I am a chartered clinical psychologist who works with individuals experiencing a wide range of issues including depression, grief, abuse, complex trauma, PTSD, anxiety and self-harm.
My Approach
““... the human psyche, like human bones, is strongly inclined towards self-healing. The clinician’s job, like that of the orthopaedic surgeon, is to provide the conditions in which self-healing can best take place”. ”
MY APPROACH:
My therapeutic approach is integrative and rooted in human physiology and neuroscience.
My main treatment modalities are EMDR Therapy and Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) and I use therapeutic practices and techniques from Narrative Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS) and contemporary cognitive behavioural therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I also draw on body-based psychotherapies derived from the contemplative neurosciences, which is an emerging field of research that focuses on changes within the brain-body system as a result of contemplative practices, such as breath work, yoga nidra and gentle movement (e.g. qigong, alexander technique).
My treatment philosophy is relational and collaborative. The essence of my work involves witnessing, attunement, co-regulation, psychoeducation, ‘parts’ dialogue and dual attention stimulation to help facilitate the reprocessing of distress and guide the system toward safety and connection. I support people through a creative process of ‘re-authoring’ the trauma stories held in their nervous system and help them work towards developing a ‘preferred’ identity, which reflects their hopes for the future and connects them to what is important in their lives.
This approach to emotional health and well being has evolved over many years of clinical experience, self-practice, personal enquiry and on-going study. It is an approach based on the belief that there is a natural, innate organising principle at work within the brain-body system that has an adaptive capacity for health and resolution, which is always available. Our bodies are always seeking to maintain homeostatic balance through regulation, coherence, connection and integration, which are the basis of healing (‘wholeness’).