HCPC Registered Practitioner Psychologist PYL33657
Dr Eleonore Bristow Clinical Psychologist
Hello! I am Eleonore.
I am an experienced and committed clinical psychologist and enjoy working with my clients as much today as when I first started out over 11 years ago. There are many things to love about this job but perhaps the thing I appreciate most is seeing my clients' self-understanding and sense of mastery grow. Being the person who gets to help my clients on this road is a privilege, and to see things improving for them over the course of therapy is a joy.
Qualifications and Experience
I completed my doctorate in clinical psychology at University College London (UCL) and started my career working in a community NHS team for adults aged 18 and over who were suffering from complex and enduring mental health problems. Since then, I have worked in different NHS services and most recently held a principal clinical psychologist post where I worked with adults aged over 70 experiencing mild to severe mental health difficulties. Having gained some very positive experiences of private practice more recently, I am now focusing solely on work outside of the NHS. Alongside my work as a therapist, I am also contributing to teaching for UCL’s Clinical Psychology doctoral training as an Honorary Clinical Lecturer.
Since qualifying as a psychologist, I’ve supported adults experiencing many kinds of difficulties: sometimes we’ve worked on things that have come to the surface recently, and sometimes the focus has been on something that they’ve been struggling with for years. I’ve worked with clients struggling with anxiety, depression, psychosis, the effects of trauma, and interpersonal difficulties, to name a few. Whatever the symptom or identified problem has been, we’ve worked together to try and find a way forward that feels right and meaningful to the client.
Difficulties I Work With
I work with a variety of difficulties including those listed below. Please note that on some occasions I may require clients to access support from appropriate medical professionals in conjunction with therapy.
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Anxiety and worry
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Bipolar Disorder
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Complex emotional needs (also known as “Personality Disorder”)
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Depression and low mood
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Health anxiety
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Interpersonal and relationship difficulties
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Low self-esteem
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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
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Panic attacks
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Post Traumatic Stress
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Psychosis
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Social anxiety
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Stress
Approach to Therapy
I believe the sense of “fit” a client has with their therapist is all important. This provides the foundation for a good therapeutic relationship which is, in my view and as research suggests, essential for therapy to be useful. With that in mind, it is worth noting that I am very much myself in sessions – friendly, informal and relaxed. I hope that this helps create balance during a process which can be difficult at times.
In terms of the specific therapeutic approaches I use, I draw on different evidence-based models and adapt to my clients’ needs. My clinical training and experiences have taught me that what happens between sessions is as important as what happens within them. I therefore encourage my clients to put into practice what is discussed in therapy and try out new things in the days between sessions; the ultimate goal being that they will then be able to take forward and diversify learnings beyond therapy.
Therapeutic approaches:
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CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy)
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ACT (Acceptance and commitment therapy)
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EMDR (Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)
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I have also been trained in and have experience of delivering DBT (Dialectical behaviour therapy). As DBT involves a skills training group with multiple facilitators I am unfortunately unable to offer DBT in its true form . However, I draw upon and am informed by DBT as appropriate.
Please note that I only work with adults.