Where and when do you offer sessions?

All sessions are either online using Microsoft Teams or in person. I am based in Bayswater, London, Monday to Friday, and at Chancery Lane (Gray's Inn) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. My availability is 8.00 am to 6.00 pm. Appointments can be scheduled as needed at a frequency that best meets your goals.

What type of intervention do you offer?

I am trained to provide a range of different psychological approaches. This enables me to develop a bespoke intervention plan based on your particular needs and preferences. The models I use most often are Schema Therapy (ST), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Person-Centred Therapy.

How many sessions will I need?

This is different for everyone, depending on your situation and what your goals are. Some people find that a handful of sessions is all they need, while others find it helpful to have ongoing support over a number of months.

Do you accept insurance clients?

Yes. I accept clients from Aviva, BUPA, Vitality, and WPA primarily but also some lesser known ones, so please ask. I can also provide invoices for clients to seek reimbursement from their insurer after paying me.

What's the next step?

I offer a free initial 10 minute consultation which enables us to think together about what you need, and whether I am the right practitioner for you. Research shows that the most significant factor in the success of psychological intervention is the rapport we have with our practitioner.

EMDR and the Safe Place: an introductory guide

The Safe Place is one of the simplest and most useful things I teach. In just a few minutes you can build a calm place inside yourself to return to whenever you need it — before sleep, in an anxious moment, or simply to take a few minutes back from a busy day. It is also the gentle foundation we build before any deeper EMDR work. Below is a short introduction to EMDR, followed by everything you need to try the Safe Place at home.

What EMDR is, in a few sentences

EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing — is an evidence-based therapy originally developed for people whose distress is being held in place by difficult memories. It is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and by the World Health Organization, for post-traumatic stress,1,2 and is also used for a much wider range of difficulties: shame, panic, performance anxiety, perfectionism, the residue of difficult relationships, and the ordinary "small-t" hurts of life that keep replaying when something brushes against them.

The work itself is gentle. While you hold a difficult memory lightly in mind, we use a form of bilateral stimulation — most often slow taps from one side of the body to the other — to help your nervous system finish a piece of processing it could not complete at the time.3 Memories do not disappear. They soften. They stop pulling you back into the past.

Before any of the harder work, we always build resources first — a Safe Place, sometimes a Protective Figure, and other tools that are entirely yours to call on.3,4,5 The three resources on this page are an introduction to that beginning.

Resource one · An introduction to EMDR

A short, clear orientation to what EMDR is, where it came from, and what a typical session can feel like. A good place to start if any of this is new to you.

Resource two · Butterfly taps

"Butterfly taps" are a simple, self-led form of bilateral stimulation you can use during the Safe Place audio below — and any time you want to help settle your nervous system between sessions.6 This very short video shows you the hand position and the rhythm.

Resource three · A guided Safe Place audio

This is a generic version of the Safe Place exercise we use in EMDR. You will be invited to imagine a place that feels calm or special to you, settle into it with all your senses, choose a short cue word that captures the feeling, and pair the place, the feeling, and the word using slow butterfly taps. With practice, the cue word becomes a quick way to return to that calm state when you need it. This is a general recording and a good place to begin; when we work together I can guide a version tailored to you, and build on it with further resources — such as a Protective Figure — and the deeper reprocessing this Safe Place is designed to prepare you for.

Your browser does not support the audio element. You can

download the file here.

Headphones recommended. Find somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed for the next few minutes.

A gentle note before you begin

For most people the Safe Place is calming and straightforward. If you have a trauma history, or you are currently under the care of a mental-health professional, it is best to try it with their support — occasionally this kind of exercise, which uses bilateral stimulation, can stir up unexpected feelings.
If you find it hard to settle on a safe place, or the exercise brings up distress rather than calm, that is not a failure — it is simply a sign it is better done alongside a therapist than alone. Stop, open your eyes, and come back to the room in your own time.
If you are in distress and want to talk to someone now, you can call the

Samaritans

on 116 123 (free, any time), contact NHS 111, or — if you or someone else is in danger — call 999.

Read the full audio transcript

Find a comfortable place to sit, somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed for the next few minutes. Let your shoulders soften, just a little, away from your ears. Take a slow breath in through your nose, and a longer breath out through your mouth. If it feels right, you can gently close your eyes.

Before we begin, a gentle word. This is meant to feel calming, and for most people it does. If at any point it brings up something difficult, or no place feels safe, that is not a failure — pause, let your eyes open, and come back to the room. There is no need to push through anything difficult on your own.

Now, in your mind, let yourself drift to somewhere that feels calm, or special, or safe to you. It can be a real place you have been to, or one you have only imagined. A beach with the sea curling in and out. A quiet room with a comfortable chair. A garden in the late afternoon. A mountainside. Anywhere at all. Whichever place rises up first is the right one — you do not need the perfect one, only one that feels good now.

Take a moment to choose. There is no hurry.

Now, settle into it. Let yourself be there, properly there. Look around you, with your inner eye, and notice what you can see. The colours. The shapes. The light, and how it moves. Whether it is morning, or afternoon, or evening. Take it in slowly.

And the sounds. Whatever sounds belong in this place. Water, perhaps. Birds. The hush of leaves. The faint sounds of life somewhere else.

And any smell that belongs to this place. The sea. Cut grass. Warm wood. Whatever rises naturally for you.

And the feel of it. The temperature on your skin. The ground or the chair beneath you. The air on your face. A breeze, perhaps, or stillness. Let yourself be here for a moment, just being.

Now, gently, notice what is happening in your body as you stay in this place. Somewhere there may be a pleasant feeling — a softness in your chest, a steadiness in your belly, a warmth in your hands, a quiet in your shoulders. Find it, however small, and rest your attention there. And if no pleasant feeling comes just now, that is alright too — simply let your attention rest somewhere neutral, or on your breath.

And now, while you stay in this place and stay with that feeling, let your arms cross gently over your chest. Right hand on your left shoulder. Left hand on your right shoulder. And begin to tap, slowly, one hand and then the other, at a slow, easy rhythm. Slow. Slow. As you tap, hold the image of your place, and hold the feeling in your body. Let the tapping carry them, gently.

And now, let your hands rest. Take a slow breath in, and a longer breath out. Notice what you are aware of now. Whatever you notice is right.

Now, a word. A word, or a short phrase, that captures something about this place, or how you feel when you are here. A single word — peaceful, home, safe, quiet, warm, still, enough. Or a small phrase, in your own voice. Let one come to you, gently. Do not force it. The right word will feel light, and true.

When you have your word, hold it lightly in your mind, alongside the image of your place, and the feeling in your body. All three together. Cross your arms over your chest again, and begin the slow butterfly taps once more. Image. Word. Feeling. And the slow rhythm of the taps.

Let your hands rest. Take a slow breath in, and a longer breath out. Notice what is here now. The image of your place. The feeling in your body. And your word.

This is your safe place. It belongs to you. It is always there, waiting, just inside you. You can come here whenever you need to — in the morning, in a difficult moment, before sleep, or in the small in-between minutes of a day. You only need to remember, and to come.

The shortest way back is your word. Say your word now, silently, inside. And let the image and the feeling come with it. With practice, this becomes easier and easier. The word becomes a key, and the place opens behind it.

Try to come here at least once a day between now and your next session — not only when you are anxious, but also when you are calm, so the path becomes well-worn. Each visit makes the next easier, and the place more vividly yours.

For now, take one more slow breath in, and a longer breath out. When you are ready, let your awareness come gently back to where you are sitting. Wiggle your fingers. Wiggle your toes. Open your eyes. And carry the calm with you.

How to use it

Watch the butterfly-taps video above first, so the hand position and rhythm are familiar before you begin.
Find a comfortable, quiet place. Sit or lie down somewhere you will not be interrupted. You may want to close your eyes.
Choose your safe place. The audio will guide you. It can be real or imagined; the first place that rises up is usually the right one.
Notice it with all your senses — what you see, hear, smell, and feel. The more vivid the place, the more useful the resource.
Find the pleasant sensation in your body when you are there — and during the tapping, hold the place and the feeling together.
Choose your cue word when invited. A single word or short phrase that captures the feeling. Do not force it; the right word feels light and true.
Practise once a day if you can, even when you are calm. The more well-worn the path between you and your safe place, the more reliably it will be there when you need it.

A few practical notes

This is a resource, not a fix. If you are in acute distress, please contact your GP, NHS 111, or — if you are in danger — 999. Information for adults in crisis is also available from

Samaritans

on 116 123.

The Safe Place is most powerful as a foundation for further EMDR work, but it is also useful on its own — for anxiety, sleeplessness, or simply to take a few minutes back from a busy day.
If imagery is difficult for you, the exercise still works using sound, smell, and felt sense. Your nervous system does not need a vivid picture in order to settle.

If you'd like to explore EMDR with me

These resources are general, and a recording can only take you so far. Worked through together, the Safe Place becomes more vivid and more reliable — tailored to you, strengthened with other resources, and used as the foundation for the deeper EMDR work it is meant to prepare you for. They are not a substitute for therapy, and they cannot replace a careful clinical assessment. I am EMDR Europe-trained and working towards accreditation. If you are interested in EMDR for a specific difficulty, the best place to start is a short conversation about what you are working with. The free 10-minute consultation page describes what that involves.

References and further reading

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Post-traumatic stress disorder. NICE guideline [NG116]. London: NICE; 2018.

nice.org.uk/guidance/ng116

World Health Organization. Guidelines for the management of conditions specifically related to stress. Geneva: WHO; 2013. ISBN 978-92-4-150540-6.

who.int

Shapiro F. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. 3rd ed. New York: Guilford Press; 2018. ISBN 978-1-4625-3276-6.
Korn DL, Leeds AM. Preliminary evidence of efficacy for EMDR resource development and installation in the stabilization phase of treatment of complex posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 2002;58(12):1465–1487.

doi:10.1002/jclp.10099

Leeds AM. A Guide to the Standard EMDR Therapy Protocols for Clinicians, Supervisors, and Consultants. 2nd ed. New York: Springer Publishing; 2016. ISBN 978-0-8261-3116-4.
Jarero I, Artigas L, Hartung J. EMDR integrative group treatment protocol: a postdisaster trauma intervention for children and adults. Traumatology. 2006;12(2):121–129.

doi:10.1177/1534765606294561