Dr Holly Jones

I want to enable 0-25 year olds living with acute or long term physical health conditions to manage the impact on their mental health and build fulfilling lives based on the things that matter to them.  I have a special interest in supporting children, adolescents and young adults struggling with persistent pain and medical trauma.

Our physical health and mental health are closely linked. Living with a visible or invisible long term illness can have physical and practical effects, and have a negative impact on our thoughts, feelings and behaviour.  Persistent pain that doesn't respond to medical interventions can feel hopeless.  Past traumatic medical events can be re-triggered and re-experienced in vivid ways.  Psychological support can help to manage these challenges, whether you are a child, adolescent or young adult with an acute or long term condition yourself, or a family member supporting an infant or young child with an illness. 

Navigating life stages can be more challenging for individuals with a chronic illness or disability.  Treatments, procedures and appointments can feel like a burden, or be painful and upsetting.  There may be barriers to preferred education, training or employment opportunities, and a sense that others are moving on more easily.  It might get in the way of relationships, disrupt plans and require family members to adopt carer roles that feel out of place.  It's normal to have thoughts like 'it's not fair', 'why me?', 'I wish it would go away', and to feel different to friends. This can cause extra suffering on top of physical health challenges that are already hard to live with. 

I work with acute or chronic illness, physical health conditions, diseases or syndromes including respiratory, cardiovascular, congenital, ear, eye, skin, inflammatory and immune, metabolic and endocrine, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, renal and urogenital among others.  I support the psychological impact debilitating post viral syndromes like long covid.   If you or your child have recovered from a serious illness like cancer or stroke, but are still affected by it, please contact me to see how I can help. 

Traumatic events can wound our sense of safety and beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. We can get stuck in emergency mode, long after the event has ended. Medical trauma can happen when someone is overwhelmed by distressing events that happen as part of their health care. This can include internal events such as being unable to breathe, or external events like being in an ambulance or operating theatre, or being held down for a blood test to happen. Psychological therapy can help to process and resolve these traumatic memories so they are less upsetting.

Persistent and unexplained physical symptoms (such as pain, loss of movement, fatigue and non epileptic seizures) can have a massive impact on quality of life. Being passed from ‘pillar to post’ in pursuit of an answer can cause extra suffering, worry that something more serious has been missed, or concerns that people think it is 'all in the head'.  Please contact me if you are looking for psychological support for these very real challenges.

I integrate Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT/DNA-V for adolescents), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) approaches. I like making links to a young person's favourite hobbies, music and films, and use lots of online resources to make the experience of talking with me as helpful as possible.

Adjusting to a medical diagnosis
Health-related anxiety
Medical trauma
Health-related low mood
Anxiety about medical procedures
Fear of needles 
Pain and symptom management
Managing treatment burdens, including insulin pumps, stomas etc.
Preparation for surgery
Living with visible difference 

£110 for a 50 minute session.  Please check current fees for services on website. I review my fees in January each year and give one month's notice of any changes.

Please contact me through Counselling Directory or my website if you would like to arrange a chat to see if I offer the support you are looking for. Enquiries for under 16s must be made by a parent/carer. Enquiries for over 16s can be made by a young person or their parent/carer.