I am a Registered Counselling Psychologist with nearly 20 years ‘experience working with a range of mental health difficulties and struggles. I hold a Principal Psychologist position in the NHS alongside my independent practice and have successfully led a psychological therapy team in a CMHT for the last 3 years. I work with adults and young adults (aged 16 or over). My core values in practice are to work creatively, compassionately and collaboratively, within a reflective and evidence-based framework.

I believe that every one of us will experience some kind of distress at one point or another in our lives, and as human beings, will experience a range of emotions that we may or may not feel able to cope with. Life can present us with a number of challenges, and our responses to these will vary according to our history, our own personal belief systems, coping strategies and support systems at the time. Sometimes we can manage this alone, or with the support of friends and family, but at other times things can feel too confusing, or overwhelming, and we need a new place to be, think and another perspective.

Psychological therapy can offer a supportive and specialist way to explore these kinds of difficulties, alleviating confusion and distress, and exploring ways to make a change and improve your mood and quality of life.

I aim to create a therapy space based upon trust, safety and collaboration, to find a way together to help you through the challenges you are currently struggling with. I have worked with a variety of difficulties, ranging from mild-moderate struggles to those with more complex and severe mental health difficulties. My experience has included working within GP surgeries, in Community Mental Health Teams working in a multi-disciplinary team with psychiatrists and mental health nurses/social workers, within a specialist OCD clinic and within Early Intervention in Psychosis. I have experience of working with adolescents, adults, families, individuals and running groups. I also have experience of providing clinical supervision to other qualified psychologists and mental health practitioners and to trainee clinical and counselling psychologists, trainee CBT therapists, and assistant psychologists. My main model of practice is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, however, am trained in a range of therapy models and would aim to match my way approach to your needs. Other key therapy models I draw upon in my practice includes Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, Compassion Focussed Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. However, my therapeutic practice would align to the recent and emerging evidence base, and I would ensure my approach would match your individual needs as I believe collaboration and person-centred treatment is key to any therapeutic change.

Having recently had my own children and faced struggles as part of this journey, I have a keen interest in pre-and post-natal mental health difficulties associated with parenting relationships. I also have a keen interest in the impact our early life experiences have on our development as individuals and how this affects how we think and feel in the here and now, as well as our relationship with ourselves and others. I have historically held a specialised interest in working with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, having written group protocols for the psychological treatment for OCD, which continue to be delivered within local mental health services. I have also led the development of psychological interventions for Bipolar Disorder and Psychosis within my NHS role.

As well as offering therapy, I am also available for clinical supervision and consultation to business/organisations. Please contact me directly to discuss my availability. I offer face to face sessions, and online sessions so can meet your preferred delivery of therapy.

Testimonials

“I was in a really bad shape, in terms of mental health, when I started the therapy and with the help of Dr. Amin, I managed to overcome my constant health anxiety, constant over-monitoring of my body, overuse of various devices for health monitoring and the constant negative overthinking. I was able to see the whole picture from a different prospective and I learnt about many tools that I could employ in coping with the day to day stressors in life. – AP Feb 2024

“I have found the techniques like TIPP very useful and easy to apply if needed and I also found it has been very helpful to gain a more positive or real outlook on different situations” – HJ Oct 2023

“I was met with patience, understanding, and respect. I learned new attitudes and skills which effectively addressed the concerns I brought to therapy.” – RA Aug 2023

“Payal helped me link my PND with my previous traumatic pregnancy, birth and post-natal period. Discussing this in depth , along with my difficult childhood has helped me establish coping strategies and enjoy being a first time mum” L.M Sept 2020

“Dr Payal Amin helped me develop strategies to use in my day to day life to manage better; helped me by giving me greater understanding and helped me by having somewhere to talk without judgment” M.S Dec 2020

As a Counselling Psychologist, it is essential to remain up-to-date on current research and best-practice and I have regularly maintained enhancing my skills and knowledge through reading, research and additional training. In addition to my core training, I have also attending training on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Mindfulness Based Interventions, and training specific to working with people with psychosis, bipolar and those with trauma and PTSD. I have attended training around working with imagery and chair-work to enhance the “talking” modalities of change.

I am a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS), including full membership with the Division of Counselling Psychology – membership number 148873. I am also a member of the Register of Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors through the BPS.

I am a Registered Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) – registration number PYL01895