Therapy for High-Achievers

It may be for you if:

• You find yourself saying “I overthink everything”, worry all the time, have intrusive thoughts that won’t let you rest, you don’t feel good enough

• You probably have “high-functioning” anxiety or OCD

• You’re tired of brushing it off or trying everything under the sun without anything changing

• You’ve tried other approaches and they’ve left you feeling invalidated, confused, or stuck

• You want a therapist who, while always being on your side, will sometimes gently call you up on your BS to help you move forward

• You want to live more authentically and are willing to put in some work for this to happen

• (and also, you can reach out in writing or book a free 15-min intro call to ‘vibe’-check :-)

It may not be for you if:

• You want an open, explorative space with no structure, practical skills, exercises, or things to do between sessions

• You want to get rid of your difficult thoughts and feelings altogether and only experience positives

• You want an uber-’professional’, blank-slate kind of therapist who will nod in agreement to everything you say and never challenge you

• You want a quick fix or expect that things will change by you attending a session a week and continuing as you are outside of it

Short answer - almost. The only limitation is that I can’t offer therapy to clients based in the US or Canada due to licensing (and please note I work under UK jurisdiction, as I’m based and accredited in the UK).

I’m online-based only at the moment - so all sessions take place on Zoom. I love online therapy as research shows it’s just as effective as in-person therapy, but we can work together even if we live miles apart, and you get the comfort and flexibility that comes with it. As long as we both have good cameras and microphones, we can recreate most, if not all, of what we would do in a therapy room. You get high-quality therapy AND you can show up in a familiar, comfy space, with a hot drink.

• ACT/CBT are goal-oriented and a therapy episode is usually completed in 3-6 months of weekly therapy sessions, but some people carry on for longer (we’re all different!)

• The recommended frequency of therapy sessions is weekly - this is the ‘sweet spot’ frequency to allow for momentum to build but also allow for enough time for information to consolidate and skills to be practised between sessions

My speciality is working with adult (18+) high-achieving introverts whose fear of failure or rejection shows up as overthinking, ‘high-functioning’ anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and feeling not good enough, and keeps them from living as their real, authentic selves.

I also have a particular interest and knowledge in working with people who are neurodivergent or LGBTQIA+.

And I also specialise in working with dog phobia - see here.

Having said that, I am highly trained in working with a range of mental health difficulties, including stress, depression, generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder, health anxiety, social anxiety, low self-esteem, perfectionism, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

I generally do not work with people who present with severe and enduring mental health difficulties, including, for example, active symptoms of psychosis, or severe difficulties with emotional regulation - this is because such difficulties are best addressed in specialist services which consist of multi-disciplinary teams of clinicians.

Importantly and relatedly, I also do not work with people who are presenting with concerns related to their own safety or that of others - as in private practice I do not have access to professionals and facilities which would support managing such concerns, and therefore, it would be unsafe and unprofessional.

I am not set up to provide crisis support, so I am not able to respond to any urgent queries between sessions, nor am I able to work with people who have concerns about their own safety or that of others.

If you are having such difficulties and are in the UK, please call 999 or go to A&E. You can also contact your GP or local NHS mental health service for urgent support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, text Shout to 85258, or use the Stay Alive mobile app.

If you are outside of the UK, please contact your local emergency services.

I have quite a few, bit of a nerd here :-) The most relevant ones are my PgDip in Psychological Intervention (CBT) from the University of Surrey, which I then topped up with an MSc in Psychological Therapies from the University of Exeter, and my accreditation with the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies) as both therapist and supervisor. I also completed the Mindfulness Teacher Training Pathway with The Mindfulness Network/University of Bangor. 

But I also hold a BSc (Hons) in Psychology from the University of York, an MSc in Clinical Neuroscience from UCL, and plenty of experience - read more about me here

The type of therapy I offer is evidence-based and structured, goals-oriented, and forward-focused. 

We’ll do the in-the-moment stuff. But we’ll also go deeper, exploring both:

• Beliefs (your fear of failure, vulnerability, proving yourself, or being your true self and not being accepted)

• Wider context (the systems, culture, dynamics, and trauma that shape the way you’ve learned to cope)

We’ll spend time both exploring and using active interventions to help you unhook from the “I overthink everything” loop, so your true self has space to emerge and bloom.

Read more about ACT here.

You’re definitely not alone! Talking to a complete stranger about your deepest thoughts and feelings can feel quite daunting when you think about it, and I really get that - and many clients tell me the same thing.

That’s why I offer a few options so you feel as comfortable as possible:

• If you feel most comfortable starting in writing, contact me via this form

• If you’d like to see if we click live, book a free 15-min consultation here

• If you’ve decided you want to go straight for an initial session to explore things in a bit more depth, book it here

That’s a big question with a lot of nuance, but it may boil down to two main aspects:

What you physically do: Regular attendance and real active engagement in the sessions and with between-sessions tasks, including making notes, keeping diaries etc. - simply attending sessions is unfortunately unlikely to lead to effective, long-lasting change

How you think about it: It’s ok to be sceptical, it’s ok to not ‘think positively’, it’s ok to not feel like attending, and it’s ok to not leave every session feeling like you’re on cloud nine.

• What’s going to get in the way though is you not sharing all this stuff with me. I not only will not take offense at you sharing it, but very much encourage you to - to make sure you make the most of our sessions, and to give us a chance to work through these challenges, which are a common part of the process.

• Although I’ll check in, at the risk of pointing out the obvious, while I understand that sharing is difficult, and I will of course be sensitive about this, I cannot help you with issues you do not share with me - and these may impact on our work and ultimately on what you get out of the therapy process.

Therapeutic work can inherently feel challenging due to increased awareness or reduced avoidance of internal and external experiences - but it should never feel unmanageable. I will always ensure any work we engage in is collaboratively decided, with your informed consent. You do not have to, and should not, engage in any work without understanding the rationale behind it and feeling confident that it was ultimately your choice. We can always discuss, review, reiterate, and break things down such that you feel confident in the work we are doing together.

If I feel at any point that my approach is not the most suited to you, I will of course discuss this with you and we will agree on next steps, such as referrals and sign-posting.

Another big question with a lot of nuance! Without being waffly, it really depends on what you mean by ‘healing’, what your expectations are, and what timeline you have in mind. I’m not going to say it’s impossible because in some cases time or changing unhelpful or even toxic circumstances can absolutely heal. Some people also get lucky and come across the right set of resources and do some work themselves. Some people don’t find certain types of therapy helpful. But if you relate to what you see on this website, if you give it a real chance, it could get you closer to where you want to get, more quickly. The rest is up to you!

Not at the moment, no. It means fewer limitations around logistics (like number of sessions) for you, too!