We are HCPC-Registered & BPS-Chartered clinical and counselling psychologists.
At Embrace Psychological Services Ltd, we offer clinical and counselling psychology services from HCPC-Registered (Health and Care Professions Council) and BPS-Chartered (British Psychological Society) clinical and counselling psychologists.
We also offer Cognitive Analytic Therapy services from a ACAT-accredited (Association of Cognitive Analytic Therapy) Cognitive Analytic Therapy practitioner, Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy from a Level 3 trained EMDR practitioner and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS).
We specialise in the assessment, consultation and therapy for individuals with a range of psychological difficulties including:
We also specialise in working with people who experience chronic pain, chronic fatigue and other health problems.
Services also offered include clinical supervision, teaching and training therapies for CAT practitioner trainees.
Embrace Psychological Services is also a recognised BUPA, Axa-PPP, AVIVA, and WPA provider.
Clinical Psychologist
CAT Practitioner
& Director
Dr Helen Pickering is a clinical psychologist, professionally qualified since 2001, working in the NHS in the fields of adult mental health, physical disability/neuro-rehabilitation and forensics since 1995.
Helen completed ACAT North’s Cognitive Analytic Therapy practitioner training in 2007. She established Embrace Psychological Services in 2012 in order to offer high quality therapy to people who wish to seek therapy privately.
Helen abides by the professional codes of conduct and ethics of BPS, HCPC and ACAT. She attends regular clinical supervision sessions in order to maintain the quality of the therapy offered and keeps up to date with advances in clinical psychology and psychotherapy by attending relevant continued professional development events, most recently attending “Transforming Trauma with Internal Family Systems Therapy: Full IFS Competency programme.”
Helen has over 25 years’ post-qualification experience working with adults with severe and complex mental and physical health difficulties. She trained on the Oxford Doctoral Course in Clinical Psychology (1998 to 2001) and went on to hold senior NHS posts across adult mental health, physical disability and neuro-rehabilitation, and forensic settings, including Principal Clinical Psychologist roles with Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and 5 Boroughs Partnership NHS Trust.
She established Embrace Psychological Services in 2012 to offer high-quality therapy on a private basis, and has since built over 23 years’ experience providing clinical supervision and training to trainee clinical psychologists, principal psychologists, psychiatry trainees, occupational therapists and psychological wellbeing practitioners. Alongside her work at Embrace, Helen currently also works as an Associate Clinical Psychologist for Newby Psychological Services, providing neuropsychological assessment, rehabilitation and therapy for clients, families and staff managing the impact of neurological injury and illness.
Counselling Psychologist
EMDR therapist
Dr Sarah Mills is a qualified counselling psychologist who works with people aged 17 years or over that are suffering from a variety of psychological difficulties, including, but not limited to: anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder, relationship difficulties, stress and eating disorders.
Sarah has a particular interest in supporting people who have experienced a traumatic life event and wrote her doctoral thesis on the most efficacious treatment modalities for PTSD.
Over the past eleven years she has worked in a number of NHS settings including Eating Disorder Services and Primary and Secondary Care services in the North West. Sarah has also been a doctoral supervisor for the Counselling Psychology course in Wolverhampton and most recently developed her own private practice based in Cheshire.
Sarah is a practitioner of Eye Movement De-sensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Mindfulness Training. She is able to offer appointments on Friday.
Sarah has worked in the NHS for over twelve years across primary care, secondary care and inpatient settings, most recently as an 8a Psychologist within the Step 4 Service at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust. Earlier NHS roles include Clinical Lead and Principal Psychologist for a Bariatric Weight Management Service, and posts within community mental health teams in Norfolk and Suffolk.
This NHS background has given her extensive experience in complex risk assessment and in developing psychologically informed formulations to guide treatment. She has been a doctoral supervisor for the Counselling Psychology course at the University of Wolverhampton, and has worked as an associate for Embrace Psychological Services since 2018.