Anouska Longley, Chartered Counselling Psychologist, BSc (Hons) MSc AppDip HBCE

Training, qualifications & experience

I am highly skilled at providing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), along with Compassion Focused Therapy, Mindfulness and Psychodynamic Therapy. I will adopt the appropriate therapy model to the needs of my clients in a brief or longer term capacity.

I have gained extensive experience in specialist psychological assessment and treatment of patients across the full range of care settings including inpatient, outpatient, community and primary care within both the NHS and the private sector. I have worked as a highly specialist psychologist at South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust and The Priory Hospital, Hayes Grove over 9 years. I have gained extensive clinical experience working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and groups.

I have lectured at Surrey & Roehampton University on a range of mental health Topics. I provide clinical supervision and training to psychologists and other health professionals within my NHS post.

Among my areas of specialist interest and research is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). In 2008, I designed and implemented a pilot OCD group treatment intervention in Sutton & Merton IAPT Service, which significantly improved patients' recovery rates.

Another of my specialist interests and expertise is the birthing process. As a fully trained HypnoBirthing Practitioner, I am able to provide expecting parents with a complete antenatal programme, focusing on a combination of education, hypnotherapy, self-hypnosis & deep relaxation which has proven successful in assisting people to achieve a more comfortable birth, particularly useful for those who feel anxious concerning pregnancy and labour.

Within my current NHS posts, my specialism falls within the area of perinatal mental health. I have developed a treatment group for post-natal depression which has become extremely successful, evident in outcome measures. I have worked with women who have experienced the permanent removal of children from their care, in an attempt to manage the process of loss and grief, preventing re-enactment and repeated losses and facilitate recovery from this painful experience.

I am an empathic reflective practitioner, adopting a personable and highly professional approach to therapy.

Other areas of counselling I deal with

I adhere to NICE Guidelines, providing Disorder Specific Treatments to common psychological difficulties: Depression, Anxiety, Phobias (General & Specific), Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Health Anxiety & Medically Unexplained symptoms; Tokophobia, Perinatal Mental Illness (Ante/Post-natal Depression), Trauma (Adult/Childhood), Adjustment to life events, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social phobia, Eating disorders (including Bulimia Nervosa), Attachment and Personality disorder, Body Image disorders, Physical Health issues and Work-related stress.

Further information

I have a Post Qualification Certificate in Behavioural Couples therapy provided by Professor Don Baucom, Dr Michael Worrell and Professor Sarah Corrie at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust’s Post Graduate Programmes in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy.

Behavioural Couples Therapy (BCT) is an evidence-based psychological treatment that has acquired a significant amount of empirical support for the benefits it provides, both in terms of reducing couple distress and in improving specific psychological disorders, such as depression.

BCT is distinct from, but complements, individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) using a range of methods to enhance relationship well-being as well as reduce individual psychological distress.

What you can expect from therapy:

• Assessing and conceptualising couple functioning

• Identifying cognitive and behavioural factors in couple distress

• Developing couple-based interventions

• Strategies to regulate emotional experience and expression

• Enhancing couple communication skills

• Addressing the physical relationship

Don Baucom is a leading expert on Behavioural Couples Therapy, who has been actively involved in developing theoretical, research and clinical approaches to couple-based interventions from a CBT perspective since 1976.

What does Behavioural Couple Therapy for depression involve?

Everyone’s therapy will be a bit different but typically I will aim to help you and your partner open up the issues that seem to be troubling you both. Together, you will decide on new ways to relate to each other, gaining a greater understanding along the way of your own and your partner’s feelings. Talking openly with your partner about problems for the first time can feel difficult and you may be worried about what others think about you. I will try to get a good a picture of what you and your partner are finding difficult in your relationship and how this is affecting you both. You may both be offered a session on your own at the beginning of therapy as some things can be hard to talk about with your partner at first. I may suggest ways for your partner and you to improve your communication and this may occasionally involve some “homework”. Mostly, however, I will be interested in helping the two of you have a conversation finding your own ways to understand and resolve the problems you are having.

Length and frequency of therapy:

There may be some variation in the number of sessions of therapy you are offered. However, it is worth bearing in mind that if you are having some relationship problems and you are depressed, it is recommended that you have up to 20 sessions of couple therapy over a period of six months. It is likely that you will be seen once a week for about 50-60 minutes. In some cases sessions may be offered on a less frequent basis, for example fortnightly rather than weekly. There will be a clear agreement between you and I on these arrangements.