I am an HCPC registered Counselling Psychologist, certified Yoga and Mindfulness teacher and founder of The Psychology Company. In 2017 I moved to California and now provide therapy to my UK clients online via Zoom. My working hours for UK clients are 5pm-10pm GMT.
I supervise Psychologists and Psychotherapists looking to develop and enhance their Schema therapy skills and have supervised several therapists going through the schema accreditation process. I am also a licensed Psychologist in California.
The therapeutic approaches I specialise in include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion-Focused Therapy, Mindfulness and Schema Therapy. I am also trained in DBT and am a certified yoga teacher.
I work with people aged 18 years and over and appreciate there are many and varied things that can bring someone to therapy. I specialise in working with clients who experience chronic emotional or interpersonal issues and have experienced attachment difficulties growing up. This can include;
- Physical/verbal/sexual/emotional abuse
- Growing up in invalidating/critical/emotionally dismissive family environments
- Growing up in an over-controlling environment where you were not free to be expressive, play or make mistakes
- Growing up witnessing significant and/or frequent parental conflict/domestic violence.
- Growing up with a family member who was addicted to alcohol and/or drugs.
- Growing up with a family member who had volatile moods and/or angry outbursts.
- Growing up with a family member who was depressed or experienced mental health problems.
- Growing up with a family member who themselves experienced attachment/relational trauma as a child which went untreated.
- Losing a parent/sibling/someone very close to you whilst growing up.
- Experiencing parental divorce.
- Having difficult experiences at school including going to boarding school, bullying and feeling different and/or ostracized from peers.
I also have a special interest in working with adults who experienced childhood emotional neglect. Childhood emotional neglect refers to a situation in which a child’s emotional needs were consistently unmet, ignored, or disregarded by their caregivers. It’s not necessarily about abusive or overtly harmful actions; rather, it’s often about what’s missing—emotional responsiveness, validation, and support that children require for healthy emotional development. Key aspects of childhood emotional neglect include:
- Emotional Unavailability: Caregivers may have been physically present but emotionally unavailable due to various reasons like their own emotional struggles, work, or other priorities.
- Lack of Validation: As children we might have grown up feeling our emotions weren’t acknowledged or validated.
- Absence of Support: We might not have received the guidance, comfort, or support we needed when facing challenges or emotional distress.
Childhood emotional neglect can have lasting effects into adulthood and can lead to feelings of emptiness, low self-worth, relationship difficulties, depression, anxiety and difficulties in expressing or understanding emotions.
Finally, I have a passion for working with people who have grown up or are still in enmeshed relationships with their parents/close family members. Enmeshment refers to a dysfunctional relational pattern where boundaries between individuals are blurred or non-existent. There is also an over reliance on a child for emotional support and children in enmeshed relationships with their parents may find themselves suppressing their own feelings and aspirations in favour of maintaining the other person’s wellbeing. Enmeshment can lead to an undeveloped sense of our own identity, loneliness and anger as well as a lack of autonomy and individuality, for example people might struggle to make independent choices or feel guilty when asserting their own needs, fearing it will upset or disappoint the other person.
I believe a strong therapeutic relationship combined with evidenced based structured therapy is imperative in helping people make the changes they desire. I am an active participant in therapy sessions which is different from some more passive approaches. A therapy session with me could include some or all of the following (this is not an exhaustive list);
- Creating a psychological formulation together. A psychological formulation helps us to understand why you might be feeling the way you do and why you might act the way you do. To make this puzzle picture, we gather pieces of information about your temperament/personality, life experiences, recent stressors, things that might be maintaining your difficulties and your strengths. It is a collaborative process and it is usually developed over the course of therapy.
- Psychoeducation. I will provide information and education about various topics related to psychology, therapy and mental health.
- Trauma processing. I am trained in various trauma processing techniques.
- Emotion focused/experiential techniques including imagery rescripting and chair work. Experiential therapy techniques focus on helping people to experience their emotions in a safe way. These techniques can be helpful for people who have difficulty expressing their emotions, or who have been through traumatic experiences.
- Learning new skills and techniques to help you regulate your emotions and tolerate distress.
- Mindfulness and Compassion Practices
I am passionate about my work and feel very privileged to be able to help people overcome their difficulties and reach their goals. Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my family in Marin and wherever possible appreciating the wilderness of California.
