About Us

Luka trained in a number of trauma-informed psychological disciplines and is skilled in evidence-based practice to reduce self-harming behaviours and impulsivity, and to improve people's capacity of regulate and safely experience emotions. He has special interest and training in the therapeutic use of meditation and somatic practices. When formulating your difficulties, he will explore the interplay between your emotional wellbeing, early experiences and the environments and relationships you're currently in.

Luka has provided psychological support to people experiencing various forms of distress in primary care and specialist NHS services, charity and community settings and independent practice. Between 2012 and 2017 he worked at a specialist "personality disorder" service in the NHS where adults who were given the diagnosis of "emotionally unstable personality disorder" (EUPD) were supported with Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and Prolonged Exposure for Post-Traumatic Stress. For a number of years he also conducted the eight-week Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Depression programme and provided psycho-educational workshops to patients and staff in the NHS.

Luka currently divides his time between working as an individual and couple therapist and workshop facilitator, and is available as a support consultant for therapists internationally. He also teaches mindfulness and runs personal development retreats.

Academic qualifications

• MSc in Clinical and Community Psychology, University of East London
• Post-Graduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy (UKCP), Roehampton University
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Bangor University
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, University of East Anglia
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Psychological Wellbeing Practice (LI CBT), Canterbury Christ Church University

Post-qualifying training

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Luka's core DBT training with British Isles DBT National Training Team was in 2012. It was followed by weekly team consultation and advanced DBT training. Luka also received 40 hours of expert supervision from Dr Heidi Heard who was one of the original researchers and developers of DBT affiliated to The Linehan Institute, Behavioral Tech
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress (developed for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence): Professor Martin Bohus, organised by British Isles DBT 
• DBT Prolonged Exposure Therapy for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Dr Melanie Harned, The Linehan Institute, Behavioral Tech 
• Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples: Externship and Advanced Core Skills Training (Levels 1-4 out of 4) with Dr Scott Woolley and Dr Zoya Simakhodskaya, The International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
• Emotionally Focused Therapy for Individuals (Attachment Trauma-Focused): Levels 1-2 out of 2 with Dr Sue Johnson and Dr Leanne Campbell, The International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
• Building A Lasting Connection. Facilitator Training: Relationship enhancement workshop for couples wanting a deeper and lasting connection, Dr Debi Gilmore and Dr Rebecca Jorgensen
• Radically Open DBT for Disorders of Over-control: Intensive training for difficulties associated with excessive self-control related to treatment-resistant depression, chronic anxiety, autism spectrum, anorexia nervosa, perfectionism and obsessive compulsive personality, Professor Thomas Lynch and the Radically Open Ltd Team
• Narrative Exposure Therapy for Trauma: Vivo International and Institute for Psychotrauma, London
• Training in Psycho-Somatic Bodywork and Integral Trauma Facilitation (Levels 1-3 out of 3), NEO Emotional Release Institute
• Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, Integrative Psychiatry Institute 

Therapeutic approach

Luka has studied and practiced a number of therapeutic models, including relational, experiential and behavioural therapies. He also trained in couple counselling and attachment-based therapies which prepared him to support both individuals and couples in enhancing their relational skills and emotional intimacy, and balancing closer connection with independence in their relationships. Luka sees therapy as a collaborative, heart-centred process which aims to free you from emotional suffering and to raise your confidence to cope with life's challenges in new, creative ways. He works in an invitational, non-judgemental and gently challenging way.

Inspired by his core training in relational counselling, Luka recognises the importance of human relationships and their potential for healing and he puts the relationships with clients at the heart of his therapeutic work. He has studied happiness, human behaviour, relationships, Western and Eastern psychology and mindfulness for the last 20 years. Luka's journey of personal growth has brought him through his own therapy experiences, retreats, self-compassion workshops, and the study of Zen, psychosynthesis and indigenous wisdom. These experiences enable him to tailor your therapy to your emotional needs and concerns or to make helpful referrals.

Luka believes that effective therapy can be measured by:

• meaningful and tangible changes in behaviour that reflect your deepest values
• more authentic self-expression and social connectedness
• coping more skillfully with personal challenges, troubling emotions and life events
• ability to experiment with life and reframe unhelpful, rigid beliefs
• increase in self-awareness, receptivity and flexibility
• feeling safer in your body and reduced avoidance of feelings
• relating with others in ways that enhance your self-respect
• responding to yourself with more self-compassion, light-heartedness and play!

Training and consultancy

Luka is available as a support consultant for therapists internationally. He offers consultation and training to individual therapists wishing to develop a coherent and more integrative approach to their clinical practice and to teams wanting to enhance their psychotherapeutic work with behavioural and DBT-based interventions. Luka attended training in clinical supervision with SDS Seminars, in DBT supervision and consultation with Dr Alan Fruzzetti and is now on a certificate course in supervision at CSTD London (Centre for Supervision and Team Development).

Memberships

• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
• Society for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in the UK and Ireland
• International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy

Location: London Bridge (SE1 4PH) and Islington (N1 8PT)

She is also a mental health trainer and has provided training in effective trauma-informed interventions for individuals living with emotion dysregulation to organisations and teams in the UK, Malta and online via video conferencing.

Qualifications

Jaclyn gained her MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy at the Metanoia Institute in London and was later intensively trained in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. This was followed by specialist supervision from Dr Heidi Heard who was a senior DBT trainer at the Linehan Institute and regular DBT team consultation. She also completed the post-graduate certificate in DBT at Bangor University. Jaclyn is a fully qualified Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) practitioner and also completed training in DBT-based Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD with Dr Melanie Harned and DBT for complex post-traumatic stress with Professor Martin Bohus.

Experience

Jaclyn has spent the last 17 years working across the NHS, private sector and prison services, where she has provided psychotherapy to individuals and training to organisations with the aim to support their knowledge, understanding and a healthier integration for all involved. Between 2011 and 2016 Jaclyn worked at a specialist NHS personality disorder service where she was part of a team providing DBT to people living with borderline personality disorder (BPD), complex post-traumatic stress, dissociative disorders and other associated difficulties. She now works exclusively in private practice.

Jaclyn sees individuals for a variety of reasons including depression, anxiety, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, dissociative disorders, identity issues, sexuality, personality difficulties, managing emotional responses and relationship difficulties. Prior to commencing work with her clients Jaclyn offers a thorough assessment followed by a discussion about all possible treatment options and reasons for suggested treatment. Jaclyn works collaboratively with all her clients, believing that the space she creates with them is essential to any therapeutic growth. This space further supports individuals to move through whatever challenges have brought them to therapy at this point in their lives.

Training and consultancy

Jaclyn offers consultation and training to individual therapists, teams and organisations interested in adding DBT and behavioural interventions to their psychotherapeutic work.

Memberships

• United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
• Society for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in the UK and Ireland
• European Society of Trauma and Dissociation (ESTD)

Jill has been offering the comprehensive DBT programme at Mind-Reframed since 2016. Previously, she provided DBT both at the acute hospital and adolescent unit at the Priory in North London. For a number of years she also worked for the Ambulance Service providing trauma-focused Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for paramedics experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Jill also has extensive experience in the field of HIV and AIDS supporting people in rebuilding their sense of self and promoting protection within the sex worker industry.

Prior to her therapeutic work Jill qualified as a teacher in 1995 and taught English and Drama until 2002. She also has a wealth of experience working as SENCO at a high school behavioural unit with children and young adults with special behavioural needs.

Jill currently runs a private practice in Primrose Hill and online providing individual Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for people living with emotion regulation difficulties, including those who were given the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and complex post-traumatic stress, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy for individuals and couples.

Jill has a special interest and training in supporting people who are affected by trauma, neglect and adverse childhood experiences, PTSD and associated difficulties. She is also experienced in working with anxiety, depression and other forms of distress using a combination of 1st and 3rd wave cognitive behavioural disciplines including mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Jill has a thorough approach to therapy helping clients to learn and apply a wide range of tools to unlock and change destructive patterns of thought and behaviour, which consistently threaten their capacity to experience a life worth living.

Location: Primrose Hill near Chalk Farm station (NW1 8XY)

Leela also has background as a registered psychiatric nurse and has a wealth of knowledge in emotional distress and relevant treatment options. She has also developed the skills necessary to undertake complex assessments under the Mental Health Act. Leela received her initial training in DBT with the British Isles DBT in 2003 when she worked alongside a private team established to provide in-patient care and support for clients on the severe spectrum of dysregulation in emotion and behaviour and self-harm, including those who had been diagnosed with "emotionally unstable personality disorder".

In 2007 she received advanced DBT training from Behavioural Tech LLC in San Francisco and subsequently joined a specialist personality disorder service in the NHS where she was one of the DBT therapists participating in a 3-year Randomised Control Trial measuring the effectiveness of DBT. Throughout this time she continued to have weekly consultation and received specialist supervision for adherence to the DBT model from Dr Heidi Heard who was one of the original researchers and developers of DBT in the US and is a senior DBT trainer affiliated to The Linehan Institute. Leela also completed post-graduate certificate in DBT at Bangor University.

Leela has continued expanding her knowledge base and received additional training from Behavioural Tech in treating eating disorders, substance misuse and complex trauma. She has vast experience in working with clients who experience shame and trauma associated with PTSD and uses Compassionate Mind Therapy within the DBT model to target these painful emotions. Leela has also facilitated training to psychologists and other clinicians and supported the implementation and facilitating of DBT and mindfulness skills groups in outpatient settings.

Therapeutic approach

Leela works with clients who live with a range of challenges such as depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She has had abundant exposure to working with clients who experience shame and self-criticism and who typically come from harsh backgrounds which resulted in them having challenges with regulating emotions. Leela supports her clients in challenging their perception of the external world as being solely critical and their internal self as being inherently disliked.

Leela recognises that in order for her clients to feel reassured and have a sense of safeness they must be able to soothe themselves when challenging emotions arise. She believes her role as a therapist is to teach them the methods to cope with stressors without destructive methods like self-harming, drug abuse or dissociating. Leela recognises that change requires a lot of courage to be able to tolerate negative emotions and painful memories and supports her clients with their feelings of shame and self-criticism to engage in the therapeutic processes. She will be your trusted companion on this journey.

Post-Qualification Training:

• Foundational Training in DBT, British Isles DBT National Training Team
• Advanced Training in DBT with The Linehan Institute Behavioral Tech LLC, San-Francisco CA. This was followed by weekly team consultation and expert supervision with Dr Heidi Heard
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Bangor University
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress (developed for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence), Professor Martin Bohus, organised by British Isles DBT
• Treating the Eating Disordered Client with Multiple Problems Using DBT, The Linehan Institute
• DBT Supervision and Consultation, Dr Alan Fruzzetti, Centre for DBT & Families, Consultation & Training 
• Treating PTSD the Evidenced Based Way, Professor Roz Shafram, at the Charlie Waller Institute
• Working with Emotion in Psychotherapy, The British Psychological Society at the BPS Learning Centre
• Shame, Trauma and Treatment: Working with PTSD, The British Psychological Society at the BPS Learning Centre

Location: London Bridge, Borough (SE1 4PH)

Denise enjoys working with new clients, meeting for the first time, moving towards establishing a programme of treatment based on DBT assessment protocols and guidelines and seeing clients take control of their lives. She has supported clients who were given the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, including those with co-morbid diagnoses of PTSD, eating disorders, OCD and trauma associated with childhood and sexual abuse or neglect.

Denise has worked in medium and low security in-patient settings and has also supported clients with learning difficulties through adaptations of the DBT programme according to individual needs. Throughout, she has regularly delivered DBT skills groups and is an experienced coach in mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation skills. Denise has also delivered the 6-week courses in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), regularly facilitated ‘graduate’ type groups where the focus is on generalisation of skills and problem solving, and co-facilitated the Group Radical Openness therapy programme.

Denise has also continued her professional development in emotionally-focused therapy for individuals and couples and has special interest in supporting the people she works with in building the sense of emotional intimacy, trust and openness in their most meaningful relationships. Her special interest lies in combining EFT and DBT to support couples who experience frequent conflict and dysregulation of emotions.

Professional Development

• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Denise's core DBT training with British Isles DBT National Training Team was in 2010. It was followed by continuous professional development, weekly team consultation and further individual coaching.
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Complex PTSD (developed to treat sexual and/or physical traumas experienced during childhood and adolescence) with Professor Martin Bohus
• Problem Solving in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Dr Heidi Heard, British Isles DBT
• Using DBT Skills for Anger Management, Professor Thomas Lynch
• Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in DBT with High Risk Clients, Dr Melanie Harned, British Isles DBT
• Emotionally Focused Therapy for Individuals (Trauma-Focused): Levels 1-2 out of 2 with Dr Sue Johnson and Dr Leanne Campbell, The International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
• Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples: Externship and Advanced Core Skills Training (Levels 1-4 out of 4), The International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Made Simple, Dr Russ Harris
• Advanced Skills in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dr Russ Harris
• Teaching Clients Mindfulness Skills, British Isles DBT
• Introduction to Compassion Focused Therapy for Shame and Self-Critical Behaviour, Professor Paul Gilbert, The Compassionate Mind Foundation
• Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO DBT), Professor Thomas Lynch
• Group Radical Openness (GRO), Dr Richard Booth and Dr Rachel Egan

Affiliations/Memberships

• Member of the Society for DBT in the UK and Ireland
• Member of BABCP
• Member of SET (Society for Education and Training)

Other Qualifications:

• Doctor of Philosophy (University of Northampton)
• Post Graduate Certificate in Post-Compulsory Education (University of Leicester)

Location: Paignton, Devon, TQ4 5BY

Sue first qualified as a mental health nurse in 1996 following which she trained in bereavement counselling. She has worked across a variety of NHS and private settings spanning adults, young people and families. Her experience also entails specialist NHS roles in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service working with ‘looked after and adopted young people’ and their families, and latterly with LGBTQ young people and those seeking gender transition. Sue currently divides her time between her current role is in an NHS Complex PTSD Service and providing DBT to adults and young people with emotion regulation challenges within Mind-Reframed.

Professional Development

• Post-Graduate Diploma in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Bangor University
• Certificate in Counselling Studies and further 2 years of studies in Person-Centred Counselling, Leicester University
• BSc in Mental Health Studies, Warwick University
• Diploma in Mental Health Nursing, Coventry University
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Sue's core DBT training with the  British Isles DBT National Training Team was in 2013. It was followed by continuous professional development, weekly team consultation, advanced training and post-graduate studies in DBT.
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress (developed for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence): Professor Martin Bohus, organised by British Isles DBT
• Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Sue completed levels 1, 2 and 3 of this innovative training for difficulties associated with excessive self-control characteristic to anorexia nervosa, treatment-resistant depression, chronic anxiety, autism spectrum, perfectionism and obsessive compulsive personality type, Professor Thomas Lynch and the Radically Open Ltd Team
• Introduction to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre
• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression, Mark Williams, BABCP
• Working with Sexual and Gender Minorities, Pink Therapy
• Gender, Identity & Development, The Tavistock & Portman Clinic

Therapeutic Approach

Sue is committed to offering therapeutic support which is backed up by scientific research. Her overall approach, however, is person-centred in that she places the relationship with her clients at the centre of the therapeutic endeavours she is engaged in. Sue is inspired by Buddhist psychology and philosophy and endeavours to live according to Buddhist principles and values. It is an over-arching value of hers to contribute to relieving human suffering through collaborative therapeutic relationships.

Experience has taught Sue that often people don’t fit neatly into diagnostic criteria and labels and that given the right conditions they can find their way through. Her aspiration is to create those conditions in the therapeutic relationships with her clients. Sue’s therapeutic approach is to balance acceptance, validation and compassionate understanding with exploration around what needs to change in order to bring about growth and an increased sense of peace. She tries to ‘keep things real’ with radical genuineness and hope that the therapeutic process is dynamic, effective and moves clients towards their goals. Sue considers herself a ‘work in progress’ and utilises regular supervision to reflect on and enhance her practice.

Sue’s self-care involves meditation, running and swimming regularly.

Memberships:

• Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Society for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in the UK and Ireland

Clare is currently only available for clinical supervision and DBT adherence rating. She has specialised for many years in treating clients with Emotionally Unstable/Borderline Personality Disorder, using Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). Her interest in helping people with emotional instability, impulsive behaviours and complex trauma led Clare to complete the National Intensive DBT Training in 2007 and develop a DBT programme in Barnet. From 2009 until 2014 she was the deputy head of a specialist personality disorder service in Hertfordshire, where she led a DBT team. After the closure of this service she continued to lead the DBT programme across the trust until her retirement from the NHS in September 2018. She now works in private practice.

Clare has many years’ experience of delivering DBT to clients, as well as training and supervising other therapists. She has received specialist supervision from Dr Janet Feigenbaum, one of the UK National DBT trainers. Clare also uses other therapy models including CBT, schema-focused therapy, compassion-focused therapy and mindfulness. She works with both individuals and groups and adapts her approach to the needs of the person.

Academic Qualifications

• BSc Psychology, Birkbeck College 1988
• MSc Clinical Psychology, UCL 1992

Post Qualifying Training

• DBT Intensive Training with the British Isles DBT, 2007
• Post Graduate Certificate in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Bangor University, 2012
• DBT Accreditation with the Society for DBT in the UK and Ireland, 2015
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress (developed for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence), Professor Martin Bohus, organised by British Isles DBT, 2023

Location: High Barnet (EN5 2FT)

Rachel started her career in mental health by completing BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy in 2006. Following this she worked in medium secure adolescent unit for ten years. During this time she also attended specialist training in sensory and attachment-focused interventions aimed at emotionally sensitive, traumatised and dysregulated teens. Rachel now shares this expertise and supports her clients in regulating their sensory arousal levels and other sensory needs. This helps people enhance their capacity to cope with stress throughout life rather than operating in persistent fear mode when there is a hint or a reminder of traumatic events.

Rachel trained to become a DBT therapist over a decade ago and also attended additional training in adapting DBT for suicidal teens and DBT for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress developed for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence. Rachel also completed the post-graduate diploma in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy at Bangor University and following the rigorous process of supervision became an accredited DBT therapist with the Society for DBT in the UK and Ireland. She has also trained in Radically Open DBT aimed at clients who live with challenges resulting from excessive over-control and conditions such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression and anxiety, autistic spectrum, obsessive compulsive and paranoid personalities.

For the last eight years Rachel has worked in the community with adults whose difficulties are described in the medical world with the label of "borderline" or "emotionally unstable personality disorder" and Complex PTSD. She has delivered both individual and group DBT for over a decade. Her role later expanded to support adolescents and their families in facilitating transition from inpatient settings to their homes with the aim to increase coping methods and prevent re-admission. This also entailed working with "looked after" and adopted children.

To further equip families in relevant skills needed to support their loved ones and expand their own coping skills repertoire, Rachel completed the Family Connections training. Family Connections is a DBT-based intervention aimed at family members who wish to be involved in their loved one's treatment and to consider how their own responses might strengthen the relationship and enhance skillfulness in the family home. She enjoys working with families and supporting them to identify triggers for distress, conflict and interpersonal tension. This entails decreasing behaviours which destroy relationships and instead generalising skills that strengthen and repair relationships within the family unit.

Memberships

• Health and Care Professions Council
• Society for DBT in the UK and Ireland
• Vice chair of SFDBT SIG CAMHS Group

Liz’s motivation to support people who have difficulties in regulating their emotions stemmed from her role as a Care Co-ordinator in a Community Mental Health Team. Her experience enabled her to truly embrace first hand just how effective DBT is. She subsequently pursued a specialist role in a psychology team, which implements evidence based treatments and therapies via a personality disorder pathway. Liz did her initial DBT training in 2015, and has gone on to complete a number of advanced courses with British Isles DBT training team. Liz has delivered individual DBT therapy and the skills classes both in adolescent and adult services and also run the 24-week family DBT skills group. Her approach has also been informed by Compassion Focused Therapy, Structured Clinical Management and Mindfulness, and she is experienced in adapting DBT to neurodivergent individuals.

Liz receives expert supervision from Dr Janet Feigenbaum and continues to seek ongoing updates of her skills and knowledge base. She keeps abreast of developments in DBT, attends the Society for DBT yearly conference and is an avid supporter of NEAPD family connections.

Therapeutic Approach

Liz believes that building a strong therapeutic relationship to be essential and in doing so works to build a mutually open and honest rapport. Together with Liz, you will work on acceptance and change strategies that allow you to address your difficulties and meet your own goals to ultimately build a life worth living. Liz recognises how important it is to identify all aspects of an individual’s life that impact on them being and feeling like they are effective. Whether it’s to have more stable relationships, be effective in asking and getting what you want or indeed, saying no to requests that see you overstretched or compromising your own values. Do you struggle to identify how you are feeling and act impulsively without thinking and do things that you regret or that cause you suffering? Do you find yourself moving from one thing to another without realising how you got there? Do you find that you are often judging yourself and questioning who you are? Liz has a warm, non-judgemental approach and will work to support you to accept things as they are in the moment and to challenge you to make changes, solve problems, feel better and build mastery in areas you have lacked confidence.

Liz is a mother, wife and homemaker, she loves going on walks with her dog, spending time in her garden and trying new recipes with her family and friends. Her approach is to coach people in their own lives, using her own experience as well as the experience she has gained in her many years of work. She finds there is no greater satisfactions than seeing people attain things they previously found hard to even imagine, to see them excited in a life they want to be a part of, in stable relationships and having rewarding careers and achieving their goals.

Training

• Intensive training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy conducted by Hertfordshire Partnership NHS foundation Trust
• Upgrade training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: British Isles DBT Training Team and co-sponsored by Behavioral Tech, LLC (with Professor Michaela Swales and Dr Christine Dunkley)
• Skills Training in DBT: British Isles DBT Training Team and co-sponsored by Behavioral Tech, LLC. (with Dr Janet Feigenbaum and Jim Lyng)
• Individual Therapy in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: British Isles DBT Training Team and co-sponsored by Behavioral Tech, LLC (with Professor Michaela Swales and Heidi Heard)
• Intensive Training in the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Prolonged Exposure Protocol for PTSD (with Melanie Harned and Annie Mc Call)
• Compassion Focused Therapy – Working with Shame and Self-Criticism (With Dr Chris Irons)
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress (developed for survivors of sexual abuse in childhood and adolescence) (with Professor Martin Bohus)
• Structured Clinical Management (Professor Anthony Bateman)

Qualifications

• Post-Graduate Diploma in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Bangor University
• BSc in Mental Health Studies, University of Hertfordshire
• DipHE Nursing (Mental Health), University of Hertfordshire

Memberships

• The Nursing and Midwifery Council
• Society for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in the UK and Ireland

Location: Angel, Islington (EC1V 2PY), Finchley (N3 1QB) and St Albans (AL1 3JJ)

As her background is in occupational therapy with extensive experience in child and adolescent mental health services, Toks brings a nuanced understanding of developmental needs to her DBT practice. Her commitment lies in fostering skilful coping strategies to empower each client on their unique journey toward mental well-being and a life worth living. As part of her undertaking in an intensive postgraduate diploma in DBT, through Bangor University and British Isles DBT, Toks jointly set up a DBT pathway in an NHS child and adolescent mental health service. This included the set up and delivery of all core DBT components, including individual DBT, skills group, phone coaching and multi-family skills groups.

Having worked across a range of child, adolescent and adult mental health services, Toks has cultivated an evidence-based practice that includes conducting holistic health and mental health assessments, and specialist psychometric and psychotherapeutic assessments. When formulating her clients' difficulties Toks explores the interplay between various personal, social and environmental factors to understand how they contribute to mental health presentations which helps her develop truly person-centred treatment plans.

In her present role in the NHS, Toks specialises in working with children, young people and young adults with learning disabilities, and/or neuro-developmental conditions (such as autism and ADHD). This includes diagnostic assessment, intervention, clinical leadership, consultation, supervision, training and service development. She also works strategically with NHS England as a programme director for advanced practice in mental health, learning disability and autism. With specialist understanding of the intersection between neuro-developmental conditions and mental health, Toks has experience in adapting and maintaining adherence to the DBT model with this client group. In addition to her NHS role, she also periodically teaches on occupational therapy programmes in university and higher education settings.

Therapeutic Approach

Toks uses a range of evidence-based therapeutic approaches and matches these with her values of person-centred care, empathy, curiosity and collaboration. She is a reflective clinician who brings creativity into the therapeutic space, as well as promoting the balance of acceptance and change to move toward goal attainment. She is also passionate about building and developing authentic therapeutic relationships and ensuring that clients are supported in their journey. Toks' relationships with her clients are rooted in radical genuineness which in her experience fosters a mutual openness and commitment to treatment.

Toks is dedicated to striving for equity and inclusion by seeking to increase accessibility to therapy for those challenged by inaccessibility. She takes the approach of celebrating strengths and difference in diversity, and brings this stance to all therapeutic contact to enable a space that is non-judgemental, supported and safe. She strives to empower individuals with skills for navigating life's challenges, ultimately guiding them towards lasting positive change.

Qualifications & Training

• Postgraduate Diploma in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Bangor University
• Trauma-focused CBT, Association for Psychological Therapies
• MSc in Occupational Therapy, Cardiff University
• Postgraduate Diploma in Occupational Therapy, Cardiff University
• BSc in Psychology, Brunel University

Memberships

• Health and Care Professions Council

• Society for DBT in the UK and Ireland

Location: Brighter Spaces, 2A Prebend Street, Islington, N1 8PT

Reema's commitment to develop expertise in other approaches was influenced by the recognition that one size doesn't fit all and that some clients are best supported with therapies for their specific challenges that are validated by extensive research. Reema has a particular expertise and underwent specialist training in supporting clients who live with the diagnoses of personality disorders, particularly borderline personality (BPD). She has also delivered numerous training sessions on working with this client group within social care sector and has been a guest lecturer at Richmond, The American International University in London.

Reema has a particular interest in attachment theory and its relevance to how some of our current challenges arise from early relationships and the quality of care and attention we had received. She is aware that human difficulties can become ingrained over time and that the process of addressing them takes time both to develop trust in building a therapeutic relationship and to change patterns of behaviours, beliefs and relational processes. For this reason Reema is available for longer-term work to support clients in addressing the more profound challenges they face. However, she also offers shorter-term CBT interventions when required.

Reema has 17 years’ experience of working with clients who are highly sensitive and experience their emotions more intensely than an average person and clients with complex mental health needs or forensic past. She is experienced in supporting clients who present with a wide range of interpersonal and relationship difficulties, emotion regulation disorders such as BPD, childhood abuse, bereavement and loss, eating disorders, depression and anxiety and suicidal and self-harming behaviours. Reema offers her clients a thorough assessment of their life history as well as current needs and goals and a clear, well-defined treatment package aimed at them as individuals. In additional to individual therapy Reema has some availability for family sessions.

Reema also worked in the social care sector and at a forensic personality disorder service providing psychosocial support and individual and group MBT sessions to adult males diagnosed with a personality disorder and/or complex needs. She has undergone foundational and advanced training as an MBT therapist under Professors Fonagy and Bateman at the Anna Freud Centre. Reema remained committed to applying this evidence-based treatment to clients living with borderline personality disorder and its traits both in the one to one and group format. She also supervises colleagues working within the MBT model.

Reema currently divides her time between working as a counselling manager for a charity, clinical supervisor for MIND and as a private practice counsellor, MBT and DBT therapist and supervisor for counselling/psychotherapy students on clinical placements.

Academic Qualifications

• Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Personality Disorders, University of Central Lancashire
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Humanistic and Psychodynamic Counselling, Goldsmiths, University of London
• BSc (Hons) Psychology, Nottingham Trent University

Post-Qualifying Training

• Mentalisation Based Therapy: Reema's basic MBT training was in 2012. It was followed by regular team consultation, expert supervision and advanced MBT practitioner training in 2013, Anna Freud Centre
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Reema's core DBT training was with British Isles DBT National Training Team. It was followed by continuous professional development, supervision and weekly team consultation.
• Skills Training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Workshop (Core Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness), British Isles DBT Training Team
• Certificate in Introduction to CBT, Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre
• Certificate in Providing Good Clinical Supervision, The Association for Psychological Therapies
• Training in Risk Assessment and Vulnerability Assessments, DVIP

Memberships

• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

Location: Islington (N1 8PT)

He has also undergone a thorough training in Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT) at the Anna Freud Centre and is accredited as an MBT therapist with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC). Claudio has worked with clients with a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, personality disorders, eating disorders, psychosis, anger problems and interpersonal difficulties.

For over 7 years he has delivered Mentalisation-Based therapy (MBT) programmes, providing both individual and group MBT to clients living with the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and other co-morbid complex needs. He has operated in this role both within forensic services and at a specialist NHS Personality Disorder Service, as part of a model-adherent team and with regular expert supervision. Through the MBT model Claudio has provided help to people with difficulties in managing strong emotions and in maintaining meaningful relationships with others.

Claudio also provides both short and long-term psychological treatments, based on psychodynamic, integrative and CBT models of intervention. He also offers short-term consultations for specific psychological and interpersonal problems, such as professional/academic orientation, changes in relationships, adjustment and stress-related issues.

Claudio completed his undergraduate degree in Clinical Psychology and subsequently his postgraduate degree in Dynamic-Clinical Psychology and developed a specific interest around Developmental Psychology, Attachment Theory and Psychopathology. He strives to understand in the work with clients how early life experiences influence and shape individuals’ ways of being and difficulties in the present. Claudio has also completed a UKCP-accredited diploma course in parent-infant psychotherapy at the School of Infant Mental Health. Currently, Claudio works both privately and in the NHS, providing assessment and therapy to a wide range of clients, including children, adults and families.

Therapeutic approach

Claudio aims at helping clients reach a better understanding of themselves, their history and experience with others. At the same time, he supports them in making changes, which can allow them to have a more fulfilling life. In his work Claudio believes that despite one’s difficulties, it is never too late for a person to achieve meaningful transformations in their life. He considers having a respectful, open and collaborative relationship with clients as key to their progress. He has worked with clients from various pathways of life, nationalities and diverse backgrounds, establishing a full appreciation of cultural and ethnic differences. Claudio offers therapy sessions in English, Spanish and Italian.

Qualifications and trainings

• BSc in Clinical Psychology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
• Post-graduate Degree in Clinical-Dynamic Psychology for Infancy, Adolescence and Families, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
• MSc in Psychological Research Methods, University of Westminster
• Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT): Claudio's basic MBT training with Anna Freud Centre Team was in 2013. It was followed by regular team consultation, expert supervision and advanced MBT practitioner training in 2014.
• Diploma in Psychoanalytic Parent-Infant Psychotherapy, School of Infant Mental Health, London
• Post-qualifying training (levels 1-4) in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for Trauma, EMDR Works

Memberships

• Graduate Membership at the British Psychological Society
• Counselling Psychologist at the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Psychotherapist at the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

Location: Islington (N1 8PT), walking distance from Angel tube station and Essex Road overground

At the Anna Freud Centre, Joe specialised in using MBT to support parents whose were given a diagnosis of personality disorder and whose children were at risk of being removed from their care. Joe worked to support the parents to develop their capacity to mentalize about themselves and their children, with the aim of helping them to provide safe, emotionally connected care for their children.      

Alongside his work with parents, Joe also helped to set up an MBT programme for women who had experienced the removal of multiple children from their care. This programme supported a group of women who have traditionally been overlooked and excluded from services.

Since moving to the Halliwick Unit Joe has offered MBT to adults seeking support for complex emotional needs and relational difficulties. However, as the Deputy Clinical Lead he also helped to oversee all the other areas of the programme, broadening his experience of both assessment and the provision of short term SCM treatment to help people develop the stability needed for longer term MBT therapy.

Having decided to step back from the managerial role to focus wholly on clinical practice, he now splits his time between his role as an MBT therapist at the Halliwick, parent-infant psychotherapist in an NHS perinatal team and private practice. Alongside his interest in supporting people who are struggling with the sorts of complex emotional difficulties linked to the diagnosis of personality disorder, Joe also has experience of supporting people with a range of other difficulties, including symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress, eating difficulties, addictions and ADHD.

Joe is a trauma-informed practitioner, who understands that difficulties such as self-harm, suicidal ideation and relationship problems stem from developmental coping strategies that initially served a purpose, even if they now cause significant frustration and harm to people’s lives. Recognising that the trauma of the past has shaped people’s ways of relating is crucial to developing healthier and more productive ways of engaging with ourselves and others in the here and now.    

Joe is also very interested in the way that societal pressures and systemic power structures influence our personalities and mental health. Issues of inequality, racism, misogyny and transphobia continue to shape the world we live in and to influence the way we experience ourselves and others. He aims to offer an inclusive space to all the people he works with to enable them to make sense of how these influences can impact on their individual emotional lives within their communities.

Throughout his career Joe has taught on a range of topics, including infant development, the impact of developmental trauma, the assessment of risk, working with parents with complex emotional needs and best practice when supporting people who are struggling with the sorts of difficulties linked to the diagnosis of personality disorder.

Qualifications and Training

• MA in Social Work, Manchester Metropolitan University 
• BA in Ancient History and MA in Classical Literature, University of Nottingham
• Mentalisation Based Treatment: Joe's basic MBT training  was in 2015 and was followed ongoing supervision, team consultation and the advanced practitioners training in 2017 and ongoing supervision and team consultation, Anna Freud Centre
• Mentalisation Based Treatment for Children (2019), Anna Freud Centre
• Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Adults (ongoing), British Psychotherapy Foundation

Location: Queens Park (W10 4BA)

 

Elizabeth currently works in a specialist personality disorder service in the NHS delivering the intensive MBT treatment to patients with complex needs, for whom therapy has not previously succeeded. She is lead for the MBT-Introduction programme and treatment referral pathway, which involves a psycho-education group and emotional stabilisation prior to intensive MBT treatment. She is also training as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist with the British Psychotherapy Foundation, working with patients in three times weekly analysis.

Elizabeth has extensive experience in providing individual and group psychotherapy and is skilled in quickly establishing a therapeutic alliance. Most patients she works with were given the diagnosis of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD), frequently with co-existing difficulties including eating disorders, mood disorders, anxiety, substance misuse issues, depression, OCD, post-traumatic stress and complex-PTSD. Elizabeth has worked in forensic services within a therapeutic community setting, and within prisons. She has significant experience in working with patients who struggle to manage their aggression and destructive feelings, some of whom are diagnosed with Anti-Social Personality Disorder.

Elizabeth provides clinical consultation, complex case discussion, and training on working with personality difficulties to teams within the NHS and third sector organisations. She is passionate about challenging stereotypes associated with personality disorders and in supporting teams to think about their patients’ struggles in a compassionate, thoughtful way.

Therapeutic Approach

Elizabeth is attentive to the therapeutic space and the need to establish a safe, caring, contained environment for therapeutic work to happen. She is particularly interested in working in the therapeutic relationship to allow patients to experience a consistent, secure attachment from which they can begin to mentalise difficult relationships, with self and other, past and present. Elizabeth’s psychoanalytic training allows her to observe patient’s struggles at a deep level, and to understand how anxieties may contribute to repetitive patterns of problematic or destructive behaviour, and interpersonal difficulties. She values transparency and collaboration in the therapeutic relationship, whilst holding the integrity of the individual struggles central. Elizabeth is also a qualified yoga teacher and is very interested in the somatic element of trauma and emotional distress, and how communications from the body can be used to understand emotional dysregulation and support emotional regulation.

Supervision
Elizabeth has trained as an MBT supervisor with the Anna Freud Centre and currently provides supervision for NHS professionals who are training to become MBT accredited practitioners. She is available for private MBT supervision either individually or within a group.

Qualifications and trainings

• BSc (Hons) in Psychology, University of Manchester
• MSc in Theoretical Psychoanalytic Studies, University College London
• Mentalisation-Based Treatment (MBT): Basic training in 2013, followed by specialist clinical supervision (ongoing) and advanced MBT practitioner training in 2014, Anna Freud Centre
• Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy with Adults (ongoing), British Psychotherapy Foundation, for accreditation and registration with British Psychotherapy Council (BPC)

Location: walking distance from Battersea Park and Queenstown Road stations (SW8)

As a therapist, Marie has worked for many years with children and young adults who had been sexually abused, suffered from complex trauma or experienced other kinds of trauma and/or who display harmful sexual behaviours. Marie’s goal is to give everyone a chance to aim for a life worth living. As a qualified social worker, her work was in child protection and with unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers.

Marie has many years of experience of seeing patients both individually and in groups. She has been running groups for parents as part of a programme for both the child/adolescent and the parents. Marie also has experience of working with children and adolescents presenting with challenging behaviours, autism spectrum disorder (especially high functioning) and ADHD.

Marie has been a guest lecturer at universities in Sweden, and a facilitator at workshops at Conferences and training events throughout the UK, in Sweden and the USA. She has run courses and educated professionals and students about children and adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviours. She has also offered training and supervision to other professionals who work with children and adolescents in a DBT-approach.

In Sweden between 2009 and 2014, Marie managed two outpatient clinics for 0-25 years old, where a DBT-approach group programme was developed and offered to adolescents who display harmful sexual behaviours, and, trauma group programmes for those under 12 who had experienced sexual abuse. She is currently working part-time as a CAMHS Lead Therapist at the Priory North London, where she is seeing adolescents individually and in groups. At the Priory North London, Marie has been part of setting up a DBT-approach group programme for the young people admitted.

Marie was born in Sweden. She came to the UK for the first time 1984. Her core profession is Social Work (qualified in 1999) and she has experience of working in Social Services in both England and Sweden. Marie is a qualified Cognitive Behaviour Therapist (CBT) and has been practicing as such since 2004. She studied CBT at Goldsmiths University, London, 2003 with Windy Dryden. Furthermore, Marie has diploma in Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT), gained in 2010, where she trained with Elizabeth Malmquist and Anita Linnér (Sweden), as well as with Alan Fruzzetti and Jill Rathus (USA). She is also trained in Trauma Focused-CBT, including Supervisor training (TF-CBT) 2013 with Laura Murray (USA); and Prolonged Exposure (PE) 2012 with Edna Foa (USA).

Location: Palmers Green (N14 7HD)

She graduated with a music and drama degree and worked for more than twenty years in the music business in the areas of performance, production, publishing, artist management and classical music. From this background, Helen was inspired to train as a psychotherapist and graduated from New School Of Psychotherapy and Counselling with a Masters degree in Existential Psychotherapy. Her therapeutic practice continues to be informed by this core training. As a therapist she stands side-by-side with her clients, exploring their worldview, working from their own experience and understanding how they make sense of life in the here and now. In recent years Helen has worked as a staff and students counsellor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, as a team lead psychotherapist at HMP Holloway and consultant psychotherapist at The Priory.

In addition to co-facilitating the RO-DBT skills groups Helen provides psychotherapy and skills coaching for musicians, performers and those working in the creative field. She also offers emergency psychotherapy and coaching onsite for performance anxiety. Helen is experienced in working with depression and anxiety, including performance and trauma-induced anxiety, emotion regulation and over-control difficulties, anorexia and eating disorders, personality disorders and bipolar disorder. Helen also practices as a couple therapist and offers the service of dialectical mediator to resolve workplace friction and disagreements, workplace stress and work-related interpersonal difficulties. She has special interest in working with parents of children with disability and/or autism.

Location: Piccadilly Circus (W1F 9JB) and Covent Garden (WC2H 9QL)

Marva gained a wealth of experience in various NHS roles working with people with depression, anxiety, phobias and relational distress using Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) model, EMDR and integrative counselling. For a number of years she also supported people in taking the guesswork out of romantic and sexual relationships at the specialist psychosexual clinic attached to Guy's Hospital. This is where Marva gained comprehensive knowledge of intimate relationships, sexuality and sexual dysfunction. She has also trained in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy to support clients who wish to understand and change their behavioural responses to overwhelming emotions and problematic urges that interfere with the quality of their lives, such as self-harm, impulsivity or interpersonal conflict.

Marva is committed to supporting her clients in learning and using therapeutic tools to unlock and change patterns of thought and behaviour that no longer serve them and threaten their capacity to feel emotionally safe in romantic partnerships and other relationships. She uses evidence-based models of therapy to support couples in improving their communication skills, building acceptance and regaining intimacy and joy in their relationships. Marva also treats individuals experiencing difficulties with stress, trauma, workplace stress, racial harassment and bullying. She completed each of the four levels of training in Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to support clients with a history of trauma in processing troubling memories.

Marva's offering includes both short-term, solution-focused and goal-oriented therapy and more open-ended exploration of difficulties with clients who are interested in long-term psychotherapy. She also enjoys working with couples and individuals who experience cultural differences in their relationships which may cause barriers and conflicts. She works with couples of any sexuality, gender or ethnicity with warmth, respect and passion.

Marva's therapeutic approach is integrative flexibly drawing from Transactional Analysis, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Mindfulness and Emotionally Focused Therapy to support her clients according to their unique needs and concerns.

Training

• Post-Graduate Diploma in Counselling, The Berne Institute
• IAPT-endorsed Certificate in Counselling for Depression, Nottingham University
• Certificate in Couples Therapy for Depression, Tavistock Centre for Couples and Relationships
• Post-qualifying training (levels 1-4) in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) for Trauma, EMDR Works
• Post-Graduate Certificate in Psychological Wellbeing Practice (Low Intensity CBT), Canterbury Christ Church University
• Foundational Training in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, The Association for Psychological Therapies, Leicester

Location: London Bridge, Finchley Central and Elephant & Castle

Alongside her private consultancy work, she works as a consultant psychiatrist for the East London NHS Foundation Trust.

Lida qualified as a medical doctor at the medical school of Athens (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) in 2006. She started her post-graduate psychiatric training in London in 2012. She was awarded full membership of the RCPsych (MRCPsych) in 2015 and he was awarded a CCT in general adult psychiatry with endorsement in liaison psychiatry in 2019. Prior to moving to psychiatric training in London, she trained for three years (full time) in Paediatrics in the UK and she also worked as a doctor in Greece for about a year. Lida speaks English, as well as Greek.

Lida currently works as a Consultant Psychiatrist for the Community Integrated Mental Health Team for Newham Adult Mental Health Directorate (East London NHS Foundation Trust). Within her NHS role she offers appointments to assess and manage a wide variety of mental health conditions for adults, including emotionally unstable personality disorder, other personality disorders including borderline, mixed and personality disorder traits, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, adjustment disorder, bipolar disorder, adult ADHD, OCD and PTSD. Lida is also delighted to offer clinical leadership to her NHS team whilst the community transformation is taking place as part of the NHS long term plan investment, as she is passionate about improving services.

She previously worked for more than a year as an NHS Liaison Consultant Psychiatrist at the Newham University Hospital, assessing and treating patients who present to the general hospital (A&E or wards) with mental health needs in addition to their physical health needs. In view of this experience she also specialises in medically unexplained symptoms, functional neurological disorders, mental health difficulties associated with physical health problems and addiction psychiatry including alcohol or/and drug misuse. She also worked at an NHS inpatient psychiatric ward in Tower Hamlets where she gained the expertise in treating patients who present as acutely unwell with mental health difficulties. Lida has clinical experience in assessing individuals for autism spectrum disorder, as she has worked at the NHS City and Hackney autism service. Therefore she has a good understanding of the needs of this patient group.

Lida is active in a variety of professional organisations and communities at national level. She is currently the vice chair of the RCPsych liaison psychiatry curriculum working group, working on the new liaison psychiatry curriculum, at the request of the GMC. She has also worked for the CQC as a specialist advisor, and has experience in participating in mental health hospital inspections in both the NHS and the private sector.

Professional philosophy

Lida's clinical practice is based on the biological-psychological-social approach to fully understand an individual's presentation and how different aspects of their lives could be impacting on their mental health. She works collaboratively with her patients, taking time to understand their unique circumstances in order to formulate personalised formulations and treatment plans. This includes every single interaction with the individual and she also ensures that the patients are encouraged to provide feedback. The feedback is used to continuously improve her own professional practice and also the service provided by the NHS team that she provides clinical leadership to. Enabling people to understand the origins of their symptoms and distress is in her vitally important in supporting their recovery. Lida strongly believes that the treatment must fit the individual and using her clinical experience she will support you in choosing a treatment plan that is effective and has the highest prospect of a successful outcome.

Qualifications:

• MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery), Medical School of Athens, Greece
• MRC Psychiatry, The Royal College of Psychiatry, United Kingdom
• CCT General Adult Psychiatry with endorsement in liaison psychiatry, The Royal College of Psychiatry, United Kingdom
• Section 12 Approved, The Royal College of Psychiatry, United Kingdom
• Approved Clinician Status, The Royal College of Psychiatry, United Kingdom

Memberships:

• Royal College of Psychiatry
• British Medical Association
• MDU
• Hellenic Medical Society (UK)

Adela has almost fifteen years of experience working in the NHS as a health advocate and interpreter, in recent past mostly in mental health settings. Prior to that she completed a Masters degree in Sinology (the study of Chinese language, history and customs) and spent three years living and learning Mandarin in China. Adela enjoys travelling, different forms of exercise, martial arts and meditation, the passions which she developed when studying in China.

He is committed to supporting people and organisations to tap into their potential and innate capacity for wellbeing and creativity through mindfulness. Andy teaches mindfulness-based approaches to staff in the NHS, in the third and education sectors and to teams and organisations in the corporate sector. Settings that he has facilitated groups in include Kings Health Partners, Camden and Islington NHS Trust, Dulwich Prep School, St. Mungos Housing and the Girls Day School Trust. He has offered mindfulness groups for people who experience distressing voices and has more recently been working, in conjunction with Prof. Mark Williams, with prison staff and prisoners following the award of a grant from Oxford Mindfulness Centre.

Andy has also trained as a supervisor of mindfulness teachers and currently supervises several mindfulness teachers working in NHS settings. He also works with groups of people who are experiencing a wide range of stress related and psychological challenges including insomnia, anxiety, depression, trauma, adverse childhood experiences and abuse.

Andy trained as a mental health nurse in Glasgow in the 80's and has worked in acute in-patient settings, in rehabilitation; in forensic settings, homelessness and, for many years, in community mental health in inner London. He continues to practice as mental health nurse one day a week for a pan London homelessness healthcare team and facilitates case discussions and post incident debriefs with homelessness staff.

He is passionate about enhancing the strengths and abilities of the people he works with and in supporting people in developing their natural, inherent capacity to bring mindful qualities and compassion to their challenges and difficulties.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Registered Nurse Mental Health (1988)
• Teaching and Assessing In Clinical Practice, English National Board for Nursing (1995)
• Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy, Oxford Mindfulness Centre (2011)
• .B Foundations, Mindfulness In Schools (2014)
• Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, CMRP, Bangor University (2015)