Clinical Psychologists have extensive training in assessing and treating people who are experiencing emotional distress and psychological difficulties. The long training process starts with an undergraduate Honours degree in Psychology, followed by a number of years as an assistant psychologist gaining experience in a variety of settings. Once you have gained sufficient clinical experience you can apply for the three-year Doctoral Training Programme in Clinical Psychology. Places for these training programmes are limited and very competitive. Once on the programme you are trained to work across the life span for young children to older adults, with training in a variety of different therapeutic models. As Clinical Psychologist you are not only trained to work an individual basis with clients but also delivering group programmes, consultation and training. Once qualified Clinical Psychologists are expected to engage in regular clinical supervision with another qualified Clinical Psychologist and continuous professional development. 

‘Clinical Psychologist’ is a protected title, meaning that only those with the above qualifications and who are registered with the Health & Care Professionals Council (HCPC) are entitled to use it. The profession is highly regulated, and all Clinical Psychologists have regular clinical supervision, adhere to rigorous standards and abide by Professional Guidelines and a Code of Ethics and Conduct, ensuring quality and safety for clients. Holding ‘Chartered Psychologist’ status is the benchmark of professional recognition endorsed by the British Psychological Society and reflects the highest standards of psychological knowledge and expertise.

CBT is a talking therapy that can help people manage difficulties by changing thinking and behaviour patterns. In CBT, I would support you to talk about your thoughts and feelings and how these may impact on your behaviour. CBT is the ‘gold standard’ talking therapy to treat conditions such as anxiety and depression and is one of the most evidence based psychological interventions.

EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a form of therapy that helps people heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences. EMDR therapy has been extensively researched and has demonstrated effectiveness for trauma. 

Our brains have a natural way to recover from traumatic memories and events. This process involves communication between the amygdala (the alarm signal for stressful events), the hippocampus (which assists with learning, including memories about safety and danger), and the prefrontal cortex (which analyses and controls behaviour and emotion). Sometimes traumatic experiences can be managed and resolved spontaneously, however they often may not be processed without help. Stress responses are part of our natural fight, flight, or freeze instincts. When distress from a disturbing event remains, the upsetting images, thoughts, and emotions may create overwhelming feelings of being back in that moment, or of being “frozen in time.” EMDR therapy helps the brain process these memories, and allows normal healing to resume.  The experience is still remembered, but the fight, flight, or freeze response from the original event is resolved.

EMDR therapy does not require talking in detail about the distressing issue, or homework between sessions. EMDR, rather than focusing on changing the emotions, thoughts, or behaviours resulting from the distressing issue, allows the brain to resume its natural healing process. EMDR therapy is designed to resolve unprocessed traumatic memories in the brain. Part of the therapy includes alternating eye movements, sounds, or taps. For many clients, EMDR therapy can be completed in fewer sessions than other psychotherapies. 

IPT stands for Interpersonal Psychotherapy. It is a time-limited and structured psychotherapy for Depression. A central idea in IPT is that psychological symptoms, such as depressed mood, can be understood as a response to current difficulties in our everyday interactions with others. In turn, the depressed mood can also affect the quality of our relationships. The main focus of IPT is on difficulties in relating to others and helping the person to identify how they are feeling and behaving in their relationships. When a person is able to interact more effectively, their psychological symptoms often improve.

Mentalization-based therapy is a type of long-term psychotherapy. Mentalization is the ability to think about thinking. It helps to make sense of our thoughts, beliefs, wishes and feelings and to link these to our actions and behaviours. Mentalization is a normal capacity that we all use in everyday life. It underpins all human relationships. However, some people find it more difficult to mentalise in certain situations than others. MBT aims to improve a person’s capacity to mentalise. I focus on what is going on in their mind and in the minds of other people and link this to understand and alleviate the presenting concerns for the client.

A Psychiatrist is a medical doctor who specialises in mental health. Psychiatrists diagnose mental health disorders and can prescribe medication.

Psychologists seek to understand people by using theories of and research on the mind and behaviour. Clinical Psychologists have received doctoral level training in using these theories to help people to cope with and overcome; mental health, emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. They are trained to work using a rich variety of approaches and can work with individuals and groups. Clinical Psychologists are trained at this level to deliver; assessments, therapeutic interventions, consultations, training, supervision and research.

Assessment sessions can be from 60 minutes to 90 minutes in length (in response to how much you feel you can manage). Therapy sessions are usually 55 minutes long. 

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing exactly how many sessions you will need. When we meet and establish what work we will do I will give you an indication of how many we might need to start with. We will usually then review progress, when we are getting towards the end of that period, and decide together if more sessions are needed.

If seeking psychological therapy, the first appointment will be an initial assessment. This is an opportunity to discuss your reasons for coming to therapy, what you are hoping to gain from therapy and start to get an understanding of any issues or difficulties you may be experiencing. It will also be an opportunity to think about what I think may help, how I work and whether you feel this suits your needs. There is no obligation for you to book further appointments if you do not feel I am the right professional for you. If this is the case I will try to suggest other professionals or resources that may be able to help you. 

No payment is required for appointments which are cancelled 48 hours before the appointment time. If you are unable to attend your appointment please let me know as soon as possible. Please note that cancellations with less than 48 hours (2 business days) notice or failure to attend a scheduled appointment will incur the full session fee (whatever the reason for cancellation) as the slot cannot be re-allocated. I will endeavour to give you as much advance notice as possible in terms of holidays or any need to cancel a future appointment.

I do not offer an emergency or crisis service. Please contact your GP, out of hours GP or your local accident and emergency department if needing urgent care.

I work to professional and ethical codes of practice and therefore, sessions are kept private and confidential with the following exceptions: Confidentiality will be broken only in the event that there is concern for your safety or others or if serious criminal activity is disclosed. In such circumstances, wherever possible, this will be discussed with the you first, unless this could potentially increase the risk to either you or others. 

Sometimes, it can be helpful to contact other services such as GPs and school staff to gather or share information. This is only done with prior consent from you about what information can be obtained or shared. 

It is part of a Clinical Psychologist’s practice to receive regular clinical supervision from another Clinical Psychologist to support their work and ensure the best possible care is provided to the clients I see. A part of this supervision is the discussion of clients; however, all discussions are anonymised to protect the identity of the client.