Therapy Approaches

Suzanne’s therapeutic approach is shaped by each client’s lived experience, personal values, and current context. She may work within a single modality or draw from a range of evidence-based therapies to create an individualised plan that best supports the client’s needs. These may include:

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

    • Trauma focused CBT

    • ERP (exposure and response prevention, primarily used for treatment of OCD)

    • Cool Kids Anxiety protocol

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

    • DBT-A (Adolescent)

  • Schema Therapy

  • Attachment -Based Family Therapy (ABFT)

  • Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

Each modality offers a distinct lens for understanding and responding to life’s challenges. Suzanne works collaboratively to explore what feels most helpful and meaningful for each individual.

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) CBT is a structured, evidence-based approach that helps individuals understand the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. It is widely used to support people experiencing anxiety, depression, and other emotional challenges. CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and developing practical strategies for problem-solving, emotional regulation, and behavioural change.

    Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) ERP is a specialised form of CBT designed to help individuals gradually face feared situations while learning to reduce compulsive or avoidant responses. It is particularly effective for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), phobias, and anxiety-related conditions.

    Trauma-Focused CBT Trauma-focused CBT integrates core CBT principles with trauma-sensitive strategies to support children, adolescents, and adults in processing traumatic experiences. It helps individuals build safety, develop coping skills, and reframe distressing thoughts in a structured and supportive way.Description text goes here

  • Schema Therapy is an integrative, evidence-based approach that blends elements of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), attachment theory, and psychodynamic models. It’s designed to help individuals understand and shift long-standing patterns — or “schemas” — that developed early in life and continue to shape how they see themselves, others, and the world.

    Schemas often form in response to unmet emotional needs and can lead to recurring difficulties in relationships, self-worth, or emotional regulation. Schema Therapy helps clients identify these patterns, understand their origins, and develop healthier ways of thinking, feeling, and relating.

    This approach is particularly helpful for individuals who feel stuck in repeated life patterns, experience chronic emotional distress, or have complex trauma histories. It offers a compassionate, structured path toward deeper self-awareness and lasting change.

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) ACT is an evidence-based therapeutic approach that evolved from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). While CBT focuses on challenging unhelpful thoughts, ACT helps individuals relate to their thoughts differently — with openness, curiosity, and compassion. Rather than trying to eliminate difficult feelings, ACT supports people in accepting them and committing to actions that align with their values.

    ACT is particularly helpful for anxiety, depression, trauma, and chronic pain. It integrates mindfulness, values-based living, and psychological flexibility to support meaningful change.

    By combining acceptance strategies with behavioural activation, ACT helps individuals move toward what matters most — even in the presence of discomfort.

  • This approach recognises that emotional wellbeing is shaped not just by individual experiences, but by the quality of relationships within the family system. Drawing on attachment theory, it focuses on strengthening the bonds between caregivers and children — especially when those relationships have been strained by stress, trauma, or developmental challenges.

    Therapy may involve exploring patterns of connection, misattunement, and repair. Caregivers are supported to respond with greater emotional availability, sensitivity, and consistency, helping children feel safe, seen, and understood.

    This work is particularly helpful when children or adolescents are experiencing anxiety, mood difficulties, or relational distress. It offers a gentle, structured way to rebuild trust and promote resilience — often drawing on models like Circle of Security or Attachment-Based Family Therapy, depending on the family’s needs.

  • DBT is an evidence-based therapy designed to support individuals who experience intense emotions, relationship difficulties, or patterns of self-criticism and impulsivity. Also grounded in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), DBT adds a strong focus on acceptance, mindfulness, and emotional regulation.

    It offers practical skills across four key areas:

    • Mindfulness – staying present and grounded

    • Distress tolerance – managing crises without escalation

    • Emotion regulation – understanding and shifting emotional responses

    • Interpersonal effectiveness – navigating relationships with clarity and respect

    DBT is especially helpful for those navigating complex emotional landscapes, including trauma, anxiety, and mood-related challenges. It provides a structured yet compassionate framework for building stability, insight, and self-trust.

  • CFT is an evidence-based approach designed to support individuals who struggle with shame, self-criticism, or a sense of not feeling “good enough.” It draws from evolutionary psychology, attachment theory, and neuroscience to help people develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves and others.

    Rather than focusing solely on changing thoughts or behaviours, CFT helps individuals understand how their emotional systems work — and how early experiences may have shaped patterns of threat, avoidance, or self-blame. Through guided practices and structured reflection, clients learn to activate their “soothing system,” build emotional safety, and cultivate self-kindness.

    CFT is particularly helpful for those navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, or relational wounds. It offers a gentle, empowering path toward healing through warmth, courage, and connection.