I have helped people with a wide range of difficulties: depression, anxiety, work-related stress, relationships, grief and loss, and issues related to sexual and gender identity. I have particular experience of working with people who have been through past trauma and abuse. I do not usually work with people whose main difficulties concern eating, substance misuse, or psychotic experiences, although have often addressed these issues in the context of wider conversations. I do not focus on diagnostic labels in my work, and do not usually give formal diagnoses. However, I have worked with many people who have been diagnosed with depression, forms of anxiety disorder, PTSD and Complex PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder, and more.

Therapy is very helpful for many people, and has a strong basis in clinical research. Forms of psychological therapy are recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) as gold-standard treatment for a wide range of difficulties, including depression and anxiety, post-traumatic stress, chronic pain and more. However, therapy differs from medical treatments (such as, say, antibiotics for an infection, or surgery for a broken bone) because it requires active participation. Psychological therapy may sometimes be challenging and upsetting, and might require stepping into uncomfortable territory. For therapy to be helpful it is important that you are motivated, and feel you are in the right time and place in your life to engage with this kind of work. If I believe that psychological therapy will not be helpful for you right now, or that you are more likely to benefit from a different practitioner or approach, then I will advise you on alternatives. It is important that you feel our work together is helping you, and this is something that we will often discuss.

As a clinical psychologist I have training and experience in a range of different approaches. I particularly value Compassion-Focused, Acceptance and Commitment, Solution-Focused and Systemic models of therapy, and have undertaken specialist training in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Narrative Exposure Therapy for complex trauma. This breadth of experience allows me to ensure that the interventions I use are best suited to your needs. I aim to work transparently at all times, and so encourage you to ask any questions you have regarding my approach, or about particular techniques and strategies that I suggest.

Psychological therapy is primarily a talking treatment that aims to help people overcome their difficulties through exploration, reflection and experimenting with new and different ways of thinking and acting. During our initial sessions we will work together to develop a shared understanding both of your difficulties and your hopes for how you would like life to be different. This understanding will then shape the approach taken in subsequent sessions. Our conversations will involve thinking and talking about daily events, your thoughts, feelings, memories, relationships, hopes, regrets, and so on. I may invite you to engage in exercises and practices intended to help you with your difficulties. We may also make plans together for things that you can try out in between our meetings.

Ordinarily I suggest meeting weekly. I do not usually offer greater frequency of sessions than this, but can advise on alternatives if that is the kind of therapy you are seeking. In some cases it might be appropriate to space our sessions out at wider intervals. As for how long we will meet for, there is no simple answer. Sometimes the number of sessions is constrained by practical or financial issues, and in those cases I will discuss with you how we should prioritise our time together. Otherwise, my aim is always to reach a point where you feel that there has been a positive difference in the difficulties that brought you to therapy, and that you feel confident these changes are sustainable.

I offer both in-person and online meetings, although at present have very little capacity for in-person. Online therapy is no less effective than in-person, and indeed for many people is more convenient and comfortable.

I charge £130 for a 50 minutes appointment, for both online and face-to-face meetings.

I am an approved practitioner with all major UK health insurance companies. If your sessions will be paid for by a health insurance policy, please check with your insurer in advance of the initial session to ensure that your policy is valid and that your sessions will be covered in full.

I am registered as a Clinical Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC: reg. no. PYL32278), and as a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS). I adhere to these organisations’ codes of ethical practice. Details of which can be found at: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/ https://www.bps.org.uk/news-and-policy/bps-code-ethics-and-conduct I am registered with the Information Commissioners Office and adhere to their guidance with regard to data handling. I have all appropriate professional indemnity and public liability insurance.