“A good therapist is someone who joins you in your deepest darkness with a flashlight to help you find your way out”.

My name is Nishat and I am a High Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist accredited under the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies.

I work in both private practice and in the NHS as a Senior CBT Therapist specialising in Neuropsychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital. I am also an EMDR Therapist.

What to expect from therapy

In therapy, we will focus on helping you to make positive changes within your life by shifting negative or distorted thinking and behaviour patterns, which may otherwise be contributing or maintaining your problems and difficulties.

We will work in a structured, yet reflective manner in order to ensure you are comfortable enough to open up and share your difficult experiences. I take the time and care to plan and invest in my sessions and therefore I pride myself on the therapeutic alliance I am able to form with my clients. This ultimately allows for better therapeutic outcomes as my clients get the opportunity to trust me, share their problematic situations, and feel confident to make changes, whilst I share my knowledge of theory and we look at how we can work on these situations together. I am determined to get you to be your best potential by managing distressing emotions and physical symptoms, as you learn to change the way you think and behave in trigger situations.

Therapy will be supplemented by resources and in-between session tasks to ensure you are able to consolidate and reflect on any learning from sessions. We will also use Psychometric Outcome Measures to assess and monitor your symptoms and progress throughout therapy to ensure you are meeting your goals.

Psychological techniques used in therapy consist of but are not limited to:

• Socratic Questioning / Guided Discovery
• Exposure Therapy
• Behavioural Experiments
• Exposure/Response Prevention
• Behavioural Activation / Activity Scheduling
• Cognitive Restructuring
• Metacognitive
• Narrative Expressive Writing
• Visualisation / Guided Imagery / Relaxation
• Mindfulness / Detached Mindfulness
• Compassion Focused Techniques
• Acceptance and Commitment Techniques
• EMDR

Background

I have worked in the NHS since 2014 and in private practice since 2018 delivering evidenced-based interventions to individuals presenting with Depressive and Anxiety disorders. Prior to this, my experience revolves heavily around Neuro-Cognitive Rehabilitation within the Royal London Hospital. I have also worked in the community helping clients with severe and enduring mental health difficulties to integrate back into the community and live a well and meaningful life.

I have a proven track record of helping clients to achieve their goals, relieve symptoms of Depression and Anxiety, and support them in maintaining a journey of well-being and clarity within their lives and future.

My skill set, training and experience has allowed me to successfully work with and treat individuals with the following diagnoses/problems:

• Generalised Anxiety / Worry
• Social Anxiety
• Health Anxiety
• OCD
• Panic Disorder / Panic Attacks
• Phobias
• PTSD (single and complex trauma)
• Depression / Low mood
• Stress
• Low Self-Esteem
• Perfectionism
• Insomnia / Sleep Issues