Clinical Psychologist — Bristol & Online
Staying present
with what's difficult.
Going beyond symptom change to build deeper understanding and personal growth.
Clinical Psychologist — Bristol & Online
Going beyond symptom change to build deeper understanding and personal growth.
About
Most of us, most of the time, are getting by somehow. We've developed ways of keeping difficult feelings at bay. We take refuge in patterns inherited from early relationships, or walk through familiar rituals and habits of thought. These might have evolved to protect us. They might also limit us or stop us from processing hidden pains.
I expect you're reading this because you've reached a stage where you're no longer managing - or simply managing isn't enough anymore. Like many of us at some point in our lives, you might have become frustrated that the difficult feelings haven't gone away, despite your best efforts.
The work I offer is centred around building our capacity to stay present with our experience in the here-and-now, rather than moving around or distracting from it. Not because suffering is a goal in itself, but because a life organised around avoiding it tends to be a smaller one. If we can reach a place of fuller awareness - of what we actually feel and need, where we need to heal - we tend to make better, lasting decisions about how to live.
If you would like to explore working together, you're welcome to get in touch. I have fourteen years' experience as a qualified psychologist across the NHS, charity roles and private practice. I'm trained in relational and CBT approaches. I have worked in specialist trauma services, long-term psychotherapy, community outreach for vulnerable people, and have lectured in clinical psychology at University College London.
How I work
My main aim is to be authentically present for you: to listen with care to your experience, and offer you observations and suggestions as part of conversation. I do this so that we can think together as two minds about your situation.
I make the assumption that the experience of being understood - and understanding oneself - can be the healing that's needed. At the least, building a nuanced understanding of your situation would be the bedrock for discussions about changes or particular strategies that might help.
I'm interested in how shame keeps a lot of people from talking or being themselves more fully. I tend to focus on what would make the therapy room a safe space for you, including taking things slow if you need, and being honest and congruent with you.
I'll be attentive to your way of forming relationships. This can be connected to your "attachment style": how the relationships you have already have influence the ways you want to connect to new people. Looking at this together, we can think about what makes you most comfortable, inspired or motivated in relationships.
I offer a number of approaches for specific difficulties like OCD, PTSD, depression and specific anxieties that are based on my trainings, drawing on therapies that have worked for many others.
Therapy areas
I work with adults on a wide range of difficulties. Central to all of these is a relationship in which you can explore your thoughts and feelings without judgement, and build self-knowledge.
Including worry and panic, social anxieties, OCD, body dysmorphia, and habit difficulties. I use structured CBT techniques alongside understanding underlying drivers of the anxiety, e.g., lasting uncertainties, or unprocessed experiences.
Longer-term low mood, persistent self-criticism, and the kind of depression that rumbles beneath the surface rather than arriving as a clear episode. I am familiar working with the relationship between shame, self-concept, and mood.
Flashbacks, nightmares, hypervigilance, and the more diffuse aftermath of difficult experiences that might not have registered at the time but left a mark. I have extensive of helping people process and make sense of traumas.
Loneliness, conflict, a lack of fulfilment, or the sense of falling into the same dynamics across different relationships. Understanding these patterns — where they came from, what they protect — can result in significant change.
Sometimes experiences — whether through psychedelics, grief, spiritual crisis, or other encounters with the edges of ordinary consciousness — leave us needing to make sense of what happened. I offer thoughtful, non-judgmental support for this process.
You don't need a clear diagnosis or a precise sense of what's wrong. Many people start with a general feeling that something isn't working. A free initial call is a way to think about whether I might be able to help.
Supervision
I offer clinical supervision to qualified psychologists, therapists, and trainees. My approach to supervision mirrors my approach to therapy: I aim to be present, engaged, and direct with you, with a focus on developing your approach and particular strengths or interests. I want to hear what you think about your work and build from there.
I think there is space for us both to be learning in the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. I think good supervision requires the same willingness to stay with what is difficult that good therapy does.
I have supervised clinical psychology trainees and qualified practitioners across NHS and private settings, and have lectured in clinical psychology at UCL.
Other services
I accept medico-legal instructions and work with organisations on the psychological dimensions of workplace wellbeing.
Medico-Legal
I accept medico-legal instructions for psychological assessment and expert report writing in personal injury and related matters. With over twelve years of clinical experience and specialist expertise in trauma and complex presentations, I prepare reports that meet court standards and can work efficiently with instructing solicitors.
Areas include psychological injury following accidents, workplace incidents, and cases where psychiatric history is relevant to proceedings.
Corporate & Workplace
I work with Bristol-based and national organisations on the psychological dimensions of work: offering formulation and support for people and teams to think about root solutions to distress and burnout.
This includes manager training in psychological safety and mental health, assessment of team dynamics, and confidential coaching for individuals in demanding roles. I bring clinical depth and expertise to questions arising in the workplace.
Fees
I aim to be straightforward about costs. If fees are a concern, please mention it when you get in touch. I have a small number of reduced-fee places.
| Service | Duration | Fee |
|---|---|---|
|
Initial consultation call To discuss your needs before booking |
20 min | Free |
|
Individual therapy In-person (Bristol) or online |
50 min | £130 |
|
Clinical supervision Individual, online or in-person |
60 min | £100 |
|
Medico-legal & reports Assessment and expert report writing |
By arrangement | POA |
|
Corporate & workplace Training, consultation, coaching |
By arrangement | POA |
I am registered with the following health insurers who can fund psychological therapies.
Get in touch
I offer a free 20-minute initial call. We can use that to think together about whether what I do is the right fit for what you're bringing. I'll be ready to hear as much as you want to tell me about it, and you'll be welcome to ask me questions too. There's no obligation to take up therapy afterwards: it's just a space to start thinking together.