Jessica Baumber
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am a counselling psychologist specialising in disordered eating. I have several years of experience working with clients on improving their relationships with food, eating and their bodies.
Not all people who have eating difficulties have a diagnosed eating disorder (e.g. anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder). Many people experience disordered eating or eating distress but do not meet the current criteria for an eating disorder, or have not received a diagnosis for another reason. I work with people with or without a diagnosis; I feel that if issues around food/eating or body image are significant enough to impact on your quality of life, then they are significant enough to do something about!
I have received training in different approaches to eating disorders therapy and try to tailor my work to each client. My aim is to ensure that you are always at the centre of your therapy and that you have plenty of opportunity to shape it.
I believe it is essential for clients to feel safe, respected and understood in their therapy. It is a top priority of mine to develop a genuine, supportive, and confidential therapeutic relationship in which you can feel this way.
I offer individual therapy via Zoom.
Training, qualifications & experience
I qualified as a counselling psychologist in 2010 and have since spent most of my career working with people experiencing disordered eating - in an NHS funded eating disorders charity and in private practice.
I also have a lot of experience working with other psychological difficulties, whether alongside or in the absence of disordered eating, and I am a qualified supervisor working with trainee and qualified therapists.
I have received training in various models of psychological therapy and draw on different approaches in my work.
Psychology qualifications:
- Counselling Psychology MSc* and PgDip in the Practice of Counselling Psychology - 2006-2010 (*I received a Distinction for my MSc research project, which focussed on body image dissatisfaction and attempted dietary restriction).
- MSc Health Psychology* (Distinction) - 2002-2004 (*My MSc research project focussed on behaviour change and was published and presented at conference).
- BSc Psychology* (First Class Honours) - 1999-2002 (*My BSc research project also focussed on behaviour change and was published and presented at conference).
Selected recent professional training:
- 2024 - Body Image & Disordered Eating, with NEDDE (Neurodiversity, Eating Disorders & Disordered Eating).
- 2023- Nutritional Interventions for Eating Disorders, with NCFED (National Centre for Eating Disorders).
- 2023 - Web-Centred Training in Enhanced CBT-E (Cognitive behaviour Therapy for Eating Disorders), CREDO (Centre for Research on Eating Disorders in Oxford).
- 2022 - "Understanding Your Eating" training, with Prof Julia Buckroyd.
- 2021 - “Advanced Certificate in Eating Disorders”, also with Prof Julia Buckroyd.
- 2021 & 2022 - Eating Disorders International Conferences, run by Beat.
- 2021-2022: “Advanced Practitioner – Supervision”, Training by Liberty.
- During the Pandemic, I trained as a “Certified Cyber Therapist”, via the Online Therapy Institute.
- I have also attended various CPD events over recent years, focussing on topics such as Body Esteem and Self Esteem, Neurodiversity, Trauma, Schema Therapy, Climate Change & Mental Health, and much more .
- I have experience in delivering training to other psychological therapists, most recently on the topic of disordered eating.
Professional memberships:
- Chartered with the British Psychology Society (BPS)
- Registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
- Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Member organisations
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 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.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Binge eating issues, emotional eating, the diet-binge cycle, etc. I work from a stance that aims not to perpetuate discrimination against people living in larger bodies. I embrace perspectives such as body politics and health at every size.
Therapies offered
Fees
£90.00 per session
Free initial online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I have a limited number of concessionary spaces, please get in touch if you would like to find out more.
When I work
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Occasionally monthly supervision sessions can be offered outside of my usual availability.
Further information
If you think I might be the right therapist for you, please get in touch and we can arrange a free exploratory Zoom chat.
