CBT is time-limited and an evidence-based therapy recommended by Nice guidelines for psychological therapy with many conditions such as:

• depression
• anxiety
• psychological trauma
• body dysmorphic disorder
• eating disorders

CBT has a present focus even if past events are acknowledged as contributing to individual distress.

The basic idea of CBT is that our thoughts (automatic thoughts, rules for living and core beliefs of ourselves), feelings, physical sensations and behaviours are all interlinked; when you modify one area, you are likely to see a shift in another area.

CBT helps to for example:

• develop coping strategies for here and now
• challenge negative thinking patterns
• introduce new, more positive behaviours (behavioural activation) to improve mood
• question assumptions (“I should” – statements)
• find supportive evidence for more positive view of self

CBT can be particularly helpful in having results in a short period of time. It is a very active therapy model and often includes carrying out assignments between sessions which are reviewed in the session. If you would like to know more, please get in touch.

Psychodynamic therapy helps to understand how past events and present feelings are interconnected. It is a suitable treatment option for many difficulties such as:

• relationship problems
• self-confidence
• childhood trauma
• anxiety
• depression
• feeling numb or confused
• anger

Psychodynamic therapy can be more structured and time-limited, approximately 20 sessions, when the focus is on a specific difficulty and understanding how past events impact on, for example, difficulties in forming loving relationships. Whilst longer-term therapy is more open to clients bringing to the therapy room anything that they find difficult or confusing.

The key feature in psychodynamic therapy is that the relationship between the client and the therapist allows to understand how, for example, the client experiences other significant relationships in their life.

Psychodynamic therapy help by making an individual aware of the connections between past experiences (such as childhood related events or absence of certain things) and how they contribute to present feelings. Increased self-awareness allows changing behaviour and thinking patterns in the present that may be contributing to distress. For example, if you have a difficulty with a particularly person, understanding how they may remind you of another person in your childhood, such as a critical parent, allows you to understand and change your behaviour around this person.

If you would like to know more, please get in touch.

When it comes to therapy, one size does not fit all. Therefore, integrative therapy may be the most suitable therapy option for you. For example, if you would like to work in a time-limited and very solution-focused way, we can incorporate elements from CBT and person-centred therapy (PCT) to help you to achieve your therapy goals.

Although I don’t offer “pure” person-centred therapy, my way of working as a counselling psychologist has been influenced by it. PCT  is one of the many humanistic therapies. It is based on the therapeutic core conditions introduced by Carl Rogers:

• unconditional positive regard
• empathy
• congruence (genuineness).

The idea of PCT is that if a client is offered an environment where they feel safe to be their authentic self and feel that the therapist understands them, change is likely to take place.

Trauma work:

Trauma work incorporated educating you about the impact of trauma (psychological and physical) on your brain and body, helping you to develop coping strategies for powerful emotions and track where those emotions might be located in your body, as well as learning to release the tension in the body. Trauma work is a real mixture of approaches from compassionate-focused therapy, CBT, attachment work and somatic experiencing. Everybody is different and the therapy will be tailored to your needs.

Regardless of how we decide to work, my aim is to offer you therapy that help you with your difficulties and you feel more empowered. If you would like to know more, please get in touch.