Unlocking healing through mind body science
Reclaiming faith in your body and self comes before symptoms go
Your symptoms are not "all in your head". The fact that you've not gotten answers and felt dismissed or disbelieved is a sign of a healthcare system failing you, not a sign of you failing.
The mind and body are interconnected through brain activity (neuroscience), immune activity
(psychoneuroimmunology) and through nervous system processes. Ignoring these processes leaves fundamental parts of the puzzle neglected. You may wonder why you can't stick at health behaviours you know are important. Or why
you can smash it and then crash and this pattern repeats over and over. You might not resonate with feeling stressed at all outside of having symptoms but when symptoms come you can't focus on anything else.
If you're not directly addressing these processes, you can stay stuck in symptom cycles.
Breaking the cycles can be simpler than you think. It takes clarity on the patterns that have evolved, how your biology has been impacted and impacts the patterns, feasible, clear goals and repetition. Learning these processes and how to apply them to your experience with compassion opens up choice, freedom, calm, hope and joy.
ABOUT ME
Psychologist,researcher... and patient
My career in health psychology is driven to this day, by my own experiences with health issues. Uncertainty, dismissal, pain, stress, isolation and despair. You name it, I felt it. And perhaps that's what brought you here.
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Because as wonderful as the NHS is, it lacks integration between your physical health experiences and your mental well-being. And in that gap, it is really difficult (perhaps even impossible) to heal and find your equilibrium again. That's where I come in.
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In over a decade of working in academia and the NHS, I have identified and developed research-backed processes that are fundamental for clients to reclaim their life from chronic conditions, stress and trauma.
As a qualified health psychologist, registered with the HCPC, as well as a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (BABCP accredited), EMDR Therapist and mindfulness teacher, I am trained in a range of evidence-based therapies that I can tailor to suit your difficulties. As a researcher, being evidence-based is important to me, as it should be to you. I follow the latest developments in psychotherapeutic approaches for physical health and trauma, as well as continuing to contribute to the research myself.
This means that you can have faith that the treatment you receive is backed by science and deep clinical knowledge.
My specialism is improving physical symptoms and functioning through psychology. I have worked with 100s of people with a range of long-term health conditions including irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's and colitis, chronic urinary tract infections, bladder pain syndrome and endometriosis (and many others). People who are overwhelmed and who are currently, experiencing a high degree of stress, may not have physical symptoms but experience low mood, lethargy or high anxiety, finding it impossible to relax. I use a biopsychosocial approach to understand how both psychological and physical factors are maintaining these issues. Together we identify key areas to target to break the cycle.
Amongst those I work with, are those who have experienced trauma, both with and without a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Trauma physically changes how your brain works and consequently it affects the central nervous system. This means that deep psychological stress can alter your physiology as well as your mental health.
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To get back to feeling like yourself, and find calm and pleasure without the preoccupation with physical symptoms, stress and overwhelm, I use tailored psychotherapeutic approaches to meet your specific goals.
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As featured in
Client with chronic UTI
Sula's knowledge and experience are really valuable, she is very intuitive and picks up on small things I say which I don’t realise have significance and has more insights into them. I feel listened to and understood and appreciate my sessions being personal and tailored to my needs. Starting sessions with sula has made a big difference to my recovery and I only wish I had started it sooner. Sula manages to put a lot of my preconceptions about UTIs into a different perspective and it no longer feels like there are limited options. This feels positive and empowering. Helping my bladder without medication is one of the things I value with Sula's work. I like the balance that Sula gives between my therapy, but also explaining the physiology behind it. The home reading is useful too. To reinforce, the fact that sula has had a similar issue is really valuable as she seems to just know what I mean when I describe certain sensations and so I don’t have to spend my time explaining this.
Client with Colitis
This was my first experience of therapy and I am so glad I found Sula. She is extremely good at what she does and helped me to pinpoint the issues I was facing and to provide really effective ways to manage them and to shift my perspective. I looked forward to our sessions and found them really effective in a short time.
Client with trauma
It felt like a safe space to share what was on my mind and my experiences. It felt really good to have someone who was properly listening to me and validating my emotions. I mentioned some things to Sula that I had never mentioned to anyone and it helped remove some of the shame, which is very helpful. I never felt judged when I was speaking to Sula, even though it was quite hard at times. She always provided me with useful tips to deal with the various challenges that were coming up.
WAYS TO WORK WITH SULA
Thinking about therapy, but not ready?
You're not alone. Therapy can feel like a big step. A big investment. A big journey to begin.
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Far be it from me to persuade you that now is the right time. It's actually really important that you come when you are ready to make that step. To help you work that out, you may need time to reflect. But beware of the "out of sight, out of mind" phenomena. Where a decision feels to big and scary to think about, that we happily think about anything else.
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If you would like the opportunity to reflect on whether now is the right time and whether I'm the right person to support you, you may like to sign up to get therapeutic insights, resources and tips from me. Just pop your details in the form below