Dr Oonagh Koppel

Oonagh is an experienced and highly skilled clinical psychologist. She is a chartered psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and is regulated by the Health and Care Professionals Council. Oonagh qualified as a clinical psychologist in 2005, and she has worked in a number of NHS settings since this time, including primary care and more specialist physical health settings both in London and in Bristol.

Oonagh has over ten years’ experience working as a clinical psychologist within the NHS, and has developed expertise in working with a range of difficulties that any of us can encounter over the course of a lifetime, including depression, anxiety (including panic, social anxiety and health anxiety), work related difficulties, sleep difficulties, bereavement and post traumatic stress disorder. She is skilled in working with both single event traumas, such as car accidents, as well as trauma related to early childhood experiences. Oonagh has a particular interest in the field of clinical health psychology, which focuses on helping people overcome psychological difficulties associated with physical health problems, including chronic pain difficulties such as fibromyalgia and migraine.

Oonagh is an empathic clinician, and has a warm and gentle approach. She recognises that for many, seeking psychological support is a brave step, and she works with her clients to develop a shared understanding of the difficulties they face in order to map out the most helpful way forward.  She draws on the therapies that have emerged from cognitive behaviour therapy, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and compassion focused therapy (CFT), both of which incorporate a mindfulness based approach.  Oonagh is trained to offer eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) for the treatment of trauma symptoms, and there is emerging evidence to suggest that EMDR can be helpful in thetreatment of long term pain and migraine.