Rate Amanda Cooper

Hello, I’m really glad you are reaching out for help, and look forward to supporting you.

I have been a full time psychotherapy clinician for over ten years, and hope that our time together will give you hope, support positive change, help you to meet your emotional needs and to understand more about yourself and improve your experience with the world around you. I’ve included some more comprehensive information below, regarding my experience and qualifications - to reassure you regarding my capacity to support you and the work upon which this is based.

I look forward to meeting you, soon.

My Experience

I have been leading three, short-term residential wellbeing facilities in Warwickshire for the last decade, and as well as providing therapy for clients, I also supervise teams of therapists and oversee psychological programme development. I work with a wide range of needs and offer proactive therapeutic styles. Working in residential facilities is often complex - and I treat all emotional presentations as a symptom of underlying trauma, or environmental issues. This means going beneath the surface level presentation of behaviour, for example problematic alcohol use, or relationship conflicts, and finding the source - which is sometimes unexpected, but always powerful in its discovery. You can find out more about my work in residential settings by searching for Bayberry Clinic.

As well as working with trauma, anxiety, relationships and ‘stuck’ patterns in emotional needs, I also support people with personal development, careers, life transitions and change. I believe that therapy should be a positive, uplifting and transformative experience - where you are free to talk about whatever you would like, reassured that there will be no judgement

My Training

I have spent many years in graduate and post-graduate study - and particularly specialise in anxiety, panic, ‘stuck’ patterns, fear, relationships and intimacy. I have additional training in memory, metaphor and the use of narrative to address negative thoughts, and offer trauma recovery processes - including addressing phobias.

My clinically specific qualifications are:

MSc (with Merit) in Organizational Psychology - Birkbeck, University of London,

BSc (Hons) (First Class) in Psychology - Arden University

Diploma (with Merit) in Psychotherapy - Human Givens Institute

Graduate Certificate - Philosophy, Ethics, Justice, and Memory - Harvard University

RQTU (Qualified Test User) BPS - Psychometric Testing

I am also an alumna of the Transformative Technology Academy (an initiative of the Stanford University faculty) - exploring new technologies to support mental health and emotional wellbeing - and have pioneered new approaches within my residential clinical programmes. I am currently concluding an MBA, and commence my doctoral research (also at Birkbeck) in January 23.

Professional Memberships and Accreditations:

National Counselling Society - Accredited Counsellor Member

ACC - Accredited Counsellor Member

British Psychological Society - Graduate Basis for Membership (MBPsS)

American Psychological Association - International Affiliate

My Therapy Style

I believe that change can be effected quickly. You should expect to feel progress from the first session - and to get quickly to the source of your needs, and feel empowered within your own therapeutic process. I adapt my style to your needs - and I am non-judgemental, approachable and invested in your progress. I will usually swap some messages back and forth with you before your first session, so that we can make the best use of your time when we speak in person by video session or phone. I’m also happy to work with you entirely via messages if that’s what you prefer. If there is something that you think you might struggle to discuss with me (sometimes people don’t like to relive traumatic events, or vocalise things that distress them) that’s fine - I can still work effectively with you and offer support, even if you feel that there are some things that you don’t want to tell me. In therapy, I am looking to treat you as a whole person - not just try to address a particular situation. By doing that, not only does this support resolution of the issue itself, it also supports you on an ongoing basis in other areas of your life - both now, and in the future.

Wider Range Support

As well as offering core support in terms of emotional wellbeing and positive mental health, my qualifications and experience can be utilised to support you in other, related areas, that may also enhance your wellbeing, as follows:

Career Coaching, Executive and Organisational Development:

As well as being a qualified clinician, I am also a business psychologist and can support with career coaching and executive development. I can help you to contextualise your personal or organisational goals and help you to structure in relation to organisational change, culture and transformation. My Masters’ thesis focussed on my organisational specialism of ‘leadership’ - and as well as being academically qualified, I have been a C-Suite executive for 10 years, and prior to that spent 15 years supporting board directors with vision and strategy.

Wellbeing

We don’t need to be in crisis to focus on our mental health and wellbeing. Addressing and exploring our needs is a highly valuable process for everyone - and wellbeing techniques and resources can help to ensure your continued positive mental wellbeing. I offer psycho-education (learning about the ‘how’ and ‘why’ that things happen - providing a deeper understanding of how we can connect to meaning in our lives) - as well as techniques and methods to proactively support your daily routines. I incorporate these into our sessions, as and when we decide to, as part of our plan.

Why I’m Here

I joined this platform to support my long-held belief that early intervention is the key to emotional wellbeing. I see acute cases daily within my clinics that have, due to time and lack of support, become complex and more traumatic. I hope that offering early stage support in this way will help as many people as possible to avoid years of unnecessary distress.