Caroline Harrison

I am an experienced therapist with over 24 years post qualification work in the NHS. I have worked in a variety of settings, treating a wide range of psychological difficulties across the lifespan.

I am fully accredited as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and Supervisor with the BABCP and am also an EMDR Europe accredited practitioner. My background is in mental health nursing. 

I offer psychotherapy and counselling both online and in person for people seeking help with emotional and psychological issues. I also offer clinical supervision to psychologists and therapists. I work in person on Mondays in therapy rooms in Great Titchfield Street, central London, and limited availability for therapy sessions in person in Worthing on the South Coast. The rest of the time I work online. 

It can be hard to seek help for psychological difficulties and find the time to look after our mental wellbeing. Every client is different and no single approach that fits all, so I draw on a range of evidence based methods depending on what best meets your needs. Having someone who understands the issues you are struggling with and who you feel you can talk to is extremely important and I aim to make clients feel valued and comfortable, and have a non-judgemental and compassionate approach.

Overview of experience

In the past 24 years, I have worked across the life span in a range of adult, child and adolescent therapeutic services. I have worked mainly in the NHS, in community mental health services, inpatient adolescent services and national and specialist clinics. I have worked therapeutically with the following areas of difficulty: psychosis, mood disorders, eating disorders, substance misuse, complex emotional needs, depression, anxiety disorders and trauma. I have worked with children and adolescents in or on the edge of care and with young offenders, and delivered therapy in a variety of settings outside the clinic such as schools, prisons or people’s homes.

I help people with a wide range of problems including those who have experienced traumatic events either as a child or adult including physical, emotional or sexual, abuse and neglect, interpersonal violence, experienced war or combat trauma or any other traumatic event. I support people with anxiety and depression, body image and self esteem, eating disorders, traumatic bereavement and loss, addiction, bullying, relationship difficulties or separation.. My areas of specialism include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD, and I have much experience working with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Specific Phobias (including specific phobia of vomiting), health, social and generalised anxiety disorders, panic, body dysmorphic disorder and hoarding.

My approach is very collaborative, underpinned by respect for your wellbeing, non judgemental, compassionate regard, with the capacity to look at often very painful issues and memories.

About therapy

During our first meeting, we will discuss what you are struggling with at present and what you would like to achieve in therapy. I can offer a range of methods depending on your needs and recommend what style of therapy may be beneficial. These could include:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
• EMDR
• Compassion Focussed Therapy
• Narrative exposure therapy
• Schema informed therapy
• Clinical Supervision

Sessions take place in a private, informal setting to help you feel comfortable to talk. All sessions are confidential, with the caveat that if you tell me you or anyone else are at risk of immediate harm I have a duty of care to safeguard you or others, which I will discuss with you.

Whether it is your first experience of therapy or something you have done before, finding someone who understands the issue, who you think you can talk to is important, so it is helpful to meet (virtually or in person) before deciding whether you want to commit to sessions, to talk through any hopes or concerns you might have. After that, we can decide if I am the right therapist for you and if you’d like to continue. You are under no obligation to carry on after we meet, and if you decide I am not the right person for you I will try my best to refer you to another colleague. If therapy is something you want to find out more about please feel free to contact me or look up the therapies on the BABCP / EMDR websites.

Sessions are typically weekly and last 50 minutes (sometimes termed a therapeutic hour). If you decide to continue after the initial meeting we would think together to understand what may have caused the problem and might be keeping it going, and work together to find ways to overcome these difficulties. The focus is very much on how to move forward and get over the difficulties, with you the client in control of this process. The aim of therapy is to give you the tools to become your own therapist so you can use these skills should you encounter further difficulties in the future.

I currently have therapy spaces available on Monday daytime and evening, some weekday evening slots and Saturday mornings. 

Many of the areas I work with are not listed here so please contact me if you are unsure and we can talk about your particular needs and how I can best help. There is no pressure to start therapy if you change your mind after initially talking things through.

Please contact me to discuss rates, which are on a sliding scale according to individual circumstance.

I offer an initial brief telephone consultation free of charge to discuss what the client would like to achieve from therapy.