Nicole Backhouse MSc MBACP (Accred)
Psychotherapy in the Cotswolds and Online
The only person taking your psychological wellbeing more seriously than you, is me.
I work with adults and teenagers dealing with low mood, anxiety, trauma, PTSD and eating disorders.
If this sounds familiar
You already know what needs to change
You’ve read the books, listened to the podcasts and promised yourself this year would be different; yet here you are again.
Same you, different programme; this time, you choose it
I don’t mould people to one method; I weave methods into a treatment plan we engineer together. If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail, and I don’t treat nails, I treat people.
The therapy itself
The Methods, and What Each One Is For
I treat anxiety, depression, PTSD and OCD. In addition, I have a special interest in both trauma and addiction, the latter often being a way of coping with the former.
Schema Therapy
A fusion of cognitive, attachment and psychodynamic models: we identify then interrupt the patterns holding you back.
CBT
We identify the beliefs keeping you stuck, the thought loops taking you nowhere and the behaviours that keep the cycle going. This time we’re doing it differently.
DBT
We build the distress tolerance to survive crisis, emotion regulation to manage overwhelm and interpersonal effectiveness to improve relationships.
EMDR
Trauma therapy without the retelling. We use eye movements to lower the charge on memories stuck on repeat, reprocess them without dredging up every detail and let your brain file them where they belong. This time, they stop hijacking you.
BACP Accredited
Addiction Science MSc (final year), King’s College London
MSc London School of Economics
Over a decade at Cheltenham Ladies’ College
In their words
What guests say
About Nicole
I Dreamt of Being a Psychiatrist and Became a Lawyer by Mistake
I retrained as a psychotherapist and have never looked back. I am a serious and experienced clinician but am also warm and irreverent, occasionally amusing and seem to reach the parts other therapists can’t. Alongside my private adult practice, I worked at Cheltenham Ladies’ College for over a decade, so I’m well versed in both adults and teenagers.
Before you get in touch
Questions People Ask First
What happens in a first session?
The first session isn’t a leap of faith; it’s a conversation. I’ll ask what’s brought you here, what’s not working, and what you want to be different. You don’t need to have got the story straight or the right words for it yet; that’s not the job on day one.
By the end of this session you’ll have a sense of whether this is going to work, and so will I.
Which of these therapies is right for me?
Honestly? You don’t need to know; that’s my job, not yours. That said if you have a chosen modality in mind we can certainly work with that. We are doing this together and my approach is collaborative rather than paternalistic.
So come as you are, tell me what’s not working, and we’ll work out the rest.
Do I need a diagnosis before I get in touch?
No, and please don’t wait for one. If you already have one we’ll make sure it’s accurate.
So don’t sit at home trying to self-diagnose before you’ll “allow” yourself to contact me. Just tell me what’s not working, and I’ll work out the rest.
Getting started
The first step is to pick up the phone or drop me a line
Simple. No pressure, let’s see what happens…
