About me and my training
I am a Counselling Psychologist and registered member of the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC) and a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society. I have over 10 years of clinical experience working within many settings, including the NHS primary and secondary care, local authorities, state schools, and charities.
I have worked with a variety of difficulties including anxiety and depression, OCD, trauma, self-harm, bereavement, substance addiction, behavioural addictions, hoarding, eating difficulties, low self-esteem, gender dysphoria, perfectionism, psychosis. I am experienced in working with adults as well as children and adolescents.
My Approach
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. I have had training in a wide range of modalities including cognitive behavioural therapy, psychodynamic therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, compassion focussed therapy, mindfulness, dialectic behavioural therapy, brief solution-focussed and person-centred therapy. This allows me to work integratively, listening with a genuine curiosity and cultural sensitivity to treat each client’s story and background as unique and tailor my approach accordingly.
Research has demonstrated that fundamental to successful change in therapy is the therapeutic relationship, that is a relationship between the client and therapist built on trust, empathy, respect, boundaries and understanding. I endeavour to provide a safe, containing, non-judgemental environment so that you feel listened to and comfortable to explore and share your concerns. During the assessment process we would work out together your goals for therapy and use this as a guide for formulating a treatment plan.
Distress is part of life, but how we respond to it is key to our wellbeing. We all occasionally have negative thoughts or behaviours but when these become more persistent, therapy can help us rethink our narratives, build our resilience and innate strengths and develop more helpful coping mechanisms. It can also help us understand why we get stuck behaving or reacting in certain ways. This understanding can help us become ‘unstuck,’ more flexible and open to new ways of thinking, acting and feeling. An important part of this understanding is the body and becoming more attuned to how our body responds to psychological changes.
Some of the presentations I have worked with
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Social anxiety
- OCD
- PTSD
- Bereavement
- Substance addictions
- Behavioural addictions
- Gender dysphoria
- Low self esteem
- Self harm
- Health anxiety
- Relationship difficulties
- Work related issues and stress
- Panic disorder
- Anger management
- Hoarding
- Trauma
- Divorce and separation
Organisations I have worked for and clinical experience
I have worked in the following institutions as a clinician providing therapy:
- Barnet Enfield and Harringey Mental Health NHS Trust in their Drug and alcohol service
- Barnet Enfield and Harringey Mental Health NHS Trust in their Let’s Talk IAPT Haringey team
- East London Foundation NHS trust in Stratford’s Secondary Care team
- Central and North-West London NHS Trust in a specialist pilot NHS clinic run as an add-on to the Gambling Clinic and working with non-substance addictions
- Hoarding UK
- Cruse Bereavement Care
- Aylward Academy
- Barnet Council’s Barnet Integrated Clinical Services as part of their Primary Mental Health Team (previously known as CAMHS in Schools), a service commissioned in part by the NHS to work with children in schools with moderate mental health presentations.