Commonly Asked Questions

What is Psychotherapy?

Psychotherapy is a collaborative, confidential process that helps you better understand your thoughts, emotions, and life experiences, and how these influence the way you feel and behave. It provides a safe, supportive space to explore difficulties,  evelop insight, and work towards meaningful change.

Rather than offering quick fixes, psychotherapy focuses on helping you make sense of what has brought you to the place you are in, what is happening for you and strengthening your ability to cope with life’s challenges. People seek therapy for many reasons, including anxiety, low mood, stress, trauma, relationship difficulties, or feeling stuck or overwhelmed. You do not need to be in crisis to benefit from psychotherapy, no matter your current position, it is a valuable space for personal growth and self‑understanding.

As a psychiatric nurse and therapist, I bring both clinical experience and a compassionate, person‑centred approach to ensure therapy is practical, ethical, and tailored to you as an individual.

What is CBT, specifically?

Although I use an integrative approach to therapy meaning I draw on all of my professional knowledge, High-Intensity CBT is the main modality of psychotherapy that I am trained in.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is an evidence‑based form of psychotherapy that focuses on the connection between our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and behaviours. CBT is based on the idea that it is not just situations themselves that affect how we feel, but the way we interpret and respond to them.

In CBT, we work together to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours that may be keeping difficulties going. You will then learn practical strategies to test these patterns, develop more balanced perspectives, and make changes that support your wellbeing.

CBT is structured, focused, and goal‑oriented. It is commonly used to support people experiencing anxiety, depression, panic, phobias, low self‑esteem, trauma responses, obsessive‑compulsive difficulties, and stress‑related issues. 

Sessions are collaborative and empowering, with an emphasis on helping you build skills you can use independently in everyday life.

Who Do I Work With?

I work with individuals aged 16+ experiencing a range of psychological and emotional difficulties. My approach is individualised, meaning therapy is shaped around your unique experiences, values, and needs, rather than focusing solely on a working diagnosis.

I commonly support people with:

• Anxiety disorders, including generalised anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks, and health anxiety
• Low mood and depression
• Stress, burnout, and overwhelm
• Trauma and the impact of adverse or distressing life experiences
• Low self‑esteem, shame, and self‑criticism
• Obsessive–compulsive difficulties (OCD)
• Phobias and specific fears including emetephobia
• Emotional regulation difficulties
• Relationship difficulties and attachment‑related concerns
• Life transitions, loss, and adjustment to change
• Emotional overwhelm
• ADHD, Autism & Masking

What will sessions look like?

Therapy sessions are person‑centred, collaborative, and tailored to you as an individual. Sessions usually last around 50 minutes and take place weekly, though this can be reviewed together.

All clients begin therapy with an initial assessment, which lasts up to 1.5 hours. This session provides dedicated time to explore what has brought you to therapy, your current difficulties, and relevant aspects of your personal history. We will look at your experiences in context, including past life events, relationships, and coping strategies, to gain a fuller understanding of you and your needs. The assessment also allows space for questions, discussion of how therapy may help, and for us to decide together whether CBT and my approach feel like the right fit for you at this time.

Following the assessment, ongoing sessions focus on building a shared understanding of your difficulties. My work is formulation driven, meaning we collaboratively develop a personalised formulation that makes sense of how your experiences, thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and past experiences connect. This helps guide therapy in a way that is meaningful and grounded in your lived experience, rather than using a one‑size‑fits‑all approach.

Sessions may involve:

• Exploring your personal history and significant life experiences
• Identifying patterns in thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and relationships
• Understanding symptoms within the wider context of your life
• Developing new ways of coping that feel realistic and compassionate

While CBT strategies may be used, they are always guided by your individual formulation and adapted to suit you. Therapy moves at your pace, with regular opportunities to reflect, review progress, and adjust the focus as needed.

Above all, sessions aim to provide a safe, non‑judgemental space where you feel listened to, understood, and supported in making sense of your experiences and working towards change.