Therapies
Below is a list of therapies that we offer to support families. As clinical psychologists we are trained in various models of therapy and we work in an integrative way, tailoring the therapy to the specific needs of the parent/family/parent-child.
We offer free, initial consultations to discuss the possibilities of therapy. For details regarding our fees for any of the therapies below, please click here.
Individual Therapies
Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy -DIT
DIT is a sixteen session talking therapy that draws upon psychoanalytic and psychodynamic approaches. DIT follows the stance that the problems we experience often occur in patterns that we can become stuck in. For instance, a period of anxiety might be an outcome of a difficult relationship dynamic within our life; the aim is to bring this more into awareness. You also speak about the here and now: your work life, intimate relationships, relationships with your child(ren), things that have come up for you in the past week - this helps us to make sense of your current difficulties and mood. DIT is a NICE recommended talking therapy among four others recommended for depression, and it has the strongest empirical evidence for efficacy in outcome controlled trails (Lemma et al. 2008).
Compassion Focused Therapy - CFT
CFT is a type of psychotherapy that integrates techniques from CBT with concepts from evolutionary psychology, attachment theories, social psychology and neuroscience. CFT can help with problems related to shame, guilt and self-criticism in particular, which often have their origins in experiences of childhood abuse, neglect or bullying. The model is based on the idea that the human brain has evolved three (at least) distinct emotion regulation systems, and it is the links between these emotional regulation systems that the therapy focuses on.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - CBT
CBT is a form of talking therapy. It is based on the idea that our thoughts influence the way we react and respond to different events. It aims to identify unhelpful thought-feeling-behaviour cycles, and helps the person to develop alternative ways of thinking about and/or responding to situations. There is a large amount of research evidence to support the use of CBT to treat many common mental health problems, including anxiety & depression. CBT treatment is a collaborative, structured and time-limited therapy.
Other Therapies
Couple's Therapy
Family and couples therapy (also referred to as systemic psychotherapy) aims to help couples understand each other's perspectives. We discuss differences in parenting styles, communication breakdowns and support each person to tell their story. We may think about inter-generational parenting patterns and influences from the family's wider contexts. Couples therapy gives everyone the chance to express and explore their feelings in a safe, non-judgemental environment.
Parent-Child Relationship -Video Intervention for Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline
VIPP-SD is a strongly evidenced approach which aims to support parents to better understand their child’s sometimes complex communications. Your therapist will do this by watching video material of you and your child doing an activity, in a gentle and non-intrusive way, and following this, will give some thoughtful and constructive verbal feedback. We know that you are best placed to distinguish your child’s cues and signals, as research tells us, but we also recognize that sometimes parents can feel stuck in trying to understand and respond to their child differently. VIPP was developed by some of the world’s leading attachment researchers, to prevent or reduce behavioral problems in children below the age of six. Its successes have been extensively reported in peer reviewed journals. VIPP is based on attachment and behavioural principles.
You can watch a video about a parent’s experience of VIPP-SD: