What I help with
I offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and other evidence-based psychological therapies for adults experiencing a range of difficulties detailed below.
Therapy is tailored to your individual circumstances, difficulties and goals. I work collaboratively with you to understand what you are experiencing, identify patterns that may be keeping difficulties going, and develop practical ways of responding differently.
Anxiety
Anxiety can affect how we think, feel and behave. It can involve persistent worry, fear, physical symptoms, avoidance or a strong need for reassurance or control.
CBT can help us understand the patterns that maintain anxiety and gradually develop new ways of responding.
I offer CBT for:
Depression
Depression can affect our mood, motivation, thoughts, relationships and ability to enjoy things we would normally value.
CBT can help us understand the relationship between our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and support us to gradually make changes that can improve mood and wellbeing.
Stress and burnout
When demands continually exceed our capacity to cope, stress can begin to affect our physical and emotional wellbeing. We may find ourselves working harder, setting increasingly high standards and struggling to switch off.
CBT can help us understand the cycle that keeps stress and burnout going and develop healthier ways of managing demands, expectations and boundaries.
OCD
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can involve unwanted intrusive thoughts, images or urges and behaviours or mental rituals carried out to reduce the resulting anxiety or distress.
CBT for OCD typically involves understanding the cycle between obsessions and compulsions and, where appropriate, using exposure and response prevention (ERP) to gradually change how we respond to intrusive thoughts and fears.
Perfectionism
Perfectionism can involve setting demanding standards for ourselves, placing significant pressure on our performance and finding it difficult to feel satisfied with what we achieve.
CBT can help us understand how perfectionistic standards develop and are maintained, and explore more flexible and compassionate ways of approaching achievement, mistakes and uncertainty.
Low self-esteem
Low self-esteem can affect how we see ourselves, interpret situations and respond to other people. We may be particularly self-critical, compare ourselves with others or feel that we are not good enough.
CBT can help us understand the beliefs and patterns that contribute to low self-esteem and develop a more balanced view of ourselves.
Trauma and PTSD
Experiences of trauma can continue to affect us long after the event has happened. We may experience intrusive memories, nightmares, avoidance, heightened alertness or changes in how we see ourselves and the world.
Trauma-focused CBT can help us process traumatic experiences and develop new ways of responding to memories, thoughts and situations that continue to cause distress.
Long-term health conditions
Living with a long-term physical health condition can affect our mood, identity, relationships and everyday life. It can also be difficult to adjust to changes in what we are able to do and manage uncertainty about the future.
CBT can help with the psychological and emotional impact of living with a long-term health condition and our relationship with the health condition which can impact on how we experience it.
Neurodiversity and therapy
CBT therapy does not require someone to change who they are or to conform to a particular way of thinking or behaving.
Where appropriate, I can adapt the pace, structure and way we work together to make therapy accessible and meaningful to you.
Not sure what you need help with?
You don't need to know exactly what you need before getting in touch.
Difficulties often overlap, and it is common to experience more than one of the difficulties described above.
If you're unsure whether I can help, you can arrange a free 15-minute consultation to briefly discuss what you are experiencing and ask any questions you may have.
