Annabelle Joy

I have some day and evening availability.

It can be hard to take the first step to ask for help. I offer a safe non-judgemental space for clients to start to explore how their thoughts and behaviours are affecting how they feel. CBT focuses on the goals clients want to achieve we then work towards. It is solution focused building in resilience and skills. My goal is for my clients to become their own therapist.

I am a BABCP accredited CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) Psychotherapist and a trained BACP Counsellor. I worked at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust specialising in eating disorders with clients who were transitioning from CAMHS to adult services and adults. I am also experienced in working with 13–17-year-olds with eating disorders including bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa. I have previously spent two years working with drug and alcohol addiction for an Oxford based charity and at Oxford Women’s Counselling Services for three years working with a variety of mental health problems.

I specialise in anxiety disorders including General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Social Anxiety, Health Anxiety, Panic, Separation Anxiety and Eating Disorders, Body Dysmorphia and Low Self-Esteem.

I work with clients of all ages however over half of my clients are young people aged between 11 to 18 years of age. I enjoy working with this age group and have achieved success with mild, moderate, and complex mental health difficulties. Young people are often open to change, which is part of the CBT process. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is an evidenced based therapy that helps us to understand how we think, affects how we behave, and how we feel. It is a collaborative therapy. I believe the relationship built between the therapist and client helps deliver a positive therapeutic outcome. I work with my clients to build a formulation of their difficulties using CBT skills and techniques. We work together to understand what is maintaining the problem and how we can change our thoughts, thinking styles and behaviours. We gently learn to face our fears and to stop using controlling or avoidant behaviours. We achieve this through setting goals, thought challenges and behavioural experiments. Once we have identified the problem we work to change it building in different understanding, new skills, and resilience. Linking together how our thoughts affect our emotions and by learning to change we can find a greater sense good mental health and wellbeing. This helps us to feel more in control of our lives through being able to move on and let things go.

I offer a free 15 minute zoom session.