Psychology services for Adults

There are a number of areas you may be struggling with and where I can help. For adults, I provide psychological assessment and intervention/therapy for some of the following difficulties:

Anxiety & Panic
Depression
Low self-esteem
Stress Management
Relationship difficulties (families and couples)
Parenting and Behaviour Management (see Children, Young People and Families)
Phobias
Childhood abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, and / or neglect)
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Trauma
Complicated bereavement
Sexual difficulties
Anger and temper difficulties
Culture and Identity Issues
Assessment of Intellectual functioning
Personal Development

Please note this is not an exhaustive list and if there are areas you are struggling with and want to see if I can help, please Contact Me.

Click below to find out more about:

Initial Assessment

When you get in touch and we agree to work together, I offer an initial appointment for an assessment in the first instance. Assessments are carried out for various reasons; typically, this is an interview to get a general overview of the problem, the context and the systems which are keeping it going. It is also used to understand how the problem developed and by the end of the interview to come to a joint agreement as to what therapy/intervention, if any, would be helpful. This is an ongoing process and reviewed throughout therapy as new information and understanding of the problem comes up.

An initial assessment appointment usually lasts 90-minutes; however this is negotiable. This gives us plenty of time to discuss the things that have bought you to therapy. Sometimes it might feel like a long time, but rest assured, I guide you throughout the assessment and will ask you questions to find out more information so that we can create a formulation of your difficulties and a plan on how to work together. A formulation is a hypothesis about what we think the root of the problem is, how it developed and what keeps it going. It comes from pulling the information together and applying psychological knowledge to understand how it is working and the impact. As we go through therapy, and your understanding of the problem develops, the formulation will also develop, so we will regularly review it to ensure we are on the right track and it still continues to feel helpful and relevant.

Therapy / Intervention

The information gathered at the assessment helps us create a formulation which informs what approaches would be helpful and would fit for the difficulties you have. I am experienced in a number of different approaches and generally try to integrate these to meet your needs. Sometimes people are recommended a specific therapy (e.g. CBT), which is also possible. Therapy approaches I draw upon include:

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Narrative Therapy
Solution Focussed Therapy (SFT)
Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Psychodynamic therapy
Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP)
Cognitive Analytical Therapy (CAT)

A key part of therapy is not only the work we do in sessions, but also how you apply this to your daily life outside of therapy. Therapy usually is some form of ‘talking therapy’, however can also be creative. I try to use your strengths and adapt the way we work. Often I will give you tasks and things to try out in between sessions to further develop the work we do together in sessions.

Psychological Assessment

A psychological assessment is a more formal assessment which may be related to questions around intellectual functioning/abilities, or to do with medico-legal questions (please see the Medico-legal page). These usually require some form of psychometric assessment, which involves the use of tests or rating scales to explore and understand mood, intellect, behaviours and emotions and may also include some form of observation and discussion with others. If this is something you are looking for, please Contact Me directly to find out how I can help with this.

I can take instructions for Medico-Legal Assessments for family court and civil matters only. Please see the page for more information.

I also work in collaboration with colleagues to offer assessment for suspected Autism Spectrum Conditions and ADHD. Please see the page for more information.