The Full Story
About Me
Dr Alexandra Rhodes CPsychol
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Welcome to my website and feel free to take your time having a look around. You will find below some further information about my different areas of work and experience.
Counselling Psychologist, Counsellor & Psychotherapist
As an experienced therapist, I know that the process of deciding to reach out is a complex one, often fraught with conflicting feelings. It is my hope that the information on this page might give you an idea of who I am and how I work to see if this might fit for you.
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I am an integrative therapist which simply means I aim to integrate my 10 years of experience working in NHS and private sector services alongside my extensive training in humanistic, psychodynamic, trauma-focussed and cognitive-behavioural approaches to create a tailor made-approach to meet your individual needs.
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I offer a warm, compassionate, dynamic and curious space in which we can start to think about you, your inner world and your experiences together.
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My training, qualifications and experience are as follows:
Training
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BSc Psychology, University of Exeter
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Post Graduate Certificate in Advanced Practice in Psychological Wellbeing, University of Surrey
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PsychD Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, University of Roehampton
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Experience
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I have worked across community and inpatient settings for a number of NHS Trusts including Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital, Surrey & Borders NHS Foundation Trust, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust and South West London and St George's NHS Foundation Trust.
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I have extensive experience working with children, young people and adults within both primary and secondary care settings, specifically working with individuals with complex, severe and enduring difficulties with their mental health.
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Notably, I completed a specialist training placement at the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust within their Trauma Unit situated within the Adult Complex Needs Directorate.
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Expertise
I work primarily with adults across all phases of the life span. I have significant experience working with people struggling with the below areas:
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Anxiety & Panic
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OCD
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Depression
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Adverse Childhood Experiences & Childhood Trauma
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Adulthood Trauma
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PTSD & C-PTSD
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Dissociation
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Relationship Difficulties
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Divorce and Separation
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Mothers and Fathers in the Perinatal period
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I specialise in working with adults who have experienced trauma. I also have a special interest in working with people who have experienced intimate partner violence and also with mothers and fathers during pregnancy, birth and in the postnatal period.
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My Approach
RELATIONAL
I work with a relational lens which just means that I see human beings as people in relation to other people. We are born into relationships, we grow up in systems and we function day to day in some sort of connection with others. I believe in the power of the therapeutic relationship to provide the conditions within which thoughts, feelings and experiences can be spoken about and in which people can come to learn more about themselves and others.
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SAFETY
Creating a space where you can gradually begin to feel safe, contained and secure is amongst my top priorities throughout the work we would embark on together. Safety looks different for everyone and as such, will look different for each person. However, what we all have in common is the need to feel safe, heard and understood in order to begin to explore and discover.
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EXPLORATION & CURIOSITY
Therapy is a space where we can begin to think together about what is going on in your life in the here and now. However often, this might be linked to experiences from the past. My hope is that the therapy can become a space where we approach these unknowns or fears with curiosity and compassion in order to balance the fear or sadness this might evoke.
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ONE STEP AT A TIME
Most importantly, we go at your pace. One step at a time.
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