Therapy is effective for a variety of emotional issues. I have experience of working with:

• Low mood

• Depression

• Self esteem

• Anxiety, panic attacks & phobias

• Social anxiety

• Health anxiety

• Death anxiety

• Trauma

• Stress

• OCD

• Eating Disorders

• Relationship issues

• Parenting issues

• Attachment difficulties

• Anger

• Insomnia

• Emotional Regulation

• Parenting

• Addiction

• Gambling & Alcohol Use

• Grief

• Exploring life transitions.

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy CBT

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“The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives”
William James

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an empowering self help approach. It’s a way of talking about how you think about yourself, the world and other people around you. It highlights the relationship between thoughts, feelings and how you behave. 

The essence of CBT is that it’s not necessarily events themselves that upset us, but the meaning and interpretation we give them. By becoming aware of your thinking patterns, changing how you think and what you do, and altering cycles of thinking, feelings and behaviour you can learn how to make positive changes to your situation. 

While CBT acknowledges that past events can impact upon how you feel and think, it tends to focus more on the here and now. CBT can also help you evaluate your thought patterns and find out whether they are realistic or unhelpful. It can also help you to gradually approach things you might usually avoid.
CBT will introduce you to a set of principles that you can apply to your life when you need to, and will stand you in good stead throughout life. 

CBT uses a collaborative relationship whereby the therapist and client are equal partners working together on the issues, while simultaneously encouraging independence on the part of the client. The approach typically lasts between 6 – 16 sessions dependent upon circumstances.

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Schema Therapy

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Schema Therapy works at a deeper level than CBT. Here, the concept of core needs is central to understanding an individual's emotional and psychological development. Core needs are the innate, universal emotional needs that all individuals have. They represent fundamental requirements for emotional well-being. The neglect of these core needs during one's formative years can lead to the development of early unhelpful schemas to help make sense of the world. Schema Therapy focuses on identifying and addressing these unmet core needs to promote emotional healing and growth. 

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Acceptance & Commitment Therapy ACT/Mindfulness

ACT suggests that by suppressing and struggling with thoughts and feelings we actually cause ourselves more distress. Instead of pushing away and trying to change thoughts and feelings it suggests we engage with them mindfully, so allowing ourselves to be present with them without being overly attached to them. This involves developing an awareness of our thoughts and feelings, an acceptance of them and approaching them with non judgemental curiosity. The model also encourages us to be mindful of what’s important to us in terms of our values and to commit to fulfilling these. Paradoxically by practicing more acceptance towards our difficulties and struggling less, we improve our relationship with them. 

Compassion Focused Therapy

CFT aims to help us improve our wellbeing by developing more compassion towards our selves and others. It aims to help balance emotional regulation systems within the brain and is particularly interested in balancing the soothing system. The model is considered to be particularly helpful for shame and self criticism and can involve elements of CBT, mindfulness and compassion based imagery.