Catherine Mccoy
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Thinking About Starting Therapy?
Deciding to begin psychotherapy is not always easy. If you are going through difficult times, therapy might feel like just another hurdle.
I offer a safe, confidential, and non-judgmental space where we can explore together what may be getting in the way of you living the life you want.
I believe in each person’s capacity to grow and heal, and that transformation happens through a relationship of trust between therapist and client.
We all have different ways into our inner world. For some, it may be through the body, for others, the mind, images, sensations, or behaviours such as anxiety.
Through decades of professional training and my own personal journey, I have cultivated a deep, attentive presence. In therapy, this means slowing down, sitting with what is not yet clear, or welcoming back parts of yourself that may have been rejected, this time with curiosity, kindness, and companionship.
I offer a quality of presence and attention that supports deep exploration and healing. My hope is that the challenges bringing you to therapy also become opportunities for transformation and insight
My Therapeutic Approach
I originally trained as an Integrative Psychotherapist, drawing from analytic, existential, and humanistic approaches. I have always been deeply curious about what it means to be human especially how the body and mind relate and co-exist.
This curiosity led me to further study the body’s role in psychological healing. I trained as a Focusing-Oriented Therapist, following the work of Gene Gendlin, which emphasizes the ‘felt sense’ , a bodily knowing that can guide emotional processing.
This shifted my practice towards a body-oriented, somatic perspective. I saw firsthand how clients could experience profound change when they connected with what they felt internally, not just what they cognitively understood.
Somatic Experiencing & NeuroAffective Touch
Over the last decade, awareness of trauma has grown significantly. Research, including the work of Peter Levine, shows that trauma is not caused by the event itself but by the nervous system’s inability to process and integrate the experience. Trauma can occur when something happens `too much, too fast, too soon, or for too long’.
To deepen my understanding of how the body processes trauma, I trained as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and now assist on the London Somatic Experiencing Teaching Team.
At this stage in my practice, I have developed a range of tools to support clients in moving from difficulty toward understanding and release. This includes Somatic Experiencing and NeuroAffective Touch (NAT) a model developed by Aline LaPierre that integrates psychotherapy with bodywork.
NAT is particularly valuable for addressing trauma-based emotional responses that cannot be reached through talk therapy or bodywork alone. I am currently working toward my NeuroAffective Touch Practitioner certification and offer NAT at a reduced rate as I complete my accreditation.
Final Thoughts
Therapy is not just about overcoming difficulties it’s about growth, self-awareness, and healing. If this resonates with you, I would be happy to explore working together.
Email: highburytherapy@gmail.com
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a UKCP accredited Psychotherapist, and am therefore bound by the ethics and standards of both organisations.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling and an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy from Regents College, London.
After graduating from the London Focusing Institute, I joined the teaching team of Focusing Orientated Psychotherapists that deliver training to Psychotherapists and other healthcare professionals.
I qualified as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and am an Assitant on the London SOS internationale teaching team.
I am currently working towards Accrediation in the NeuroAffective Touch model developed by Dr. Aline LaPiere and will be a Support Assistant for the London Training
In addition to my private practice, I have practiced in both a high security NHS forensic setting and a Drug and Alcohol Rehab.
I have worked with addiction for over a twenty five years and in a professional capacity (on the front-line) supporting both the socially vulnerable and survivors of human right violations.
I am committed to my own personal development and maintain a daily meditation and Kundalini yoga practice, have several weekly focusing partnerships.
I contributed a chapter to 'The End of a Sentence' published by Karnac.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£100.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
The initial consultation will give us both an opportunity to briefly discuss your difficulties, think together about how I might be able to support and help you, and get a sense of what it would be to work together.
Fees: £100 per session
Reduced rate: £80 for NeuroAffective Touch (while completing accreditation)
Vacancies available
For questions or to schedule a session, please email: highburytherapy@gmail.com
When I work
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Wednesday I practice online
Thursday I practice from Cavendish Square.
Friday I practice from Dalston
