Hi, I’m Maddy. I am a clinical psychologist with over ten years’ experience working in psychology and mental health services in the NHS. Since qualifying as a clinical psychologist, I have completed further training in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and I am an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) therapist in training. I work in NHS adult community mental health services alongside my private work, offering assessment, formulation and therapy to people experiencing difficulties with their mental health. In my NHS role, I also provide clinical supervision to qualified and trainee psychologists.

I specialise in therapy with people who have experienced difficulties or trauma in their past which continue to affect them now. These kinds of experiences can affect our relationship to ourselves - perhaps becoming self-critical, or having low confidence or self-esteem. It might look like a difficult relationship with our emotions. This can mean struggling with intense feelings of fear, anger, sadness, jealousy, guilt or shame, and find these emotions difficult to manage in healthy ways. We may experience flashbacks to past traumatic experiences. We might also have times when we feel very disconnected from emotions, ourselves, or the world.

Painful past experiences can affect our relationships with others too. This can look like difficulties with trust and boundaries – either finding it hard to trust others, or trusting too easily. Sometimes we may take on too much responsibility, find ourselves people pleasing, or experience rejection from others as very painful. We might find ourselves either being too hard on others, or perhaps being too easygoing at the expense of ourselves and what we need. We may end up avoiding relationships entirely, leaving us feeling lonely and isolated.

If any of this connects with you, and you would like to find out more about therapy with me, please get in touch at maddyharrispsychology@protonmail.com.