"Storms make trees take deeper roots."

Dolly Parton

About Rowan Tree Therapy Services based in Ponteland, Northumberland

The rowan tree symbolises healing, growth and protection, values that will underpin our work together, be that in the strategies we learn, or the safe, nurturing space provided.

Our first session will be an assessment session, where I gain a better understanding of your difficulties, your strengths, and your background. This may need more than one session depending on the amount of information shared. We then identify your therapy goals, and the best therapeutic model to support you to reach these, if you haven't already decided. For example, some people arrive already knowing what therapy they would like, some people aren't sure and need more guidance from me -- either is fine.

We will then create a psychological formulation, which is a shared understanding of what's maintaining your difficulties and specific strategies that may help. Think of this as a road map for therapy. Many people find this deeper psychological understanding helpful in itself.

Next comes the intervention, regularly checking in on the formulation and your therapy goals, as these can change as we progress.

Of course, the most important thing in any therapy is our rapport, and I pride myself on providing a comfortable and safe space for you to heal and grow.

WORK WITH ME

About A Session

Sessions are either in person in South Northumberland, or online, which has been shown to be just as effective as face to face.

How Long Will A Session Last?

Sessions mostly last for 50 minutes, but I offer longer sessions for EMDR when appropriate.

How Much Does It Cost?

Sessions are £120 for 50 minutes. I work with most major insurance companies so please enquire to see if I'm registered with them. Please note that prices for insurance clients may vary.

Who do I work with?

I work with adults and teens who suffer from a range of mental health difficulties, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, grief, attachment difficulties, trauma and complex trauma, burn-out, and adjustment to physical health conditions and menopause. I have specialist experience of supporting people who suffer from chronic illness. It is outside my scope of expertise to support people whose main difficulty is Psychosis, or Anorexia, or someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID.)

How many sessions will I need?

Most people I work with need between 10 and 25 sessions, but we can do less if you require a focused, strategy-based piece of work, or more, say if you wanted to work on complex PTSD or undertake more relational work. This is something we can discuss in either the initial consultation (a free 15 minute phone call,) or the initial assessment session.

What do I do if I'm in crisis?

Rowan Tree Psychology is not a crisis service. If you are in crisis, please contact your GP, your local crisis team on 111, the Samaritans on 116123, or you can ring the emergency services on 999.

How do I contact you?

Please complete the contact form, briefly letting me know what you would like support with. I'll then email you to organise either an initial assessment or a free fifteen minute initial phone call to see if we are a good fit.

What is your clinic room like?

I rent a beautiful therapy space in South Northumberland, not far from Newcastle Airport. There is plenty of parking directly outside, free for 2 hours.

"You've been criticising yourself for years and it hasn't worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens."

Louise L. Hay

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

EMDR is an evidence-based therapy that supports your brain's natural information processing system to move towards healing. It works particularly well with trauma, but is also helpful for other mental health difficulties, which are often underpinned by difficult or traumatic events.

EMDR is gaining popularity not just because of its evidence base, but because it generally doesn't require the client to talk as much as other therapeutic models which cuts down on the need for the client to retell their traumatic stories again and again. It also generally requires less homework between sessions. Learn more...

Compassion Focused Therapy

Compassion Focused Therapy isn't just about self-care or kindness, but the cultivation of wisdom and resilience or strength. It is particularly good for working with guilt and shame, helping clients to develop their compassionate mind and increase their flow of compassion towards themselves. For these reasons, Compassion Focused Therapy is an especially good trans-diagnostic therapy, meaning that it helps most difficulties and presentations, regardless of diagnosis or labels.

Compassion Focused Therapy also calls on theories of human evolution to help better understand our emotions and motivations, and supports us to better balance our emotional systems in order to move towards a happier and more fulfilled life.

Integrative Therapy

As a Clinical Psychologist, I am trained in several core therapeutic models, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Systemic therapy and Psychodynamic therapy. On top of this, I have also sought extra training in several different therapies. This means I can individually tailor interventions to suit your needs, blending different therapeutic models so you receive the best fit. This could include components of Compassion focused Therapy and EMDR, but could also draw on Mindfulness, Polyvagal therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Chronic Illness Support

Having suffered with Long Covid/ME/Chronic Lyme's, I am well placed to understand the unique struggles that chronic illness brings. This could be recovering from medical trauma, or navigating the grief that arises from lost social opportunities, work, studies, or relationships, or it could be helping you to process and cope with the understandable increase in difficult emotions such as anxiety, anger and/or hopelessness. I can help you to build your soothing strategies and calm your nervous system, or we can work with illness related guilt and shame, helping you to replace that critical voice with self compassion. Whatever you would like support with, we will work towards supporting you to find a happier and more fulfilled life, wherever you may be on your recovery journey. Learn more...

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