How We Can Help
What to Expect
We know that trying to find help can feel daunting, and we want you to be reassured that we will offer you and your loved one a warm welcome.
Once you have made contact with us, we will arrange a time to call you for an initial phone consultation, which is free of charge. This call usually lasts 10-15 minutes, during which we will ask some questions about what help you are looking for and make sure we are confident that we can help.
We will then book you and your child or young person in for an assessment appointment to get to know each other and for us to gain a good understanding of the difficulties. From there we will make a plan together about how we feel we can best support you and discuss what kind of treatment and frequency we think will be helpful. Although we are based in Totnes in Devon, we provide a virtual/online service which means you can be seen in the comfort of your own home.
To see a copy of our ‘Therapeutic Terms and Conditions’ click here
Assessment
One of the key skills of a Clinical Psychologist is to develop a clear understanding and explanation of why the difficulties have come about and what is stopping then from going away. We do this by undertaking a comprehensive assessment, which allows us to get to know each other and gain a detailed understanding of the difficulties you are seeking help with.
The aim of this assessment is to allow us to develop a shared understanding of why the difficulties are not going away by themselves, which we then use as a map to guide what treatment is going to be most effective in overcoming the difficulties and moving forwards. This allows us to provide an individually tailored treatment that will effectively support you as parents and your child or young person to overcome the difficulties, drawing on a range of evidence-based psychological therapies.
Specialist Support
We specialise in working with children, young people and families. This can involve supporting people with a wide range of difficulties affecting their emotional, social, behavioural and psychological well-being, including:
Anxiety Difficulties
- Anxiety and worry of all kinds, including generalised anxiety, specific anxiety, separation anxiety, school refusal, agoraphobia.
- Panic attacks.
- Phobias.
- OCD, Obsessions, and dealing with compulsions to do things.
Eating Difficulties
- Individual and family treatment for Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge eating.
- Difficulties with Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorders (ARFID).
- Difficulties with atypical eating or ‘fussy’ eating.
- Difficult thoughts about food and eating.
- Body Dysmorphia Disorder (BDD).
Mood Difficulties
- Low mood and depression.
- Low self-esteem and low-confidence.
- Thoughts that are difficult to manage.
- Self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
Living with Physical Health Conditions
- Adjustment to chronic health conditions.
- Managing persistent physical symptoms/medically unexplained symptoms/psychosomatic difficulties.
- Coping with chronic pain.
Family Therapy / Parenting Support & Advice
- To improve communication within the family and overcome difficulties in relationships.
- Supporting difficulties with parenting.
- Working alongside parents to support their child or young person.
Neurodiverstiy
- Managing Autism and ADHD.
- Help to identify if there are traits of neurodiversity.
- Support to understand and manage associated difficulties.
- Family support and individual therapy for all aspects of neurodiversity.
Trauma
- Overcoming the impact of traumatic events.
- Helping with symptoms of PTSD.
- EMDR and trauma-focused CBT.
Other Difficulties
- Behaviour, including managing anger and emotional regulation.
- Coping with significant events such as: bereavement, bullying, trauma.
- Family separation and relationship difficulties.
- Difficulties with sleep.
Clinical Supervision
- Offering kind, supportive and knowledgeable supervision.
- Tailored and flexible supervision to meet your needs.
- Regular or one-off supervision or consultation available.
If the concerns you are seeking help for are not listed above, please do get in touch to discuss whether we can help.
Therapy for Families, Children and Young People
Once we have undertaken a detailed assessment, which has allowed us to develop a shared understanding of the difficulties, we will discuss what kinds of treatment will be helpful.
We are able to draw on a wide range of evidence-based therapies and integrate these to create a tailored treatment that is going to be as effective as possible, in helping you and your loved one to overcome the difficulties.
We are trained in a wide range of treatments, including:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and CBT-E
The focus of these therapies is to develop an understanding about the links between how our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours are all connected.
In our sessions we work together to make changes to these aspects to overcome the difficulties.
Family/Systemic Therapies, Attachment-based Therapies & Narrative Therapy
The focus of these therapies is to think about the dynamics within a family. In our sessions we will discuss the relationships and patterns within your family, aim to develop a different understanding of each other and the difficulties, and find new ways of working together.
Mindfulness-based Therapies
The focus of these therapies is to make similar links between thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours as in CBT above.
In our sessions we will then work together to make changes to the way that the difficult thoughts and feelings are managed, and to reduce their impact.
EMDR and Trauma Focused CBT
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) and Trauma Focused CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) are two specialised therapies designed to help people process traumatic memories so they can start to heal from the trauma or distressing events that have happened.
Testimonial
“I have so much more confidence in how to manage as a parent of a child who finds things difficult, and our relationship is so much better now”