What I offer

I offer highly specialist cognitive behaviour therapy delivered with a high degree of expertise by a very experienced, friendly Consultant Clinical Psychologist who specialises in treating anxiety-related issues using validated treatments and specific, proven techniques.

• All appointments are after hours. 
• I work according to a clear, transparent fee structure and am registered with all major medical insurers.
• I am commited to practising an effective therapeutic approach skilfully and with warmth and compassion.
• The clinic is easy to reach using public and private transport.
• Training and clinical supervision is also available.
• Therapy sessions are brief and do not focus on the past but rather on how to make positive and helpful life changes.

I offer professional, focused treatment of the following anxiety and mood problems:

Anxiety

Everybody will experience anxiety at some point in their lives, and anxiety can sometimes be helpful (for example motivating a person to get round to studying for an exam or producing adrenaline in situations that you may need to get out of fast!). When it starts to interfere significantly with a person's life, however, it may be necessary to take steps to reduce the effects of anxiety. Most anxiety-related problems can be treated effectively using cognitive behaviour therapy. The amount of progress made is often dependent on the amount of work spent on tackling the problem.

The first step is to thoroughly assess the exact nature of the problem, by means of a comprehensive initial assessment, aimed at diagnosing the problem, its causes and maintaining factors, and the effects which it is having on a person's life.

Phobias

Phobias are fears of specific objects or situations, for example fear of spiders, snakes, heights, flying, injections and blood. Phobias are extremely common; most people will have at least one thing which they fear or would prefer to avoid. As with most anxiety-related problems, for something to be classified as a phobia it has to interfere significantly with a person's life, or cause them significant distress.

Panic disorder / panic attacks

People who get recurrent, unexpected panic attacks are said to have panic disorder. Panic attacks are extremely unpleasant events, during which a person may experience a number of intense physical sensations for example: heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, shaking, difficulty breathing, chest pains, nausea, feeling dizzy, 'spaced out' or unreal. The intensity of these symptoms, which can start very suddenly, often seemingly at random, and peak within a very short space of time, usually leads people to worry that they may be having a heart attack, or are about to faint, or lose control (although panic attacks can not cause these things to happen).

Where panic attacks do not occur at random, but in specific situations, it will be important for the therapist to determine whether they are true panic attacks, or whether the panic is being caused by another fear for example a person who is afraid of spiders may experience panic symptoms on seeing a spider unexpectedly.

Agoraphobia / claustrophobia

Panic attacks are sometimes so upsetting that people start to avoid situations in which they have had attacks, for example using public transport or leaving home, to the point where they become agoraphobic, and become very anxious whenever they have to enter these situations (sometimes even with a friend or family member present). People also sometimes avoid going out or going into particular situations for other reasons for example, feeling extremely shy or socially anxious. In claustrophobia, people become extremely anxious in enclosed places, sometimes to the point where a panic attack occurs.

Social anxiety

People who are socially anxious worry greatly about social situations, in particular that they will do something embarrassing in these situations. People who are socially anxious often worry that others will judge them in a critical manner and therefore tend to avoid a variety of social situations, for example those that involve public speaking, eating or writing.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) refers to repetitive obsessional thoughts or compulsive acts. Obsessions can be thoughts, images or urges that are recurrent, time-consuming and (usually) cause significant distress. The content of obsessions varies tremendously, from worrying about contamination, to thoughts about blasphemy, worrying about causing harm to one's self or to others, worrying about fires and so on.

Compulsions are repetitive acts, thoughts or rituals, which are usually performed in response to the obsessional thoughts, and which therefore tend to vary from person to person, for example hand washing, praying, checking things or avoiding people in order to prevent any harm from occurring.

People with OCD often tend to be gentle and quite responsible, and the thoughts which they have (particularly if these seem violent or frightening, or don't seem to make sense) may cause them to feel depressed too.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, can occur in somebody who has experienced or witnessed an event involving real or potential harm to self or others. These traumas may include military combat, natural disasters. medical trauma, terrorism, serious accidents, personal assaults, and rape. People who suffer from PTSD may relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks; they may have difficulty sleeping, and may feel detached or estranged, to the point that these symptoms interfere significantly with their lives. PTSD may cause people to become depressed, or abuse substances, and may also interfere with their concentration, memory, health, social and work functioning.

Health anxiety

Most people worry about their physical health at some point in their lives. People with health anxiety are concerned that they may have a serious physical illness, such as cancer, which has not been diagnosed, or which they worry has been misdiagnosed as a less serious illness. As a result they may spend a lot of time checking themselves for signs of illness, seeking reassurance, going for medical tests, or avoiding situations which might exacerbate their anxiety.

Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD)

People with generalised anxiety spend a lot of time worrying about a range of things, from things such as work or family to the state of the world, possible disasters and so on. The problem is that the worry is time-consuming and/or distressing, to the point where it has the potential to interfere with a person's life. People who are prone to this kind of worry may have particular beliefs about worry (that it is an especially helpful or unhelpful thing to do, or that it can not be stopped).

Relationship difficulties

Fighting the type of problems listed in this section is always difficult, and almost always leads to family members, significant others or friends becoming involved, and (often) caught up in the problem themselves. It is known that family members and partners can play a significant role in overcoming anxiety-related problems. I have a special interest in assisting couples and families to devise effective ways of overcoming anxiety-related problems.

Low mood / depression

This is a very common consequence of anxiety and has been clinically proven to respond well to cognitive behaviour therapy. Where the depression is caused by longstanding problems or difficulties in relationships with significant others you may need to see somebody who specialises in longer-term work to address these kinds of issues. You are most welcome to contact me to discuss this further should you wish to do so.