As a Cognitive Behaviour Therapist I have experience of working with people across the age ranges suffering from a variety of mental health difficulties including depression, anxiety, panic, low self-esteem and confidence, social anxiety, health anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

I am skilled and experienced in working with adults, teenagers and younger children, and I can deliver therapy on a one to one basis or with partners and family members based on the person’s needs.

On occasions when it is clinically appropriate, and the persons available time to meet their therapy goals is very pressured, I can consider providing short intensive courses of therapy.

Having worked in a mental health neurodevelopmental team I have particular specialist skills in working with people with additional needs such as autism, ADHD, learning difficulties and downs syndrome. On occasions young people present with challenging behaviour or distress but are unable to engage in therapy. I am skilled in thoroughly observing and assessing these young people’s behaviours and in turn developing positive behaviour support plans to help parents and teachers support these children in becoming less distressed.

I additionally have specialist skills in working with people effected by trauma and post traumatic stress, having delivered trauma therapy to 999 service personnel, military personnel and working in a specialist trauma service for those effected by homicide.

I am a University lecturer, developing and providing teaching focused on mental health challenges including  subjects such as OCD,  Trauma, young peoples interventions, self harm  and clinical supervision.

I have maintained my mental health nursing registration and am a clinical assessor for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, assessing international nurses to ensure their clinical standards are appropriate for practice within the UK.

My range of professional experiences are really important in helping me to help others. However, I truly believe it is my lived experience of having experienced my own mental health challenges, and being a mother to two children with additional needs, that really makes me the therapist I am today.

Although it did not feel like it at the time, I consider myself fortunate enough to have suffered from my own mental health difficulties, and to have received cognitive behaviour therapy which helped me to recover.

I believe this really helps me to understand what it is like to be sat in the other chair receiving CBT, and also how lost and helpless you can feel when you are struggling with your mental health.

When I was suffering with my mental health and was looking for a therapist myself, trawling through the internet, the most important thing that I was looking for was the reviews that the therapist had received from their clients. I believe these are so important, and I am incredibly grateful to some of my clients for providing me with reviews in order to put others minds at ease about who they will meet if they come for therapy with me. These can be found at my website.