Richard George
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Accessing psychotherapy for the first time can be a daunting experience. At the Beechwood Practice, in Cambridge, I provide a safe place for you to discuss your difficulties and express yourself without fear of being judged and where your privacy is assured. As an experienced psychotherapist who has worked in the NHS for 18 years, I have a wealth of clinical experience to draw on. I offer up-to-date, evidence based psychological treatments for a range of difficulties. Have a look through my website and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I welcome clients from all cultural backgrounds, faiths, sexual identities and orientation.
An example of some of the difficulties I can support you with and treat include;
Generalised anxiety; chronic worry and over thinking; depression; panic disorder; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder; Obsessive Compulsive Disorder; social anxiety; health anxiety; agoraphobia; specific phobias; low self-esteem; and stress.
I work to clinical guidelines whilst tailoring my input to your own understanding, language and circumstances.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Put simply, CBT is a short-term talking therapy that usually involves attending a 50-60 minute session once a week for between six and 20 sessions depending on the goal of therapy. CBT has a wealth of scientific evidence that supports its effectiveness and has been identified by The National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (Department of Health) as the treatment of choice for anxiety disorders and depression. CBT is also more effective than medication alone in reducing the likelihood of relapse.
I am accredited with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). The BABCP is the lead organisation for CBT in the UK and my accreditation gives assurance that my post-graduate training and on-going practice meets the required standards.
Long-Term Health Conditions (LTCs)
Around 40% of people with a common mental health problem also have an LTC. Conditions such as COPD, asthma, diabetes, chronic pain and others, if not managed properly can impact on our anxiety and mood. In turn, the LTC then becomes harder to manage and a downward spiral of poor physical and mental health continues. Having been the clinical lead for long-term health conditions at Telford Primary Care NHS Wellbeing Service, I am in a strong position to offer my clients a comprehensive assessment and treatment.
EMDR & Trauma
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing) is a therapy that is effective in the treatment of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and reduces the intrusive memories and other symptoms that can follow a traumatic life event. Although I offer Trauma-Focused CBT, I find that EMDR can be easier for clients to engage in, as it does not require the repeated in-depth discussion of the traumatic event and the eye movements can reduce the intensity of the intrusive images.
All treatments offered are in line with national clinical guidelines, published by the National Institute of Health & Care Excellence (Department of Health).
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. You can reach me via email or text. You are welcome to phone me. However, given that most of my working time is spent with clients, I cannot always answer. If you message me, we can arrange a time for a phone call at your convenience.
NEXT STEP
Prior to commencing therapy, I can offer you a free, no-obligation, confidential telephone consultation to discuss suitability and answer any questions you may have. If you decide to commence therapy you can take it one appointment at a time.
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons) Psychology
- MSc Psychological Research Methods
- PGDip Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Distinction)
- EMDR Training - Parts 1, 2 & 3
Accreditation
Full Accreditation with the British Association for Cognitive & Behavioural Psychotherapies. Membership No: 140696. My accreditation can be confirmed by following the link - http://cbtregisteruk.com/
I am a member of EMDR UK & Ireland. Membership No: G0357.
Disclosure and Barring Service
I am subscribed to the online DBS Service with Enhanced Disclosure.
Awards
For my commitment to promoting the individuality and rights of service users, I was a finalist for South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Chairman’s award in 2008.
Experience
I have worked in the NHS for 18 years, accruing a wide range of skills and experience at a senior level, working for several different services with different client groups, from adult mental health to children’s services, primary care, learning disabilities, research and audit.
I take a keen interest in all common mental health problems. However, I have undertaken further training in the treatment of PTSD and have extensive experience in assessing and treating people who have been subjected to a range of traumas. For example, sexual assault, domestic abuse, terrorist attacks and working with asylum seekers fleeing persecution and torture. I also have extensive experience of working with interpreters.
In addition to working as a psychotherapist, past responsibilities include;
- Clinical lead for Long-Term Health Conditions (LTC) at Telford Primary Care NHS Wellbeing Service. I took a lead role in developing a new treatment pathway for people with long-term health conditions, supervised clinicians, delivered training to allied health professionals and promoted the integration of mental health services with Community Respiratory and Diabetes Services. Telford was one of a few sites in the UK where this was rolled out before being implemented nationally by NHS England. I also organised and ran monthly skills workshops for all CBT therapists in the service for their continuing professional development.
- Service lead for Trauma-Focused CBT within primary care mental health services (Telford), providing supervision and training in this field to other practitioners.
- Developed a treatment pathway for people with a mild to moderate learning disability into primary care mental health services (Stoke-on-Trent).
- Lead for Research, Audit & Outcomes Measures for Shropshire & Telford NHS CAMHS (Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services). I led a project to implement a system of routine outcome evaluation across the service. I also represented Psychology within the research governance group for the directorate (Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust).
Further Training & CPD
- EMDR Europe Accredited Training, Parts 1, 2 & 3 (EMDR Academy)
- IAPT Clinical Supervision (University of Birmingham)
- Compassion Focused Staff Support (Compassionate Mind Foundation)
- CBT for Long Term Health Conditions (Staffordshire University)
- CBT for those with Long Term Conditions (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre)
- Concept of Psychological Trauma: Beyond PTSD (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre)
- Using Reliving Effectively & Safely in Working with Traumatic Memories (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre)
- Multiple Trauma: How & When to Work with Traumatic Memories (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre)
- Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (Charlie Waller Institute)
- Understanding & Working with Complexity (Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre)
- Applied Behaviour Analysis (Institute for Applied Behaviour Analysis)
- Comprehensive Functional Assessment & Advanced Support Strategies (Institute for Applied Behaviour Analysis)
- Assuring Staff Consistency & the Provision of Quality Services (Institute for Applied Behaviour Analysis)
- Behavioural Family Therapy (Meriden)
- Values, Recovery & Person Centred Care (Staffordshire University)
- Recovery Enhancing Measures as a New Requirement of Mental Health Service Systems (Staffordshire University)
- RAID Training (Association for Psychological Therapies)
- What’s Love Got to Do with It? The Gift of Secure Attachment (Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust)
- Introduction to Clinical Audit (Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust)
- Introduction to Clinical Audit (National Institute for Health Research)
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 BABCP is the lead organisation for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in the UK. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the practice, theory or development of CBT. BABCP also provides accreditation for CBT therapists. BABCP accredited members adhere to the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics in the Practice of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, and are willing to be scrutinised in this adherence as required.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
Additional information
Please see my website for further information and fees.
