Hi! I’m Seb and I’m a Trainee Clinical Psychologist.

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Who am I?

Hi there, I’m Seb! I am a Child Wellbeing Practitioner. I have worked in lots of schools as a wellbeing practitioner and was based in an NHS team called a Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS) team. To do this job, I had to complete a professional training at University College London (UCL) and the Anna Freud Centre, which is a charity that helps lots of children and families. Alongside my work, I am also training for a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at UCL.

 

How did I get here? Well, after studying English at Cambridge University, I wanted to work in theatre and while I was applying for drama schools I started working with kids in schools. I loved it so much that I gave up on the drama school auditions altogether and pursued a career in psychology instead!  Since then I have completed a conversion degree in Experimental Psychology at Sussex University and have worked for seven years now with people of all ages from toddlers right the way up to older adults, helping them to overcome lots of different types of difficulties, from things like having lots of worries, to problems with friendships, to feelings of sadness that won’t go away. I am really passionate about working with children, young people and families, and helping them to overcome obstacles in their life and working with them towards their goals.

 

What is a wellbeing practitioner?

A Child Wellbeing Practitioner has completed a professional training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)-based talking therapies to help children, young people or their families. My work is based on the idea that ‘early intervention’ is really important. This means that I provide support when you start to need it in order to stop your problems from becoming bigger later on. 

 

What will it be like when I meet you?

I totally get that coming to talk with someone about your difficulties can feel really daunting for some people. So I will try my best to go at your pace and make our sessions feel as safe and comfortable as I can. As we go along together, I will check in with you about how you are finding therapy so that if I need to I will tweak our sessions to make them fit better for you. I hope sessions can also be fun and you can look forward to them. I really enjoy hearing about people’s interests, hopes for the future and their progress, and this makes me always look forward to seeing the people I work with!

 

What kind of therapies do I use and what difficulties can I help with?

I have trained to help children, young people and their families using a CBT-based approach. The first part of this usually involves me getting to know you as well as us talking together and making sense of what you are going through. We might then set goals together to help us know where you want to go and you might then try different practical skills to help you work towards your goals, developing a toolkit of strategies with me along the way.

 

Child Wellbeing Practitioners like me can help children and families work on common problems like anxiety, exam stress, problems with sleep, lack of confidence, managing tough emotions, shyness, feeling low in mood or challenges getting along with others. Because I am also doing my professional doctorate in Clinical Psychology, I can bring ideas and knowledge from lots of other types of therapy into our sessions too if I think they might be helpful for us. I am especially interested in therapy that places an importance on mindfulness, exploring identity and building feelings of self-compassion.

 

What are my interests outside of therapy?

In my spare time I love to go to comedy gigs, read popular science books, cook and explore hidden parts of London. I really enjoy theatre and film. I’ve also recently gotten into gardening, although I’ve got a lot to learn! I’m also a bit too into board games (or so people tell me)!