Therapies I offer

CBT focuses on understanding the interaction between our thoughts, feelings and behaviour and how these interact to unintentionally maintain difficulties such as anxiety, low self esteem and low mood.

Together we will develop an individualised CBT formulation that helps us to understand your difficulties and this will then guide the work we do together. Both in session and in-between sessions you will have the opportunity to trial a range of strategies to see what you find helpful.

The idea with CBT is that you will learn the skills and techniques to in effect become your own therapist.

CBT is an evidence based therapy and the treatment of choice as recommended in NICE guidance.

CFT was developed for, and is particularly helpful when difficulties are linked with shame and self criticism. It can be particularly helpful for people who may have experienced difficult backgrounds including neglect or abuse.

Its roots are in evolutionary and social psychology, neuroscience and draws on other therapy approaches such as CBT. CFT focuses on understanding what may have led to the development of our difficulties as well as how they are being maintained in the here and now, and particularly the role of self criticism and shame in their maintenance.

Therapy includes developing a more compassionate relationship with ourselves alongside developing skills to help us navigate our experiences such as emotional regulation, mindfulness and experimenting with making changes to our usual coping strategies that, whilst intended to be helpful and often providing short term relief, in the longer run they become unhelpful and can act to maintain our difficulties.

People often hold beliefs about compassion as 'soft' but this is not what compassion is. CFT's approach to developing compassion draws on Buddhist teachings, particularly the role of developing sensitivity to the suffering of ourselves and others and a motivation to do something about it. That might include setting boundaries and turning towards what is difficult rather than avoiding or using unhelpful strategies to manage the distress, that then unintentionally may serve to keep us stuck.

Research into the benefits of developing compassion for those struggling with a range of mental health difficulties has shown how helpful CFT can be in reducing shame, self criticism, depression and anxiety. See research ↗

MANTRA is an integrated therapy which is structured around a workbook and has been developed to meet the needs of people struggling with Anorexia Nervosa.

Therapy involves developing an understanding or formulation of the function of the eating disorder and developing alternative strategies whilst also working on your relationship with food and body image.

I am currently working towards accreditation with ACAT and will be able to offer CAT on completion of this, which will likely be around Autumn–Winter 2026 (come back for updates!). Until then I bring a CAT informed approach to my work.

CAT looks at our early experiences of relationships, particularly with main care givers and wider societal influences, and how these inform what we come to expect from others — and as a result, how we relate to ourselves and others.

We will spend time looking at the survival strategies (patterns of thinking, feeling and acting) that we develop as children to manage the difficulties faced, and which may have been necessary for our emotional survival at the time. Difficulties arise when we find ourselves continuing to use these patterns and ways of relating to ourselves and others even when they are no longer needed. This can then result in us feeling stuck and the patterns become problems in themselves. Therapy then focuses on how we can 'unstick' ourselves and develop different ways of relating to ourselves and others.

You can find accredited CAT clinicians at acat.org.uk ↗