About me
Hello and welcome.
My name is Vickie, and I am a fully qualified, BABCP accredited Psychologist and Cognitive Behaviour (CBT) and EMDR Psychotherapist. I have substantial experience in treating a wide range of issues.
I understand that arranging your first therapy session may not be easy, and finding the right form of therapy and even the right therapist can be tricky. So I do hope the information I have provided below helps to answer any questions or concerns that you may have. But if there is anything else you need to know that I haven't mentioned below, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
My background
I have been working in the mental health sector since 2000; my interest in psychology being a long standing passion before I had the opportunity to join the sector professionally.
After I qualified as a Psychologist, I progressed on to completing post graduate training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing). I was drawn to CBT's pragmatic, problem-solution orientated focus, as this matched my own way of thinking. Lets not just talk about your problems - lets do something about them! EMDR has proved to be an extremely useful compliment to CBT to achieve fast and dramatic results.
My training and post qualification experience in the NHS, mental health organisations and private practice has not only enabled me to successfully treat many peoples' problems. but also earned my accreditation with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). This accreditation acknowledges that I am recognised to practice CBT in full. Only psychotherapists who have been trained at post graduate level in CBT and have the necessary relevant experience are recognised by the BABCP as accredited CBT therapists. I have continued my education and training since post graduation to keep up with the every changing world of therapeutic understanding to ensure that I can offer you the most effective, update to date treatment available.
In addition to be being fully approved by the DBS, I practise non judgementally, within ethical guidelines from a professional office, your confidentiality and safety being paramount. In addition, I believe in taking a structured collaborative approach, to ensure that your therapeutic journey is not only safe, comfortable but is also effective.
What to expect from your first session
We begin by exploring your problems and understanding them from your perspective. We need to know when did they start? What might have triggered them? What makes them worse? What maintains them? What thoughts and emotions do they trigger? We would then agree your goals - what you want to achieve in therapy. We then find the solutions to your problems together using a process called guided discovery. And then as therapy progresses, we will work towards helping you to achieve your therapy goals.
How will we work together
How we meet is entirely up to you - and whatever suits you best. Most people find its best if we meet in person at my office. Alternatively we can work together via phone or video call.
What happens next
I respond back to initial enquiries within 48 working hours. Should you then feel comfortable proceeding to the next step, we will arrange a brief telephone call when we can then make arrangements to begin your therapeutic journey. Therapy can be daunting to start with but don't worry - you wont need to worry about what to say - allow me to gently support you through this process every step of the way.
The sooner you contact me, the sooner we can start working on helping you to reclaim your life.
Training, qualifications & experience
A fully qualified and accredited psychologist and psychotherapist, I am trained and experienced working with CBT and EMDR to treat many problems including:
- Anxiety
- Depression/low mood
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Low Self-esteem
- Social Anxiety Disorder
- Generalised Anxiety Disorder (Constant worry)
- Panic Attacks
- Phobias
- Health Anxiety
- Anger issues
- Stress
- Agoraphobia
- Other specific phobias (e.g. choking phobia, medical phobia, flying phobia, emetophobia)
- Assertiveness and communication skills
- Insomnia
- Relationship and interpersonal difficulties
- Emotional, sexual and physical abuse
- Narcissistic abuse
- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Complex traumatic stress disorder
- OCD (relationship OCD (R-OCD), contamination, checking, and pure O manifestations eg: harm, sexual orientation and religious scrupulosity OCD)
Don't worry if you are unsure as to what your problem might be. Just contact me for a no obligation chat to discuss your specific problem(s) so we can find this out together.
Member organisations
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
- Social anxiety disorder
- Shyness
- Confidence issues
- Assertiveness
- Communication problems
- Interpersonal difficulties
- Narcissistic abuse
- Phobias and fears
- Jealousy
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
Free initial telephone session
Additional information
Fees vary depending on whether therapy is face to face or remote. Please enquire for more details.
When I work
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Therapy is available between 9 am to 9 pm Monday to Friday, and 9 am to 5 pm Saturdays
Further information
What is CBT?
CBT stands for cognitive behavioural therapy. Cognitions are our thoughts, beliefs, and assumptions that we hold about ourselves, the world and others. Behaviour is anything we do that is observable from our everyday activities to the way we communicate.
According to CBT, psychologically we are each represented by 4 interacting systems: Thoughts, behaviour, emotions and physical sensations
CBT is based on the idea that emotional difficulties (e.g. depression and anxiety) result from unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaving. The way we think and the way we behave are under our control and can therefore be changed. If we change these two aspects of ourselves then, it is likely that there will be changes in the other systems. So, the aim of therapy is to address these unhelpful patterns.
The way we think and behave evolve over our lifetime as a result of the interaction of our experience and genetics. CBT is based on the idea of freedom and choice: thoughts and beliefs are not facts, although it can feel that way. Likewise, behaviour is not set in stone. Fundamentally it is possible to control these two aspects of ourselves.
A simple way to illustrate how the interaction of thinking and behaving can lead to distress is demonstrated by this panic attack example:
Imagine that a train passenger begins to feel hot and becomes aware that their heart rate has increased. They become anxious and start to think something bad is about to happen. They get off the train at the next stop, sit on a bench and wait for the sensations to subside. They then get on the next train and complete the journey. While in that moment they may think they have resolved the problem, in reality they have inadvertently maintained it. Their belief and behaviour was irrational and unhelpful, as the behaviour (escape) confirmed their irrational belief that if they hadn’t left the train, something awful may have happened. While panic attacks can feel very distressing, and in many cases are even confused with more serious problems such as heart attacks, in reality they are a harmless physical response. From we can see how strong the interactions between thoughts, feelings and behaviour can be.
'It is not events that disturb us but what we make of those events' Epictetus 1 AD
Please note: Anyone experiencing physical symptoms should seek medical advice to ensure that there is no physical problem before seeking therapy.
What to expect from CBT
Conducting a thorough initial assessment starts to piece together an understanding of your issues. This may involve exploring past events as well as what is going on presently, things that make the problem worse, your goals, your thoughts, emotions, behaviours etc. By gaining a good understanding of your problems we can then decide your therapy goals and devise a suitable treatment plan tailored to your needs and objectives.
Some of the processes in CBT involve:
- To unpack your cognitive style (how and why we think the way we do).
- Look at how your thinking interacts with your behaviour.
- Distinguish between the helpful from the unhelpful.
- Experiment with new beliefs and behaviours.
- Monitor the result of these 'experiments'.
- When the blend is right, maintain this new way of thinking and behaving.
- Plan how to continue to extend therapeutic gains beyond therapy and prevent relapse.
Thank you for reading my profile. I do hope that your questions were answered here. But if you still have further questions then please do call or message me for a no obligation discussion.
I look forward forward to hearing from you soon.
Take care
Vickie
