About me
Does this sound familiar?
Perhaps you've spent years wondering why you can't say no to a parent, feeling guilty for pulling away from family, or questioning whether you're the problem. Maybe you recognise yourself as the family scapegoat, or you've watched a sibling take on the role of golden child while your own needs went quietly unmet. Perhaps you find yourself walking on eggshells, people-pleasing, or caught in a cycle of guilt, obligation, and fear that keeps pulling you back in, even when a relationship leaves you feeling anxious and hurt.
You may have been quietly wondering whether you're overreacting, or found yourself searching for a word - narcissistic, toxic, difficult - that might explain what you've lived through. What matters most is not finding the perfect label or diagnosis, but learning to trust yourself that something has not felt right.
The effects of childhood emotional abuse, neglect, enmeshment, coercive control, or gaslighting within families are often subtle but deeply felt. In adulthood, this can leave you feeling anxious, isolated, unsure of your own perceptions, and fearful of abandonment long after childhood has ended. You may have spent years questioning whether your experiences were even real or valid.
Therapy offers a space to gently untangle these long-standing patterns of relating - a place where you can feel genuinely heard, understood, and validated in your experience, at your own pace.
As self-awareness and self-confidence deepens, my hope is that you will begin to trust your own thoughts and feelings more fully, feel less swayed by the expectations of others, and become more securely grounded in who you are - separate, safe, and steady, whatever is happening around you.
Setting healthy boundaries, whether that means renegotiating a relationship or considering estrangement or no contact, is rarely simple. Only you will know what is right for you. My role is to help you find clarity and the confidence to make the choice that feels right.
When you've spent years being misunderstood, therapy can be the first place where your experience finally begins to make sense.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a fully qualified and insured Senior Accredited Psychotherapist, registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
I hold an MSc with Distinction in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy from Birkbeck, University of London, and a BSc (Hons) in Psychology.
I am also a member of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and the Birkbeck Counselling Association (BCA), and I am committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical and professional practice through ongoing professional development, supervision, and reflective practice.
Member organisations
school 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.
The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) is a professional association, representing the profession of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
The organisation is itself made up of fourteen member organisations and BPC accredits the trainings of its member organisations. An individual who qualifies from one of these trainings is then eligible for entry into the BPC's register.
BPC registrants are governed by a code of ethics, a policy of continuing professional development, a statement on confidentiality and a complaints procedure. The BPC is a Member Society of the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Public Sector (EFPP). Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£90.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
For more information on fees or any other query, please contact me -
Email - kate.nicholls.psychotherapy@gmail.com.
WhatsApp/text - 07720 211214
I look forward to hearing from you.
When I work
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