About me
Warmth, empathy, non-judgemental acceptance, scientific rigour and humour are at the heart of my approach to therapy. I follow core CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) traditions which put the client and therapist on an equal footing in a collaborative partnership, with the client as the authoritative expert in themselves. I aim to debunk and demystify, strip out jargon, and explain transparently how I work. CBT aims to give clients a therapeutic fishing rod, not just a fish, so that they are helped to become CBT experts, their own therapists for the future. Therapy can be challenging, but more often it should be healing, uplifting, enriching and fun.
There is a bewildering array of ways to conduct therapy. Many of them are not scientifically derived, are largely built on unproven and unprovable belief systems, and sometimes involve years of sessions. CBT is an entirely evidence-based scientific approach to resolving psychological difficulties. It is commonly relatively short (lasting perhaps a few months, or maybe even weeks) and is the principal form of therapy recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ("NICE") for the most common psychological disorders.
Much of my work uses a form of CBT known as "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy" (or "ACT"), an inspirational approach that can be dramatically effective in liberating people from psychological and behavioural patterns and struggles. ACT is at the cutting edge of psychological science. I live my own life by its precepts and I love helping others to use it.
Training, qualifications & experience
I enjoyed a long first career as a lawyer, and bring some of the skills and much life experience from that world into my work as a therapist. I trained in ‘Integrative Psychotherapy’ (essentially a wide range of different approaches to ‘talking therapy’) at London’s Regent’s University, and on the MSc CBT programme at the University of Hertfordshire.
I work with a wide range of client challenges, including depression, generalised anxiety, eating disorders, social anxiety, low self-esteem, panic attacks, PTSD, agoraphobia, specific phobias obsessive-compulsive disorder, self-harm, addiction, body dysmorphia, personality disorders, stress management, sleep difficulties and pain management.
Member organisations
The BABCP is the lead organisation for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in the UK. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the practice, theory or development of CBT. BABCP also provides accreditation for CBT therapists. BABCP accredited members adhere to the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics in the Practice of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, and are willing to be scrutinised in this adherence as required.
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.
