Therapies

There are many different lenses and approaches that can be taken during therapy. I believe it’s important that the therapeutic path taken is appropriate for each individual and their current challenges at the point of meeting me in therapy and remains flexible throughout the time we work together. As a Clinical Psychologist I am trained to work with great variation in people’s life challenges and their surrounding contexts, and my work is informed by a variety of evidence based models to meet these needs. However the focus of my work is trauma, in all its varying contexts, and so all models my practice is informed by are trauma focused modalities.
My work is informed most frequently by EMDR and Somatically focused Internal Family Systems Parts Work (IFS), but I run Compassion Focused Principles (CFT) through all my work.
Within all my work as a Psychologist, somatic practices with both breath and body are used to connect the mind and bodies story. An understanding of the nervous system is threaded throughout to support resiliency and capacity, and build a foundational understanding of how our lives and the environments we live in are deeply affecting our bodies functioning.
I want to provide a little bit of information below about the main modalities that inform my practice, and I recommend that you have a read of some of these in more depth if they resonate with you.

Types of Therapy

Eye Movement De-sensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is a therapy aimed at helping people in recovering from a traumatic event/traumatic memories. After any traumatic event the images, thoughts and emotions can remain. These can create ‘overwhelm’, or being back in that moment where you may feel “frozen in time.” Traumatic memories can also cause us to develop certain core beliefs or understandings of ourselves that can continue to cause distress later in our lives, often being triggered by things in our present environment. In a nutshell, the therapist asks a person to recall unpleasant memories and at the same time gives instructions for moving the eyes or tapping the body in a way that causes Bi-Lateral Stimulation for the brain (BLS). EMDR is a therapeutic model that can be highly effective for those who have experienced trauma and works on the premise that our emotional well-being is tied to our physical (somatic) state.

I work with client long term using EMDR, but am also introducing immersive and intensive EMDR sessions into my practice, which is most suited to people with one off (or a short series of) traumatic experiences such as accidents, natural disasters or conflict, and single health incidences like birth trauma.

Internal Family Systems Parts Work (IFS)

IFS therapy is based upon the concept that every person has multiple sub-personalities which can be in conflict with each other. Some people may have certain versions of themselves or ‘parts’ of themselves that have frozen at particular times in life when distressing events have occurred or certain needs of a person are not met. These parts can ‘take over the driving seat’ in your life when triggered by certain things in your environment. This can lead to problematic habits and behaviors in the present day, and also a sense of not feeling in control of all of your actions. For example, you may find yourself experiencing emotional outbursts that feel impulsive and you may feel the reason for that response is out of your conscious awareness. This can feel very worrying and disempowering; parts work tries to help you bring together all the various parts of you to better understand them and integrate them within your overall sense of self. The goal of IFS therapy is to help people identify and accept the different parts of themselves and heal the parts that are wounded, so that we can approach ourselves and the world with more compassion and curiosity.

My training in this model is somatically focused, supporting you to connect your parts to the felt sense in your body, assisting deeper connection, release and integration of past traumas.

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

CFT is a therapeutic approach that supports people struggling with shame, self criticism, and the lasting impact of difficult early experiences or unmet emotional needs.
CFT understands that many mental health difficulties can be rooted in patterns of self attack, fear, and protective survival responses. Through compassion, self awareness, and nervous system understanding, the work helps people develop a gentler and more supportive relationship with themselves.
CFT also explores how our “tricky brains” work, and how the ways we learnt to protect ourselves can sometimes become the ways in which we hurt ourselves. The therapy offers practical tools to help regulate emotions, soothe self critical thinking, and build greater safety, connection, and compassion towards ourselves and others.
Within my work, I often interweave aspects of CFT alongside somatic and body based approaches, helping clients not only understand their patterns cognitively, but also begin to experience compassion, safety, and self support within the body itself.

Somatically Informed Practice

Across all of my work, there is an underlying somatic and nervous system informed approach. I recognise the importance of the body in understanding, holding, and processing trauma, and the ways in which our experiences can live not only within the mind, but within the nervous system, breath, emotions, and physical body also.

Rather than becoming lost purely in story, cognition, or analysis, my work gently supports people to come into relationship with what is happening in the present moment within the body itself; the sensations, emotions, tension, charge, protective responses, and unmet needs asking for attention, witnessing, and care.
I believe deeply in the importance of felt sense, embodiment, and the mind body breath connection within healing work. At the same time, I also recognise the importance of capacity, safety, and staying within a manageable Window of Tolerance. For me, healing is not about forcing release, overwhelm, or catharsis, but about helping the nervous system slowly build the capacity to feel, process, integrate, and reconnect in a way that feels supportive, grounded, and sustainable for each individual person.