Remote and face to face sessions sessions (Canterbury and Whitstable).
You may have found yourself here if you have trouble with...
Anxiety about being liked, loved or accepted
Fearing being rejected by people
People pleasing or adapting yourself to suit others
Setting boundaries in your relationships
Lying away over analysing conversations at 2am
Telling people how you feel or expressing your needs
If so, welcome, I am so pleased you have found me. My name is Matthew and I am a Trauma focused psychotherapist and supervisor.
If your anxiety, loneliness and disconnection are holding you back from stronger and healthier relationships, I'd love to hear from you.
Anxiety & Relationship trauma therapist
Making the decision to start therapy often isn't an easy one. Let me tell you how it works...
When your struggling, the last thing you need is a difficult process. I will try to make meeting me as easy as possible.
Trauma-focused Therapy
With over 17 years of working in the mental health field and lived experience, I now specialise in relational trauma and PTSD. I use a combination of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). All sessions are tailored to you so that you can make lasting changes to your life and become less restricted by the distress you feel. Click below to read more about how I work.
Meet the therapist...
I am a UK based therapist specialising in therapy for anxiety and relationship difficulties. For people whose past experiences affect their relationships now.
I understand reaching out for therapy is difficult. Sharing a story that you may not usually tell to a stranger sounds daunting - I get it.
I strongly believe that it doesn't matter how many qualifications or years of experience a therapist has, if you don't like and feel you can't trust them, it's most likely not going to go very far.
Each person I meet is different from the last. That is why I put a lot of effort into understanding the person first rather than the 'symptom or problem'. I know from personal and professional experience, trust in others is gradually built, not expected.
What my clients have to say
"When I first went to see Matt I was in a very bad place, I didn't know what was happening to me.
His help has been invaluable. I don't know what I would have done without his help. I would recommend him to anyone having difficulties. Thank you so much Matt."
"I was quite nervous about starting therapy, as I was not in a good place. But Matthew made me feel immediately at ease and I felt comfortable sharing my issues with him."
At the time I had been having constant nightmares, and was going through the process of grief. After a few sessions the nightmares completely stopped, and I was able to regain some control over my life."
"Where other therapists dealt with my past with stereotypes, Matthew took careful time to understand and get to know the complexity." Allowing me to open up in ways I never thought I would and ultimately find the closure I needed. His casual and welcoming approach is one I'd highly recommend to anyone seeking that same end."
"I cannot recommend Matthew highly enough. He has been incredibly supportive and helped me navigate through some particularly challenging times." His demeanour and approach made it easy to connect with him instantly. He never forced the conversation but provided a safe space for me to discuss difficult topics at my own paceI am extremely grateful for everything Matthew has done for me. Should I need support again in the future, I wouldn’t hesitate to reach out to him."
One to One Therapy
I help people manage their anxiety, guilt and shame due to difficult or traumatic events that have happened in past relationships.
In our first session together, we will understand what difficulties you are having and what you would like to change about them.
In the early stages, I find that it can really help to understand why we interact and behave in our relationships as we do considering past adversity. Together, we will find out what unhelpful patterns have followed you into adulthood and learning ways to reduce the problems they cause you now.
My story...
People often assume I have it all together, especially being a therapist.
However, I have had to work hard on myself so it didn't all fall apart. It is said that a therapist can often end up in the line of work they do to try and ease the pain of others as they know what pain feels like themselves.
Growing up, I always felt like I didn't fit in, that there was something different about me. But, I learnt to avoid this feeling by adapting myself to whatever I thought the people around me wanted to see. To please them, desperately wanting to avoid conflict. Surely as long as I could do that, I'd be fine?
Yet, none of that really worked or made me feel any differently. I knew that to really connect with people, I had to be the real me and show my vulnerability to people, only then could I really be a part of a relationship.
Don't get me wrong, it's sometimes hard but this is the reason why I'm so passionate about helping others to stop being held back by what happened (or didn't happen) in the past.
Click the links to follow me on my socials.
