Desideratum Psychological & Counselling Services Ltd
About us
Psychological and Counselling Services for Adults, Older Adults, Trainees, Professionals and Employees.
Desideratum Psychological and Counselling Services Limited was founded by Dr. Maria Thompson on the 18th December 2013. The aim is to provide excellent and affordable online and 'in person' psychological care for adults & older adults. The office is based near Bristol, which is ideal for people in the South West and South Wales.
I assist adults and older adults to reduce distress, improve awareness, connection, functioning and QoL through face-to-face and online counselling and psychological therapy. You can explore and address your concerns safely with session materials to take away for future reference. I offer evidenced approaches. Since 1998 I have worked with many people in their recovery from a range of emotional, behavioural, personality and mental health issues across various settings to Consultant level. Hopefully, I maybe of assistance to you also.
Do you, a relative, a partner, a colleague or employee need to see a Psychologist urgently for a single session, short term therapy (1 - 6 sessions) medium term therapy (6 - 24 sessions) or long term therapy (25 - 156 sessions)? Referrals also accepted from Rehabilitation Services, NHS, Local Authorities, Case Managers, Solicitors & Insurance Clinical Teams.
You are welcome to call or email Dr Thompson to outline the issues and pressures you are managing currently. You can discuss the kind of support you are looking for and find out if she is able to assist you. Then decide whether you would like to attend for a consultation session (usual fee applies) to determine if therapy with Maria is likely to be helpful.
All psychological and counselling services are provided by:
Dr. Maria Thompson, BSc (Hons) MSc, Post-MSc, DCounsPsych., CPsychol., AFBPsS.
Consultant Counselling Psychologist
HCPC Registered & BPS Chartered Counselling Psychologist | EMDR Europe Accredited Practitioner | Foundation of Infant Loss Accredited Practitioner
Affiliations:
Health Care Professions Council Registered (HCPC) | Chartered Member / Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society | Full Member of the Division of Counselling Psychology | Associate Member of the Division of Neuropsychology | British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Therapies (BABCP) | Facility for the Psychology of Older People (FPoP/PSIGE) | Faculty of Psychosis and Complex Mental Health | Faculty of Forensic Psychology | EMDR Association UK & Ireland | UK Psychological Trauma Society
Training, qualifications & experience
Counselling Certificates & Counselling Psychology Degrees:
June 1998: Introduction to Counselling Skills & Theory Certificate
June 1999: BTec Professional Development Certificate in Counselling
June 2002: BSc (Hons) Psychology & Social Policy Degree
September 2004: Masters in Counselling Psychology
June 2005: Post-Masters Diploma in Counselling Psychology
December 2010: Doctorate in Counselling Psychology
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Certificates for various issues:
November 2009: CBT for Improving Supervision Skills: Problems and Complexities in Practice
November 2009: An Introduction to Supervision of CBT: Essential Skills
May 2011: CBT for Simplifying Personality Disorder Treatment: New Paradigms in CBT
June 2015: CBT for Physical Illness, Injury, Pain and Trauma
July 2015: Food for Thought: CBT for Eating Disorders
June 2015: CBT for Working with Military Veterans
April 2015: Single Session Integrated CBT
May 2015: Cognitive Therapy for Paranoia
May 2016: CBT for Working with Substance Misuse
September 2017: Trauma: Psychopathology and Treatment
October 2017: CBT Case Formulation
October 2017: CBT for Working with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
November 2017: CBT for New Approaches to Traumatic Grief and Loss
December 2017: Resilience: Prevention and Recovery from Traumatic Damage
November 2018: Supercharging Your CBT Practice: Integrating The Best of DBT, ACT and CFT for Maximum Effect
January 2019: CBT for Couples
May 2019: CBT and Counselling with Autism Spectrum Disorder Clients: a Masterclass with Prof Tony Attwood
May 2020: Problem-Solving Techniques and CBT
May 2020: CBT for Working with Generalised Anxiety Disorder
May 2020: Problem Solving Techniques In CBT
June 2020: Introduction to CBT
June 2020: Integrated CBT For Difficult to Work with Clients (Personality Disorders)
July 2020: CBT for Working with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
July 2020: CBT for Working with Depression
July 2020: CBT for Working with Anger
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) Certificates
July 2011: An Introduction to Dialectical Behavioural Therapy
April 2016: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
May 2019: Guiding the Client on a Mindfulness Journey
May 2019: Using DBT Mindfulness Skills to Increase Your Therapeutic Effectiveness
May 2019: DBT Skills Training Group on Emotional Regulation
May 2019: DBT Skills Training Group on Distress Tolerance
October 2019: DBT Skills Training Group on Interpersonal Effectiveness
EMDR Certificates
November 2008: Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) - Stage I
January 2009: Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) - Stage II
March 2009: Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprogramming (EMDR) – Stage III
March 2009: EMDR and Ego State Therapy: Healing Complex Trauma and Dissociation
October 2015: EMDR Refresher/Supervision Day
October 2017: EMDR and Anxiety Disorders
October 2017: EMDR and Complex Trauma
January 2020: EMDR Interventions for Adults with Childhood Insecure Attachment and Detachment Trauma
March 2020: How I Deliver EMDR Therapy Online Using Zoom
March 2020: EMDR Europe Accreditation
April 2020: Using EMDR Online – Answering Your Questions
April 2020: Memory Reconsolidation, The Flash Technique and EMDR
June 2020: EMDR UK Virtual Conference:
- EMDR In the Treatment of Depression – The DeprEnd Protocol
- EMDR Therapy in the Treatment of Complex PTSD
- EMDR 2.0 An Enhanced Version of EMDR?
Additional Psychotherapy Models of Therapy Certificates
April 2016: Motivational Interviewing and Beyond
April 2016: Solution Focused Therapy
April 2018: The Foundation of Infant Loss Accredited Provider Training Course
May 2019: Integrating Schema and CBT Practice: How to Use Powerful Schema Techniques in CBT
November 2019: Compassion Focused Therapy
Psychotherapy Issue Certificates
September 1997: Supporting Bereaved People Culturally
April 1998: Cruse – Understanding Bereavement
April 1999: Emotional Excellence
September 2002: Breaking the Cycle of Depression without Drugs
March 2003: The Impact of Rape and Sexual Abuse
June 2003: Forensic Psychology – The Research Practitioner
September 2003: Relaxation and Visualisation Workshop
2004: Couples Counselling
May 2004: Effective Brief Therapy for Depression
May 2004: Psychology of Perception and the Paranormal
February 2005: The Fast Trauma (PTSD) and Phobia Cure
January 2005: Counsellors and Psychotherapists in Primary Care Training Day in Supervision
May 2005 Psychopharmacology & Therapy: An Uneasy Relationship
May 2005: the 7 Eyed Model – An Introduction to Supervision
August 2005: Attachment Theory
April 2006: Elder Abuse: A Hidden Problem
January 2007: Masterclass on Existential Counselling in Practice by Ernesto Spinelli
April 2008: Cultural Identities and Psychological Therapies
July 2008: Self Harm Awareness Training – Module 1
September 2008: Working Therapeutically with Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse: Issues, Dilemmas and Complexities
August 2008: Sex Workers Support Needs
April 2009: Self Harm Awareness Training – Module 2
May 2009: Working in Emergency Care with People Who Self-Harm
March 2010: Clinical Supervision
July 2011: Building Awareness of Adult Autism
September 2013: Essential Supervision Skills. BPS Approved Certificate in Clinical Supervision
April 2014: Working Successfully in Private Practice
May 2015: Drugs and Behaviour Course
June 2015: Tackling Addiction: Understanding and Treating All Types of Addictive Behaviour
October 2017: Working with Dissociative Disorders in Clinical Practice
December 2017: Resilience: Prevention and Recovery from Dramatic Damage
December 2017: Christine Sanderson: Managing Power
June 2018: Brene Brown’s Shame Shields: the armour we used to protect ourselves and why it doesn’t serve us
June 2018: The New Rules of Love: How Couples Are Reinventing Marriage
January 2019: Esther Perel’s transformative approach to couples therapy and action
April 2020: An Integrative Approach to Treating Complex PTSD and Associative Disorders
BPS Accredited MSc Neuropsychology Certificates
March 2012: Stroke And Disorders of Language, Praxis, Perception and Calculation
November 2012: Acquired Brain Injury - Disorders of Attention, Memory and Executive Functioning
November 2012: Neurodegenerative Conditions
February 2018: Neurosciences for Clinical Neuropsychology
February 2018: Epilepsy, Seizures & Sleep Disorders
Additional *Psychometric Testing and Neuropsychology Certificates
February 2005: Psychometric Testing for Counselling Psychologists
May 2005: Psychological Testing and Counselling Psychology
May 2007: Clinical Neuropsychology with Older People
April 2008: Assistant Test User: Occupational
April 2008: Test User: Occupational, Ability (Formerly Level A)
August 2011: Test User: Occupational, Personality (Formerly Level B Intermediate)
July 2010: CPD Day for Old Age Psychiatry
July 2010: Stroke Care in the 21st Century
June 2012: Learning to Use the Historical / Clinical / Risk Management–20 (HCR–20) version 2
March 2011: MSc Postgraduate Study in Clinical Neuropsychiatry – Brain Injury
August 2012: Personality Assessment Screener Workshop
August 2012: Personality Assessment Inventory Assessment Workshop
August 2012: Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test Assessment workshop
August 2012: Middlesex Elderly Assessment of Mental State Assessment Workshop
November 2016: Reducing the Burden of Neurobehavioural Disability after Acquired Brain Injury: past, Present and Future
April 2012: An Overview of Huntington’s Disease
September 2012: WAIS-IV Administration and Interpretation Workshop
September 2012: WMS-IV Administration and Interpretation Workshop
November 2012: Encephalitis - An Introduction
January 2020: Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory–IV
Expert Witness Certificates:
May 2005: Writing Court Reports
2008: Master Class Expert Witness Presenting Evidence in Court
April 2014: BPS Becoming An Expert Witness
June 2014: BPS Expert Witness Level 1 Essential Knowledge of being an Expert Witness
June 2014: BPS Expert Witness Level 2 Report Writing
June 2014: EWI certified Medico-Legal Report Writing in Civil Claims (Core Skills)
July 2014: BPS Expert Witness Level 3 Presenting Court Room Evidence
July 2014: BPS Expert Witness Level 4 Use of Psychometric Assessments for Court
*the complete psychometric testing portfolio and full list of training providers is available on request.
Continuing Professional Development - various are attended each year.
Clinical Experience:
I have been working therapeutically with individuals, couples and groups since 1997 in a wide range of settings. She has extensive clinical experience of providing psychological assessment and treatment for adults, older adults with mental health and forensic histories, that presented with mild, moderate, severe enduring and complex mental, neurological and physical health issues.
I have worked in statutory and non-statutory organisations in the voluntary, public and private sectors. Her positions have included a University Senior Lecturer, A Consultant / Crisis Services Manager and Head of Psychology within the Female Prison Estate (Medium Secure). I was a psychologist in an Employee Assisted Programme for Council employees and developed an Older Adult domiciliary service whilst practicing in the NHS in Primary and Secondary care (GP surgeries and Older Adult In/Outpatients). I gained 5.5 years experience as a Consultant Counselling Psychologist within the prison service and within a Low Secure Private Hospital supporting those with complex co-morbid forensic and mental health issues, brain injury and neurodegenerative conditions. I am also experienced in providing staff support, service development, management, supervision and risk assessment.
In December 2013 I entered full-time into Private Practice and receive referrals from businesses, charities, Insurance companies, care co-ordinators, case managers, solicitors, medico-legal and rehabilitation agencies along with self-referrals. I have worked with a range of trauma related issues such as PTSD, BPD, complex trauma, abuse, dissociation, suicidal ideation/intent, self-harm, brain injury, personality and relationship difficulties. I am frequently asked to assist with low self-esteem, self-hatred, chronic pain, sleep disturbance, loss including infant loss, and adjustment, stress, challenges with workplace bullying, time management and return to work issues, identity and mood issues such as anger, shame, depression, panic and anxiety. My role involves the completion of clinical assessment, progress and discharge reports, reports for Human Resources, Social Services, Insurers, Employee Assisted Programmes, Rehabilitation Services and Expert Witness reports for civil claims. At least 50% of my caseload involves the assessment and rehabilitative treatment of adults presenting with personality issues, PTSD and complex trauma related symptoms.
Member organisations *
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.
Health and Care Professions Council
The HCPC are an independent, UK-wide health regulator. They set standards of professional training, performance and conduct for 16 professions.
They keep a register of health professionals who meet their standards, and they take action if registered health professionals fall below those standards. They were created by a piece of legislation called the Health Professions Order 2001.
Registration means that a health professional meets national standards for their professional training, performance and conduct.
Areas of counselling we deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Referrals are accepted for Issues such as:
Mental Health, Psychological trauma, PTSD: accident, PTSD: injury, PTSD: rape, PTSD: traumatic childhood, PTSD: life events, Adult Survivors of Abuse, Adult Survivors of Sexual Abuse, Cognitive Function assessment & treatment, Memory Impairment assessment & treatment, Violence risk assessment, Female offender issues, Medico-Legal Reports, Mood Disorders, Depression, Anxiety, Anger, Psychological assessment of adults, Psychological treatment, Psychological assessment of older adults, Self Esteem, Self Development, Anger Management, Assertiveness Training, Behaviour Problems, Race & Religious Issues, Carer Support, Grief and Loss, Life Transition & Adjustment Issues, Interpersonal Relationship issues, Psychotherapy, Counselling, Personality Assessment, Psychopathology Assessment, Anticipatory Grief & Bereavement, Multiple Losses, Pain Management, Relaxation Difficulties, Sleeping Difficulties, Stress Management, Palliative Care, Chronic Health Conditions, Neurodegenerative Conditions, Parkinson's Disease, Dementia, Early onset Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease, Huntington's Disease, Brain Injury, Neuro-Rehabilitation & Injury Counselling, Victim of Crime, Cult Involvement, Domestic Violence, Self Harm, Suicidal Risk, Workplace Bullying, Work & Occupational Stress, Mental Illness, Panic Disorder, Health Anxiety, Anxiety Management, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Dissociative Conditions, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Personality Disorders, Personality Difficulties, Older Adult Issues, Older Adult Well-Being, Domiciliary / Home Visits for Senior Citizens, Domiciliary / Home Visits for clients with disabilities, Domiciliary visits to Charities, Domiciliary visits to Nursing Homes, Person Centred Dementia Care, Older Adult Well-Being Groups.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
Individual Therapy (self funding rate only): £85 for 60 minute sessions.
Clinical Supervision: £85
Further information
Maria is a recognised psychologist practitioner with the following health insurance providers through Desideratum P&C Services Ltd and is happy to join others if yours is not listed:
- AXA PPP Healthcare - AVIVA - PruHealth - CIGNA
