Any psychological intervention starts with an initial assessment. It covers information about your past experiences, the problems you are facing and what you would like to achieve in therapy. It may include information about symptoms, treatments, family and friendships, general wellbeing and any risk factors.
I offer evidence-based, psychological therapies for individuals, with or without a parent or partner present (depending on what works best).
A chronic illness in one family member can have a ripple effect to other areas. I offer family sessions with combinations of the individual, siblings, parents and other significant partners or relationships, depending on what works best.
I work with acute or chronic illness, physical health conditions, including respiratory, cardiovascular, congenital, ear, eye, skin, inflammatory and immune, metabolic and endocrine, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, renal and urogenital among others.
I support the psychological impact of post viral syndromes like Long Covid.
If you or your child have recovered from a serious illness, like cancer or stroke, but are still affected by it, please contact me to see how I can help.
Traumatic events can wound our sense of safety and beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. We can get stuck in emergency mode, re-living past events as if they are still happening.
Medical trauma can happen when someone is overwhelmed by distressing events that happen as part of their health care. This can include internal events such as difficulty breathing, or unconsciousness, or external events like being in an ambulance, or being held down for a blood test. Receiving a diagnosis or being bullied because of a visible difference can also be traumatic.
Psychological therapy can help to process and resolve these traumatic memories.
Persistent and unexplained physical symptoms (such as pain, loss of movement, chronic fatigue and non-epileptic seizures) can have a massive impact on quality of life. Being passed from ‘pillar to post’ in pursuit of an answer can cause extra suffering, worry that something more serious has been missed, or concerns that people think it is 'all in my head'.
Please contact me if you are looking for psychological support for these very real challenges.