Areas of Practice
What I specialise in
Each of the areas below is something I work with regularly. Click any section to find out more about how CBT can help.
Anxiety & overthinking
Racing thoughts that won't switch off, constant "what if" scenarios running through your mind, a nagging physical tension you can't shake — anxiety has a way of pulling you out of the present moment and into an endless loop of worry. It might be keeping you up at night, making it hard to focus at work, or stopping you from fully engaging with the people and things you care about.
In CBT, we look at the thoughts, behaviours, and physical sensations that keep anxiety going. Together we'll work on thought challenging to examine whether your worries are as likely or as catastrophic as they feel, use mindfulness techniques to help you stay grounded in the present, run behavioural experiments to test out anxious predictions, and introduce worry time scheduling to contain rumination rather than let it run all day.
Anxiety feels overwhelming, but it responds well to structured CBT approaches — and most people notice meaningful change within a relatively short course of sessions. Many people experience both health anxiety and general worry. Book a free consultation →
Perfectionism & high standards
You set yourself high standards — perhaps too high. There's a creeping sense that anything less than perfect isn't good enough, which can lead to procrastination (if I can't do it perfectly, I won't start), all-or-nothing thinking, and a harsh internal critic that's quick to point out every shortcoming. What began as motivation has become a source of stress and self-doubt.
CBT for perfectionism involves challenging the beliefs that drive unrealistic standards and examining whether they're actually helping you achieve more or just making you miserable. We'll use graded exposure to practise doing things "well enough," do values clarification work to reconnect with what really matters to you, and build in self-compassion techniques so you can recognise your efforts without constantly finding them wanting.
We can work on flexibility without lowering your standards — the goal is to have high standards that serve you, not ones that hold you hostage. Perfectionism often leads to performance pressure and can contribute to low mood. Book a free consultation →
Health anxiety
Constant worry about symptoms, googling medical conditions, seeking reassurance from doctors or family. Health anxiety can make every physical sensation feel threatening.
CBT helps you understand how health anxiety works — the cycle between worry, checking, and increased anxiety. We'll work on challenging unhelpful thoughts, reducing checking behaviours, and building tolerance for uncertainty about health.
Health anxiety responds well to structured CBT, but it takes patience with yourself as you learn to trust your body again. Health anxiety often includes OCD-like checking behaviours. Want to talk about this? Book a free consultation →
OCD-spectrum difficulties
Intrusive thoughts that feel dangerous or meaningful, a compulsion to check, wash, or count until something feels "just right," or a sense of dread that lingers until a ritual is completed — OCD-spectrum difficulties can take up enormous mental and physical energy. The compulsions bring temporary relief, but the relief is short-lived, and the cycle repeats with increasing intensity.
The most effective treatment for OCD is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), which we build up gradually at a pace that feels manageable. We'll also work on cognitive defusion — learning to observe intrusive thoughts without fusing with them or treating them as commands — and on developing tolerance for the uncertainty that OCD works so hard to avoid.
ERP is the gold-standard treatment and we can build up gradually at your pace — there's no need to face your fears all at once. Many people with OCD also experience health anxiety symptoms. Book a free consultation →
Performance pressure & exam stress
A presentation or exam on the horizon and your mind fills with worst-case scenarios — forgetting everything, being judged, failing publicly. You might experience physical symptoms: heart racing, voice trembling, mind going blank. In the run-up you might avoid preparation because thinking about it feels too threatening, which only adds to the pressure when the moment arrives.
We'll use graded exposure to help you confront performance situations progressively rather than avoiding them, cognitive restructuring to challenge catastrophic thinking about failure, practical relaxation techniques to manage the physical symptoms, and confidence-building strategies that prepare you for the real thing.
Performance anxiety is incredibly common and very treatable with structured CBT — many people are surprised by how quickly they start to feel more in control. Performance pressure often overlaps with general anxiety patterns. Book a free consultation →
Low mood, burnout & motivation
Everything feels heavy and pointless. Activities that used to bring satisfaction now feel like obligations — or you've stopped doing them altogether. A cynical inner voice keeps questioning the point of trying. The exhaustion isn't just physical; it's a deep flatness that makes it hard to picture things improving. Burnout can look similar: the drive is gone, and everything at work or home feels like too much effort.
CBT for low mood starts with behavioural activation — reintroducing small, meaningful activities to begin breaking the withdrawal cycle, even before you feel motivated to do them. We'll add thought monitoring to notice unhelpful patterns, values work to reconnect with what matters, energy management strategies, and attention to sleep and basic self-care that gets deprioritised when mood drops.
When motivation is low, we start small and build momentum together — the goal is progress, not a sudden turnaround. Low mood frequently connects to perfectionism and self-criticism. Book a free consultation →
Insomnia & sleep difficulties
Your mind switches on the moment you get into bed. You lie there going over the day, worrying about tomorrow, aware of every minute ticking past. Or you fall asleep easily enough but wake at 3am with your thoughts racing. You're tired but wired — and the harder you try to sleep, the more elusive it becomes. Sleep itself has become another source of anxiety and dread.
CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia) is a structured programme that addresses both the behaviours and thoughts that perpetuate sleep problems. We'll work on sleep hygiene and stimulus control (retraining your brain to associate bed with sleep), introduce relaxation training, use worry time to contain night-time rumination, and consider sleep restriction if appropriate — a counterintuitive but highly effective technique.
CBT-I is as effective as sleep medication without the side effects — and crucially, the improvements tend to last. Book a free consultation →
Panic & physical anxiety symptoms
Heart pounding, difficulty breathing, a feeling that something terrible is about to happen — panic attacks are one of the most frightening experiences a person can have. After the first one, the fear of having another can become all-consuming, leading to avoidance of places, situations, or physical sensations that might trigger it. Your world can start to shrink around the fear.
We'll begin with panic psychoeducation — understanding exactly what's happening in your body during a panic attack, and why it's uncomfortable but not dangerous. From there we'll use interoceptive exposure (gradually getting comfortable with the physical sensations that trigger fear), breathing retraining to manage symptoms in the moment, and gradual exposure to situations you've been avoiding.
Panic attacks feel dangerous but they're not — and CBT can help you feel confident in your body again, without the constant worry of "what if it happens here?" Book a free consultation →
I also work with
Alongside the main specialisms above, I regularly support people with:
- Anger and frustration
- Social anxiety
- Phobias
- Self-esteem and self-criticism
- Adjustment to life changes