My approach
SAFE, PRESENT and COMPASSIONATE PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPY for WOMEN EXPERIENCING TRAUMA
MY APPROACH
My aim is to offer women evidence-based, trauma-focused therapies, including Trauma-Focused CBT, EMDR and Schema Therapy -delivered face to face and with an emphasis on presence, safety and attunement.
I specialise in working with survivors of sexual violence and childhood abuse, working with emotions like shame, disgust and fear and helping women reconnect to themselves, their bodies and their relationships with others.
The therapeutic approaches I use share core aims:
Reducing the emotional and bodily intensity of trauma memories, helping the memories feel integrated in the past
Reshaping the beliefs and relational patterns that trauma leaves behind.
Each method works in a slightly different way and I tailor the approach to the individual in front of me - your history, nervous system needs, pace and goals - so the therapy fits you, not the other way round.
I prioritise doing this work in person because emotional processing happens most deeply in the presence of another regulated, responsive human being - where safety is not just talked about, but felt.
THERAPEUTIC MODALITIES
I offer individual therapy using three key approaches, Trauma focused-CBT, EMDR and Schema therapy, either on their own or integrated in a way that is specific to your needs.
01. Trauma-Focused CBT
Cognitive Therapy for PTSD (CT-PTSD) is a structured, short-term therapy for people who have experienced PTSD and are still affected by it. CT-PTSD helps you understand how PTSD has shaped your thoughts, emotions, body reactions and behaviour and gives you tailored skills to feel calmer and more in control.
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By revisiting traumatic memories in a safe structured way - a form of guided memory work - your brain learns to place these events in the past instead of treating them as present danger. This process reduces symptoms such as flashbacks, hyper-arousal and avoidance, while strengthening a coherent sense of self and life story. The goal of NET is on completing and integrating memories of the traumatic events into a whole, including the sensory, cognitive, emotional and physiological experiences of the incident.
As therapy progresses these sessions are woven into a coherent final written narrative - a document that reflects your full life story, not just the painful parts. This final narrative helps reduce the emotional intensity of trauma memories, strengthens identity and meaning, and gives you a structured, grounded account of your story that you can carry forward with clarity and control. The goal is not to erase what happened, but to help you integrate it so it no longer dominates your present life.
02. Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET)
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is an evidence based trauma treatment designed for people who have lived through multiple traumatic events. In NET, we work together to build a detailed, chronological life narrative that includes both traumatic and positive experiences.
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This kind of stimulation is thought to mimic aspects of what happens in the brain during REM sleep, when memories are naturally processed and stored. Experiences during a session may include changes in thoughts, images and feelings related to the memory. With repeated sets of bilateral stimulation, the memory tends to change in such a way that it loses its painful intensity and simply becomes a neutral memory of an event in the past. Other associated memories may heal at the same time. The linking of related memories can lead to a dramatic and rapid improvement in many aspects of your life.
03. Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based therapy that helps reduce the emotional intensity of traumatic or disturbing memories. Instead of talking through every detail, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation (such as guided eye movement, tapping or tones) while you briefly bring parts of the memory to mind.
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We revisit the trauma memories in a safe and guided way so that your brain can file them as past events instead of present threats. The process reduces the intensity of triggers, nightmares, flashbacks and avoidance and helps replace painful beliefs such as ‘I am not safe’ or ‘it was my fault’ with more balanced and realistic ones. The goal is not to erase what happened but to help you integrate the memory without being overwhelmed by it, and to support you in reclaiming your daily life with a greater sense of safety and confidence.
04. Schema Therapy
Schema therapy is an integrative treatment for long-standing emotional patterns that began in early life and continue to shape how you feel, think and relate to others. These patterns - called ‘schemas’ - often form in response to unmet core emotional needs or painful experiences and can lead to repeated cycles of distress (for example, feeling rejected, abandoned or ashamed even in safe situations.).
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In Schema Therapy you learn to identify and interrupt these patterns, build healthier coping styles, and meet the needs that were not met in earlier life. A key part of treatment involves experiential memory work, such as imagery rescripting, where you revisit core memories that created the schema in a safe, guided way and emotionally ‘re-write’ them so they lose their grip in the present. The goal is not to erase the past but to change the emotional meaning of it, so you can respond to current relationships and challenges from a more secure, self-compassionate and flexible place.
WHAT MAKES MY
approach DIFFERENT
The values that guide my practice grew from both professional learning and personal experience. Those I’ve found essential - and sometimes absent - in therapy myself. They are the foundations of how I work: to create a space that is safe, attuned and deeply human.
Safe:
I recognise how vital it is that you feel secure- both in what you disclose and how you are held. When trauma has disrupted trust, our work focuses on restoring it slowly, with your needs in view and your pace honoured. My professional accreditation and standards increase the scaffolding of safety.
Private:
Your story remains yours. I uphold the highest standards of confidentiality and ethical care. Trust is built through consistent, respectful presence and clarity about boundaries. You will not find me on social media and that’s by design, I prefer to keep my focus where it matters, in the room with you.
empowered:
Recovering from trauma is not just about surviving - it’s about reclaiming choice, discovering strength and reshaping your relationship with your past. I believe in your capacity for wholeness. My role is to support you in noticing your power, exploring what matters to you and stepping forward into a more grounded, connected life.
Present:
Feeling seen, heard and held in mind are so important for creating therapeutic safety and co-regulation. My aim is to stay attuned to your experience in the moment: what’s spoken, what’s sensed and what emerges between us. Meeting you where you are, without judgment and responding to what’s needed, not just what’s said.
collaborative:
Therapy is a meeting of two people, not a one-way fix. I bring my full presence, my attuned listening and clinical skill, you bring your lived experience and inner knowing. Together we navigate the terrain of trauma and recovery. Your voice guides the process and your agency is central. Our work is relational, respectful and shared.
experiential:
I value experiential methods, this means getting quite active in therapy and sometimes doing our sessions out in the community. The aim is to move from understanding to embodying change: learning through experience, not just words. In doing so, healing becomes something you live and feel, not just something you discuss.
LOCATION
FACE-to-FACE THERAPY in CENTRAL LONDON
A ten-minute walk from King's Cross Station, other locations available on request.
READY to TAKE the FIRST STEP?
I offer a free 15 minute telephone consultation where I am happy to answer any questions you might have about therapy.