearing, your heart starts pounding and your hands are trembling.
“That’s basically it. Feeling alienated within the system: a system that demeans people, marginalizes them, exploits them, and creates a situation in which our value depends only on our capacity to consume.”
Glover
Why do people feel the way they do? Are we aware of how we feel or are we all just living in our heads, in our thoughts? What concept do you hold of yourself? What relationship do you hold with your emotions, with your discomforts, with your pain? How do you react or respond ? How do you show up in the world? How do you cope? What do you find difficult to cope with?
Is it a sense of not fitting in, of not being good enough, is it anger, fear, frustration, loss, boredom, loneliness, guilt, shame, a lack of a sense of belonging, a yearning to fit in, to be accepted, to be heard, to be seen, to be loved…..validated and acknowledged, the list is endless really.
We are also conditioned to believe that our worth is tied to our level of productivity and achievement. So we invest in an image of perfection, far from the true meaning of being human and truly alive. Imperfect.
In turn, over time the cost of not tuning into ourselves often leads to more stress and anxiety, where other symptoms start appearing, like depression, insomnia, burnout, stomach upset, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, high blood pressure, to mention a few, like the physical body can not keep up and attempts to get our attention through various symptoms, hoping we will listen and tune in.
In a culture that idolizes doing more, acquiring more, being more, we might find it very difficult and uncomfortable to pause, to rest, to listen.. We have come to believe that if we are not productive than we have wasted a day.
We have learnt from a young age to wear masks and cover up how we feel that we have now become unrecognizable even to ourselves.
Is something wrong with me?
Your Inner Journey Begins Here
Take a moment to heal your mind, body and heart.
