Emily Ollman-Hirt

I am a practicing Counselling Psychologist and Psychotherapist with fifteen years of experience working within the NHS and private sector. I am a member of the British Psychological Society and United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapists and I abide by their code of ethics. I have worked in the mental health field for the past seventeen years working with adults, couples and families. Due to a broad training background, I have grounding in various different approaches, which allows me to be flexible in how I works with each individual: " I believe that an understanding of a person's past relationships is extremely important in order to help them understand their current difficulties, and I see therapy as a way of detangling oneself from old, painful relational habits. I try and work with transparency, which involves being clear about how therapy works and how we will measure when you have achieved your goals. I try to listen to the therapeutic goals of the client before deciding upon what sort of approach might 'fit'. 

Sometimes a client may be unsure what their immediate goals for therapy are, which would lead me to consider having a more open, explorative stance in the therapy. At other times, I might use a more practical approach to support someone to actualise behavioural changes in their life." I also specialise in psychological health during the perinatal period, as well as working with couples who have experienced pregnancy loss, infertility or other reproductive trauma. In working with individuals or couples who are not parents, I may still apply my knowledge of developmental psychology to help you to understand how your earliest experiences of relationship might be impacting upon your current day to day life.