Treatment Approaches That Inform Our Work

EMDR is a well-established, evidence-based psychotherapy. It is recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has a strong and growing evidence base for treating anxiety, depression, and other emotional difficulties in both children and adults.

EMDR helps people recover from distressing or traumatic experiences that continue to affect them in the present. These effects can include flashbacks, intrusive thoughts or images, feeling constantly on edge, strong emotional reactions, or avoiding reminders of what happened.

Our brains usually process difficult experiences naturally over time. However, when an event is overwhelming, this processing system can become disrupted. The memory may feel “stuck,” as if it is happening now rather than in the past. This can lead to ongoing anxiety, distress, and negative beliefs about yourself, others, and the world around us.

EMDR supports the brain to reprocess these memories safely. The memory does not disappear, but it becomes less emotionally intense and feels like something that happened in the past rather than something you are reliving. Many people find that the distress reduces significantly and that they feel freer to move forward with their lives.

You can watch a short video explaining EMDR below:

In EMDR, we often use the metaphor of a filing cabinet to explain how memories are normally processed, and what can happen to this ‘normal’ processing when we experience something that is traumatic.

When memories are processed normally, it’s a bit like your brain placing an experience into the correct folder in a filing cabinet. You can take it out, think about it, and then put it back. It feels like something that happened in the past.

When something traumatic and overwhelming happens, the brain may not store it properly. Instead of being filed away, the memory stays loose in the drawer, still attached to the intense emotions, body sensations, and alarm signals from the time it happened. When something reminds you of it, it can feel as though the whole file has spilled out again, and the experience feels very present and immediate.

EMDR helps the brain finish the filing process. Through structured therapy, the memory is gradually stored in the right place. It doesn’t disappear, but it no longer feels raw or current. When you think about it, it feels like something that happened then, in the past, not something happening now, and the emotional intensity is much reduced.

CBT is a well-established, evidence-based talking therapy recommended by NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) for the treatment of a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, low mood, panic, phobias, OCD, and stress.

CBT is based on the theory that our thoughts, feelings, physical reactions, and behaviours are closely connected. When one changes, the others tend to shift too.

When we’re anxious, low, or overwhelmed, it’s easy to get caught in unhelpful thinking patterns or habits which then subsequently influence what we feel and do creating unhelpful feedback loops that (unintentionally) keep problems going. CBT helps you to:

• Notice these patterns
• Step back and question them
• Try new ways of responding

Sessions are active and collaborative. You and your psychologist work together to understand what may be maintaining the difficulty and to develop practical strategies to create change. There are often exercises to try between sessions to help build confidence and reinforce new skills.

CBT is usually time-limited and goal-focused. Many people find it empowering because they leave with tools they can continue using long after therapy has finished.

ACT is an evidence-based therapy that falls within the family of behavioural approaches and grounded in evolutionary science. Rather than focusing on a specific diagnosis, ACT offers a helpful way of understanding how we respond to difficult thoughts and feelings as human beings.

ACT recognises that we cannot always control what shows up in our minds or bodies — such as anxiety, sadness, unhelpful thoughts, self-doubt, or painful memories. Instead of trying to eliminate these experiences, ACT helps you change your relationship with them.

ACT helps you to learn skills to:

• Make space for difficult thoughts and emotions rather than fighting them
• Step back from unhelpful thinking patterns, learn ways to respond differently to them or ‘turn the volume down’
• Clarify what truly matters to you, spend time exploring and identifying your values for the stage of life you are at now
• Take small, meaningful actions guided by your values

At the heart of ACT is the idea of psychological flexibility, the ability to respond to life with openness and awareness, and to choose actions that move you towards the kind of person you want to be, even when things feel hard.

ACT can be particularly helpful for anxiety, stress, feeling disconnected with your life and living alongside long-term health challenges.

CFT is particularly helpful for people who struggle with self-criticism, shame, or a persistent sense of “not being good enough.”

Many of us have a strong inner critic. CFT helps you understand where that voice developed from and supports you to build a kinder, steadier, and more supportive inner voice instead.

Drawing on psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary science, CFT helps you to:

• Understand how your brain’s threat and self-protection systems work
• Reduce shame and self-criticism
• Develop self-compassion and emotional resilience
• Feel safer and more secure in relationships

Compassion in this context does not mean lowering standards, being ‘soft’, or “letting yourself off the hook.” It means learning to motivate yourself through encouragement, understanding, and strength rather than harshness or fear.

CAT is a model that helps us understand people, not just problems. At its heart it provides a structure to support us to better understand our relationship patterns with ourselves, others and the wider world, and how these patterns may contribute to suffering. CAT uses the therapeutic relationship, letters and diagrams as tools to work on difficulties and highlight ways to take steps towards making changes. It is a structured, time limited therapy that also includes monitoring in between sessions to help you keep CAT in mind.