Clinical Psychologist: Liz Boyd

Background

I have worked in adult mental health in a psychological capacity for over 20 years across community, forensic and hospital (NHS/independent) settings. I commenced in independent practice in 2014 offering therapeutic and medico-legal services which I continue to do to this day.Dr Liz Boyd

I am a Chartered Clinical Psychologist (qualifying in 2010) and registered with and regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). I have a MSc in Applied Forensic Psychology and I am qualified in Systemic Practice with the Association of Family Therapy as a Systemic Practitioner. I have undertaken further training and qualification with Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). My main areas of specialism and interest are in Adult Mental Health, Adults with Learning Disabilities and Forensic Mental Health and Behaviour.

I specialise in the following:

• Mood and Emotional Difficulties (e.g., persistent pervasive low mood, mood dysregulation, anger).
• Anxiety, Panic, Obsessive compulsive behaviours and excessive fear.
• Self-Harming behaviours.
• Trauma Stress (e.g., Nightmares, Flashbacks, Persistent Sense of Dread).
• Sleep Disturbances.

Psychological theory, science and models can be used to achieve change for people. Central to the therapy work is developing a shared understanding with you of how any challenges and experiences in your life have led to certain difficulties or behaviours.

Realistic and achievable targets are agreed for the therapy based on your needs. A therapy plan is followed that fits with your short and longer term goals. The plan and therapy goals form a pivotal role for reviewing progress during therapy.

As a Clinical Psychologist and with the range of further therapeutic training and experience undertaken, I can draw on a number of different therapy approaches and techniques including NICE recommended Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT); Rational-Emotive Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (REBT); Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) and Systemic Family Therapy.

I also draw upon Internal Family Systems Therapy as well as more neurobiologically informed approaches with consideration to Ego state/Parts work and Polyvagal theory. These different therapies are delivered according to professional and clinical guidelines and tailored to the needs of individuals and the presenting issues. Overarching the delivery and utilisation of these therapy approaches is the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF). This is an alternative non-medicalised model of mental health and psychological difficulty. I am a member of the BPS PTMF Sub-committee.

Please refer to my website for further information, contact details, my qualifications and accreditation details.

https://www.elizabethboyd.co.uk/

Tel: 07901 867011

DrEBoyd@protonmail.com

CBT/EMDR Therapist – Renata Königsman

I have been working as a psychologist/psychotherapist in private practice in Bristol since June 2009.

I am a Psychologist (MSc.), Counsellor (PgDipCouns), Cognitive-Behavioural Psychotherapist (PgDipCBT), and an EMDR practitioner (Level 3 training).Renata March 2023

As a bilingual therapist I work with both Polish and English speaking clients. Apart from private practice I also work as a psychotherapist in the NHS and a supervisor for the University of Exeter.

I have been working therapeutically using an Integrative approach but mainly Cognitive – Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which  is a recommended treatment for Depression and Anxiety Disorders : Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive – Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, Health Anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder etc. as well as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), which is very effective for Trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and difficult memories.

Other areas of psychological help include:

  • Anger Issues,
  • Assertiveness,
  • Bereavement,
  • Eating Disorders,
  • Physical Health Problems,
  • Relationships,
  • Self Esteem,
  • Sleep Problems,

I’m accredited by the BABCP (British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies)  and currently working towards accreditation from EMDR Association UK and Ireland.

Contact:

Tel: 079 6262 0011
E-mail: renata.konigsman@gmail.com  Website: www.renata-psychotherapy.com

 

Consultant Clinical Psychologist: Caroline Coffey

Please note that during the pandemic I am seeing clients both face-to-face and on-line.

Caroline Coffey is an experienced Consultant Clinical Psychologist offering Caroline Coffeya range of therapeutic assessment and treatments for adults including couple therapy. She completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2006, has been practising as a clinical psychologist since, and is registered with the Health Care Professions Council. She has wide experience of working with clients across the lifespan from diverse backgrounds with a variety of presenting difficulties.

Therapies

Dr Coffey is experienced in using a range of psychological approaches to treatment including cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), cognitive analytic therapy (CAT), compassion focused therapy (CFT), and psychodynamic psychotherapy. She is skilled at discussing and adapting such models to best fit the needs of the client. She is committed to providing a safe and non-judgemental space for clients to feel heard, understood and empowered to explore patterns and difficulties they are experiencing. Short and longer term therapy options are available. The frequency of appointments can be discussed at assessment.

Clinical Experience

Dr Coffey’s clinical experience has included working with adults who are presenting with low mood, managing longer term patterns of depression including the use of medications, high anxiety and patterns of worry, including health anxiety. Relationship difficulties, improving sexual wellbeing and changing patterns of high risk sexual behaviour, issues of sexual identity and the emotional impact of discrimination and homophobia, experiences of abuse, harmful behaviours and trauma, difficulties managing emotions and self-harming behaviours including the use of drugs and alcohol to manage difficult emotions. She has wide experience of working with clients who have poor physical health and the negative impact this can have on emotional well-being, quality of life and relationships.

Booking an Assessment Appointment

It can be difficult to know which therapist to choose and what therapeutic approach is most suitable for your presenting difficulties. Dr Coffey is highly experienced at using the initial appointments to make a connection with the client, to have a collaborative discussion about how she can help and work together with the client to plan and bring about change. The assessment appointment is an opportunity for the client to see if they feel that a working relationship can be established and are comfortable to talk.

If you would like to book an assessment or have any questions then please make contact.

Contact Details

Caroline Coffey: Carolinelouisecoffey@icloud.com

Mobile: 07775 879728

Availability for Assessment and Therapy Appointments:

Fridays, 09.00 – 1.00 pm at  the Bristol Talking Therapy Rooms.

Clinical Psychologist: Dr Dominic Glover

Background

Clinical Psychologist: Dr Dominic GloverDominic completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2004 and has worked in NHS adult psychological therapies services since that time. He has worked as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Lead Clinician for an NHS service in West London before re-locating to the South-West.

Dominic’s specialist area is working with adults who are experiencing difficulties with low mood or anxiety. He has published in the area of clinical perfectionism, and has worked individually and facilitated groups for people experiencing low self-esteem, insomnia, depression and anxiety disorders.

Therapeutic Approach

Dominic has a collaborative and structured approach to therapy. He has specialist training and experience in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) having completed a postgraduate diploma in CBT in 2009 and he has taught and supervised extensively in this modality. He completed Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) training in 2014 and has used this approach alongside CBT since that time.

Dominic has also attended training in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and integrates ideas and methods from those therapies into his clinical work where appropriate

Difficulties treated

  • Depression and low mood
  • Low self-worth
  • Panic attacks
  • Worry
  • Work-related stress
  • Social anxiety
  • OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder)
  • PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)
  • Childhood trauma
  • Perfectionism
  • Insomnia

Qualifications

  • Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London, 2004
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, 2009

Accreditation:

  • Accredited with the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP)
  • Registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC)
  • Chartered through the British Psychological Society (BPS)
  • Member of EMDR UK and Ireland

Contact:

To find out more or to book an appointment:

Email: dominic@dgpsychology.com

Website: www.dgpsychology.com

Consultant Clinical Psychologist: Peter Walker

Peter WalkerDr Walker provides therapeutic interventions for adults and children with a range of mental health difficulties, including Depression, Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Dr Walker became an Associate Member of the British Psychological Society in 2012 and he is registered with the Health Professions Council as a Practitioner Psychologist.

Individualised treatments

A key aspect of Clinical Psychology is the training across a range of psychological theories and their research bases. Clinical Psychologists are trained in the principles and applications of clinical approaches such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Family Systemic approaches as well as Developmental and Social Psychology and Neuropsychology. As such, Clinical Psychologists are able to assess a wide range of distressing difficulties and importantly, they are able to consider the key factors that underpin the difficulties.

Picking the right treatment

Such factors might range from the subtle effects of a brain injury to the beliefs held by a family, or from the active imagination typical of middle childhood to issues that are currently outside the client’s awareness. With this range of knowledge to draw from, Clinical Psychologists are well suited to provide treatments that address the most relevant factors for the client and that meet their needs as an individual. All interventions are delivered with clear and realistic goals, a shared formulation and regular reviews to ensure a collaborative approach to treatment.

While many people with psychological difficulties recover spontaneously with time, relying on their own coping strategies and the support of those around them, for many there is a need for professional therapeutic intervention. There is a full range of approaches and theoretical backgrounds behind psychological therapies and some of these are explained below. However, at the core of all psychological therapies, and indeed to all services I provide, are the core principles of respect, compassion, clear shared goals, and collaboration.

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) involves the collaborative and systematic evaluation and modification of the unhelpful thinking styles that can underpin many distressing emotional conditions. While one’s emotional responses are often viewed as an inevitable reaction to the current set of circumstances, the appraisal of the situation (i.e. the thinking) is often the bridge between situation and emotion. Thus identification and adaptation of the thought content (e.g. a belief that one is a selfish person) and the thought processes (e.g. a tendency to dismiss evidence to suggest that one is actually a caring person) can be effective in altering the thinking that triggers low mood and other emotionally distressing states.

At the heart of CBT is the premise that therapist and client are working as a team to objectively investigate the thinking and behaviour patterns underlying distress and to arrive at a joint understanding of the types of previous experiences that led to the development of these patterns. From these efforts, a working formulation is achieved from which treatment goals are negotiated. CBT comprises several techniques to address unhelpful beliefs such as recording of thoughts, evaluating the evidence for and against the beliefs and imagery exercises. In addition, there is a strong emphasis upon the client and therapist team setting behavioural experiments in order to test the accuracy of previously held beliefs and expectations.

Eye Movement Desensitisation (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychological intervention for trauma and other psychological conditions, including anxieties and complex grief. The intervention works on the premise that traumatic incidents are thought to be stored in the brain in isolated networks. Through the process of intrusive activations of these disturbing memories and then the subsequent avoidance of them, the traumatic memory networks are believed to remain isolated. In this way, people are typically left with a sense that the traumatic event is ever present and not in the past and that the traumatic event has usually left an altered and negative belief that they hold about themselves (e.g. “I am vulnerable”).

EMDR helps the individual to process the traumatic memories within a safe context. Eye movements are typically created by asking the client to follow the therapist’s hand, which moves from one side of their visual field to the other. Alternatively, bilateral movements (i.e. left to right to left etc.) are employed through hand tapping or other forms of stimulation that the client prefers. These movements are believed to work by keeping the client’s attention with both the traumatic memories and the safety of the present. In addition, the bilateral stimulation is believed to speed up the effective processing of traumatic memories.

Through this process, the client engages in a natural healing process in which the isolated memory becomes integrated with healthy aspects of the client. New perspectives and meanings often occur such as the spontaneous recollection of positive memories of the trauma (e.g. when help arrived or recalling a brave action) and shifts in the negative beliefs that have developed (e.g. from ‘I am vulnerable’ to ‘I am strong’). Often, EMDR helps people to fully feel that the trauma was something that, while very unpleasant, is in the past and is no longer part of their life.

Contact:

Peter Walker

www.compass-psychological.co.uk

pwalker@com-psy.co.uk

Tel. 0117 973 1323