For adults
Therapy for adults with OCD and anxiety
Most people who contact me have already tried therapy of some kind. It helped them feel understood, and it did not shift the problem. That is usually a question of method rather than effort.
At a glance
- Treatment
- ERP and CBT, delivered to protocol
- Where
- Online across the UK · in person near Nottingham and Mansfield
- When
- Weekdays, 9am to 9pm — including after work
- Fees
- £120 per session · £180 initial assessment
- First step
- A free 30-minute call, with no obligation
- HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist
- Chartered Psychologist (BPS)
- Board certified by the ABPP
- PhD, University of Washington
- Recognised by BUPA, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality & WPA
What this is
A narrow specialism, done properly
I treat anxiety, OCD and closely related problems in adults. That is the whole list, and keeping it short is deliberate.
Adult anxiety problems are maintained by things you are doing to feel safer: checking, avoiding, mentally reviewing, asking for reassurance, googling symptoms, rehearsing conversations, scanning your body for signs. Every one of those makes the next hour easier and the next month harder. Treatment works by finding those behaviours, naming them accurately, and then systematically dropping them while you face what you have been avoiding.
That is uncomfortable, and it is also faster and more durable than talking around the problem. My job is to make the discomfort planned, graded and worth it — never sprung on you.
OCD in adults
Intrusive thoughts, contamination fears, checking, symmetry, rumination and reassurance-seeking, including so-called “Pure O”.
Read moreHealth anxiety
Body-checking, symptom googling, repeated GP visits and the relief that never lasts more than a day or two.
Read moreSocial anxiety
Rehearsing, replaying, avoiding, and the self-monitoring that makes conversation feel like a performance.
Read morePanic & agoraphobia
Panic attacks, fear of the sensations themselves, and a world that has quietly shrunk around avoiding them.
Read moreSpecific phobias
Needles, vomiting, flying, driving, animals, choking. Often treatable in a small number of sessions.
Read moreBody dysmorphic disorder
Mirror-checking, camouflaging, comparing and the pursuit of cosmetic fixes for a problem that is not cosmetic.
Read moreSkin picking & hair pulling
Body-focused repetitive behaviours, which need habit reversal rather than standard exposure work.
Read moreOCD with ADHD
Common, frequently missed, and it genuinely changes how ERP should be structured and paced.
Read moreEverything I treat
The full list, including the problems I do not take on and where I would send you instead.
See the full listHow treatment works
Four stages, and no obligation at the first
You should know roughly what you are agreeing to before you pay for anything.
- A free 30-minute call
You describe what is happening. I tell you whether this is work I do, roughly what it would involve, and roughly how long it tends to take. If I am not the right person, I will try to point you to someone who is.
- A 90-minute assessment
We map the problem in detail — triggers, what you do to cope, what has already been tried, and what it is costing you. You leave with a formulation and a plan in plain English rather than a label.
- Active treatment
Weekly sessions of ERP or CBT, with agreed practice between them. Most of the change happens between sessions; the session is where we plan it, review it and troubleshoot it.
- Ending, deliberately
We track your targets, space sessions out as things improve, and finish with a written plan for handling setbacks. The aim is that you do not need me.
What makes this different from general counselling
Counselling and general talking therapy help a great many people with a great many problems. For OCD and anxiety disorders specifically, the difference tends to come down to three things.
- Fidelity. ERP has a structure, and diluted ERP does not work as well as ERP. That means real exposure tasks, agreed in advance, with the safety behaviours actually dropped rather than quietly retained.
- Board certification. I am board certified in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology, a credential that requires examination of actual clinical work rather than a course certificate.
- Doctoral training. A PhD in clinical psychology at the University of Washington, an internship at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Harborview Medical Center, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Evidence-Based Treatment Centers of Seattle, where I was Director of Training and Education and then Assistant Director of the Child Anxiety Center.
Practical things people ask before booking
No referral needed. You can contact me directly. A GP letter is useful background but it is not required.
Sessions run to 9pm on weekdays, so treatment does not have to cost you a day’s work.
Online or in person. I work with people anywhere in the UK by video, and in person near Ravenshead, Nottingham and Mansfield. For some anxiety problems, online work is actually the better option, because the exposure happens where the problem lives.
Fees are £120 a session, with the longer initial assessment at £180. I am recognised by BUPA, AXA Health, Aviva, Vitality, WPA, and I hold a small number of reduced-fee places. If cost is the obstacle, say so on the call.
Fees & insuranceNot sure whether this is the right fit?
Start with a free 30-minute call. We will talk through what is going on, I will tell you honestly whether I think I can help, and if I cannot I will try to point you to someone who can. There is no obligation and no charge.