Finder

Offers

• Face-to-face consultations
• Video and telephone consultations

About me

Can you tell me a bit about your background?
I first became motivated to pursue a career as a Clinical Psychologist during my undergraduate studies at the University of Leeds.

Afterwards, I completed a master's degree in Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences at King's College London. I then worked as a Dementia Coordinator and Clinical Psychologist Assistant Practitioner in community learning disability teams across Surrey and London. My proudest achievement so far has been earning my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from King's College London.

These roles have allowed me work with many people who differed in age, gender, cultural backgrounds, and neurodiversity. To date, my clinical experience includes:

Delivering therapy for adults struggling with low mood and/or anxiety.
Providing individual and group support to young people with ADHD and autism.
Offering therapy for older adults experiencing mental health problems, difficulties in managing grief, and/or relationship challenges.
Providing therapy for individuals who have experienced trauma.
Offering assessments, therapies, and family support for individuals with learning disabilities and/or autism. This includes working with families in crisis.
Delivering therapies and family support for people with psychosis.
Offering neuropsychological assessments for individuals experiencing cognitive difficulties.
What will it be like when I meet you?
I appreciate that people might be coming to therapy with different preconceptions, goals, past experiences, and/or worries. As starting therapy takes a lot of courage, it is important we go at your pace.

As such, our first session together will focus on:

getting to know each other to make sure I am the right fit for you.
exploring the difficulties you would like support with. We might also start to develop your goals and think about the type of therapy best suited to meet these.
covering other important aspects such as confidentiality, session length, and timings so we know what to expect from each other.

What would it be like to work with you?
I believe an essential part of therapy is the creation of a supportive, trusting, and positive relationship. As this takes time to develop, I will ask for feedback at various stages to better understand the aspects of therapy you have liked and the things I can do differently.

A personal value of mine is to 'not assume what you don't know'. As such, I try to promote equal partnerships through mutual collaboration, curiosity, openness, and will encourage learning outside of our sessions (for both of us).

Through working together, I hope we are able to discover new and meaningful insights which promote recovery, self-growth, and opportunities which help you live the life you want.

What therapies do you use and what kind of difficulties do you help people with?

I use an 'integrative' approach when delivering therapy, which means I might draw on different types of therapy to help you meet your goals. Although most of my experience has been in CBT, I have also delivered other therapies, including:

Cognitive Analytic Therapy
Compassion Focused Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Tree of Life
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
CBT for psychosis
These approaches have helped me support individuals struggling with low mood, anxiety, grief/loss, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, psychosis, and the impact of trauma.

I also have experience creating Positive Behavioural Support plans for people with autism, their families, and support networks.

What are your interests outside of psychology?

Playing and watching sports has always helped me relax and stay active. One of my biggest passions is football and I also enjoy wakeboarding, tennis, and badminton.

From a young age, my Grandad instilled in me a love of history which I continue to enjoy through reading, going to museums, and watching documentaries.

Areas of interest

Anxiety; Depression; Stress; Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD); Bipolar Disorder; Panic Disorder; Social Anxiety; Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD); Phobias; Eating Disorders; Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD); Schizophrenia; Autism; Borderline Personality Disorder; Insomnia; Grief and Loss; Addiction; Low Self-Esteem; Anger Management Issues; Relationship Problems. This list is not exhaustive.

Medical secretaries

• Larisa Popa
• 020 8936 7666
• contact@theoaktreepractice.com