This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am an experienced Clinical Psychologist offering psychological assessment and therapy, with over 15 years experience working in specialist NHS services and private practice.
After working clinically in the NHS for several years, I graduated from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, in 2012 with a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. I have since worked at the National Adult ADHD service at the Maudsley, in integrated adult psychological therapy teams and specialist services for people with difficulties associated with a personality disorder. I have also been fortunate enough to work in healthcare trusts considered to be leading providers of hospital and community-based healthcare, research and education, supporting people suffering distress and complex needs in the context of physical health difficulties.
I continue to work part time in the NHS in Surrey as a Principal Clinical Psychologist, developing and delivering specialist training and consultation to primary care and voluntary services supporting people who experience complex emotional needs.
I am experienced in offering a range of psychotherapeutic approaches with individuals, using both brief and longer-term therapeutic models. Most of my work has focused on supporting adults, from 16 years old to the older generation. I am trained in a variety of therapy modalities, including cognitive behavioural therapy and schema-focused therapy. I also draw on mentalisation, Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and compassionate-mind approaches, depending on the needs of the person in the therapy. I use these approaches because there is good research showing they are effective in helping people to address a wide range of concerns relating to their psychological well-being.
As a qualified clinical psychologist, I operate under the ethical guidelines stipulated by the British Psychological Society (www.bps.org.uk) and the Health and Care Professions Council (www.hcpc-uk.org).
Please see my website for further details: https://www.kmitchellpsychology.co.uk/
What is Psychological Therapy?
Therapy is a process of self-discovery and healing, which often starts with a person seeking relief from distress. This may be problems they have lived with a long while, or more of an acute concern which has taken centre stage in their life. I take great care to create an environment of compassion, safety and empathy to gently support a person to make sense of their difficulties and work towards desired change. Therapy can take different forms to help someone to reach their individual goals, including working through upsetting issues with the support of a sensitive therapist, facilitating the discovery of meaning and self-identity, creating solutions to specific problems or formulating ways to move towards behavioural change.
What you can expect from me
We would work together to build a shared understanding of the concerns you have brought to therapy, to help you build on your strengths, improve your sense of agency and build inner resiliency and self-compassion. We would draw on a range of therapeutic approaches as useful to you, to create a space which fosters self-awareness and facilitates change through understanding. Research into therapy also shows that there is great value in understanding a person's past, especially their developmental years, as this will have a bearing on their present-day experience. This does not mean that we only talk about the past or that every therapy needs to be long-term, but this aspect of your experience will be gently drawn upon at a pace that fits for you, to make sense of the difficulties you are facing, understand who you are as a person and to facilitate change in the 'here and now'.
Therapeutic approaches
As mentioned, I am trained in a number of different approaches and have included a little about the ones I use most frequently for your understanding.
Schema-focused therapy is an integrative approach aimed at helping people improve long-standing problems with thinking, feeling and behaving in self-destructive ways, and has been identified as being widely applicable to a range of psychological concerns with great effect. Schema therapy helps the client to identify and heal early problematic patterns or beliefs which are ingrained and may have led to that person experiencing relationship difficulties, poor self image, difficulties managing intense emotions and getting stuck in unwanted behaviours they are struggling to change. This therapy aims to help someone break these unwanted patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, strengthen self-worth and aid the development of more satisfactory relationships with others and, most importantly, with oneself.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is a well-researched therapy which has been designed to help people work on understanding and addressing upsetting thinking processes which can leave people very anxious, low in mood and stuck in cycles of self-defeating behaviours. CBT can help people to learn skills and strategies they can use in their daily lives to manage and resolve specific difficulties. The aim is to empower the client so that they can take these skills away with them and independently apply them within their life for lasting change and improved psychological well-being.
I also have specialist experience in treating people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). I tailor sessions so they are more easily accessible to people living with the condition and the aim is to help people to manage how their ADHD impacts on their life, alongside the associated difficulties often reported by people living with this condition, including anxiety, low mood, low self-esteem and relationship problems.
What can you expect from your first appointment?
An initial appointment will provide us with a space to discuss your concerns and wishes in greater depth, and the experience should give you an idea of how I work and what you can expect of me. We will work together to understand your difficulties and determine a plan for a potential way forward. This will include determining what types of approaches would suit you best and whether I am the right therapist for you. This usually takes around two sessions but sometimes more time is required based on your needs. If I don't believe I am the best fit to help you at that time I will endeavour to link you in with a service who I hope will be better suited to offering you the right type of support.
If we decide to book in a course of therapy then we will agree an initial number of sessions, which will again be based on your needs and goals, and we would regularly review our progress to ensure the sessions continue to be of benefit to you.
How many sessions will you need?
This depends on the nature of the issues you wish to address and your goals for the work. There is no set number of sessions I would expect clients to adhere to. I would offer advice about the type of approach that I recommend based on your concerns and wishes for the work, whilst carefully taking into account your personal preferences. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is usually short-to medium term (generally 6-12 sessions) whereas a Schema-Focused Therapy approach, for example, may be offered over a longer period of time to facilitate change related to more established patterns of thinking, feeling, behaving and relating.
Please note, I can only take on shorter-term work at the moment (likely 6-10 sessions) due to impending leave from mid-May 2025.
Payment via insurance is available but I am only currently accepting referrals from Bupa.
Training, qualifications & experience
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
- Over 15 years of experience (NHS and private) in working with adults with complex and wide-ranging emotional difficulties, including anxiety, depression, stress, anger and relationship problems
- Accredited Individual Schema Therapist
- Further training in specialist therapeutic approaches, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, EMDR and Mentalisation-Based Therapy
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 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 I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£110.00 per session
Free initial telephone session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Fees will generally start from £110 an hour, including assessment session.
When I work
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I am currently able to offer Wednesday morning/afternoon sessions. I will be taking extended leave from mid-May 2025 so will only be able to offer shorter term work in the meantime.
