About me
I am a qualified psychotherapist/counsellor trained in attachment-based therapy. My work is informed by the understanding that our earliest relationships profoundly shape how we experience ourselves and connect with others - including how we relate to food, our bodies and our emotions.
I have a particular interest in working with individuals experiencing eating disorders and body image issues. These challenges often reflect deeper emotional patterns formed in early life, such as difficulties in feeling safe, seen or accepted. In therapy, I offer a calm, compassionate space where we can explore these underlying dynamics together and gently shift them.
My approach is relational, grounded in the understanding that our early relationships shape how we see ourselves and connect with others throughout life. My approach allows you to move at your own pace while supporting a deeper understanding and lasting change. I aim to provide a reparative relational experience that fosters security, emotional regulation and the capacity for deeper connection - with oneself and others.
I maintain regular clinical supervision and ongoing professional development in line with the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, to ensure that my practice remains ethical, effective and responsive to clients' evolving needs. My work reflects BACP's values of respect, trust, integrity and the promotion of well-being in all aspects of therapeutic care.
Healing is not about 'fixing' yourself, but about reconnecting with the parts of you that may have felt unseen or unsupported.
" It is through a secure, attuned relationship that healing becomes possible. In the presence of another who can hold our pain, we learn to hold ourselves."
- Inspired by the principles of Attachment-Based Therapy.
Training, qualifications & experience
- Advanced Diploma in Counselling
- Post-graduate Diploma in Attachment-Based Therapy: Wimbledon Guild, London
- Certificate in Psychopathology: Confer
- Certificate in Eating Disorders
- Foundation Course in Group Psychoanalysis: Validated by The Institute of Group Analysis
- Lecturer in Counselling: Levels 3 & 4
- Numerous hours in Continuing Professional Development (ongoing)
Member organisations
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
Fees
£50.00 per session
Additional information
Session Fee: £50.00 (50 Minutes)
Psychotherapy should not be undertaken lightly. It isn’t a quick fix and for it to be most effective requires regular commitment over a considerable period. During the course of the therapy, time allocated to you is your time. As such, charges are made for all sessions unless you provide 24 hours advanced notice of cancellation. As I will be unable to use this time for another client, cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice or a scheduled appointment that is completely missed, you will be charged the full session fee. You do not of course pay when sessions cannot be provided.
To book your first session I can be contacted at:
E-mail: debbie.gratton1@sky.com
Tel: 0777 028 5830
If I am unable to answer your call, please leave your name and telephone contact details and I will answer your call within 24 hours. No one other than myself has access to messages left and I monitor messages frequently during the day. I will make every effort to return your call on the same day you make it, with the exception of weekends and holidays. If you are difficult to reach, please inform me of some times when you will be available.
All sessions are currently being conducted via the Zoom platform.
When I work
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Limited availability Friday & Saturday mornings.
Currently all sessions are being conducted on line (via the Zoom platform).
Further information
An eating disorder is defined by abnormal eating habits that negatively affect a person's physical or mental way of being. Eating disorders include:
- Anorexia nervosa: Where people eat very little or nothing at all and therefore have a very low body weight.
- Bulimia nervosa: Where people eat a lot and then try to rid themselves of the food.
- Binge eating: Where people eat large amounts of food in a short period of time.
- Night eating syndrome: Excessive nighttime food consumption.
- Pica : Where people eat non-food items.
- Rumination disorder: Where people regurgitate food.
- Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder: Where people have a lack of interest in food.
- Purging: Where people purge without binge eating.
- Food phobias: Where people are afraid of certain foods.
- Selective eating disorder: Associated with food phobia.
- Body dysmorphia: Where people are obsessed by perceived flaws in their appearance.
- Emotional eating: Where people eat large amounts of food in response to negative emotions.
- Prader-Willi syndrome: Where there is a complex genetic disorder and people have an insatiable appetite that results in never feeling full.
- ENDOS: Eating disorders not otherwise specified and do not fit into any category.
Eating disorders are complex, but talking and expressing your thoughts and painful feelings can be a helpful way of dealing with something so difficult to manage. It is unlikely that an eating disorder is a result of one single cause and is much likely to be a combination of events, feelings or pressures which can be overwhelming.
If you think that counselling would help you, please contact me using any of the contact details listed above.
