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Dr Sade Aisha Sowemimo
A thoughtful, supportive space to explore difficult experiences, relationships and long-standing emotional patterns that may be keeping you stuck in the past, feeling anxious, depressed or overwhelmed.
A place to practise courage, be seen and keep showing up for yourself so life can begin to feel more manageable, meaningful and aligned with who you are.
Common reasons people seek therapy
Support for people experiencing long-standing emotional difficulties, trauma-related distress, painful relationship patterns, overwhelming emotions, or a sense of feeling stuck.
Trauma & PTSD Feeling overwhelmed, on edge, or affected by experiences that still seem to linger.
Do you find yourself feeling on edge, overwhelmed, or affected by experiences that still seem to linger, even when you try to move forward? Trauma can show up in ways that aren’t always obvious — including anxiety, disconnection, or patterns that feel hard to shift. This may relate to developmental trauma, childhood adversity, PTSD, or Complex PTSD. Therapy focuses first on stabilisation and building a sense of safety, before gently understanding how the past may still be shaping the present.
Anxiety & Persistent Worry Overthinking, tension, and a mind that struggles to switch off.
Do you find your mind constantly busy — overthinking, anticipating, or struggling to switch off? Anxiety can feel like a constant background noise, leaving you tense, overwhelmed, or stuck in cycles of worry. Therapy helps you understand what’s driving this and develop steadier ways of responding, drawing on approaches such as CBT, CAT and compassion-focused work.
Depression & Low Mood Feeling flat, disconnected, exhausted or emotionally heavy.
Do you feel a sense of heaviness, loss of motivation, or disconnection from yourself or others? Depression can affect how you think, feel, and relate, often making even small things feel difficult. Therapy offers a space to make sense of this, reconnect with meaning, and support gradual, sustainable change using CAT, CBT and compassion-focused approaches.
Unshared and Unusual Experiences Experiences that may feel difficult to explain or talk about openly.
Are you having experiences that feel difficult to talk about, or that others may not easily understand? This might include hearing voices, feeling disconnected from reality, or holding beliefs that feel confusing or distressing. Therapy provides a calm, non-judgemental space to explore these experiences, using approaches such as CAT, EMDR and compassion-focused work depending on your needs.
Difficult Relationship Patterns Repeating dynamics that leave relationships painful or confusing.
Do you notice the same patterns showing up in relationships — such as fear of rejection, emotional distance, or feeling stuck in familiar dynamics? These patterns often develop from earlier relational experiences. Therapy supports you to understand and shift these patterns using CAT and schema-informed work.
Intrusive Thoughts & Overthinking Unwanted thoughts, rumination, or mental loops that feel hard to escape.
Do you find yourself caught in unwanted thoughts or mental loops that feel hard to escape? Intrusive thoughts can be distressing and persistent. Therapy helps you understand why these patterns occur and develop ways of responding that feel more grounded, drawing on CBT and compassion-focused approaches.
Shame, Self-Criticism & Perfectionism Feeling driven by pressure, criticism, or never feeling “good enough”.
Do you find yourself being highly self-critical, holding yourself to high standards, or rarely feeling “good enough”? These patterns can be deeply ingrained. Therapy focuses on developing a more balanced, compassionate way of relating to yourself using CFT, CAT and RO-DBT-informed work.
Emotional Regulation Difficulties Emotions feeling overwhelming, intense, unpredictable or difficult to manage.
Do your emotions ever feel intense, overwhelming, or difficult to manage? You may feel flooded or shut down. Therapy focuses first on stabilisation, drawing on DBT-informed skills, compassionate mind training and trauma-informed approaches to support steadier emotional regulation.
Neurodiversity Therapy adapted for autistic people and individuals with ADHD.
Do you feel that standard approaches haven’t quite fit how your mind works? If you are autistic or have ADHD, therapy is adapted to fit you. A neuro-affirming approach helps reduce overwhelm and increase understanding, drawing on specialist assessment and formulation experience.
Identity & Life Transitions Periods of uncertainty, change, reflection or questioning who you are.
Are you going through a period of change, uncertainty, or questioning who you are or what matters to you? Therapy provides a space to reflect, make sense of transitions, and move forward with greater clarity and stability.
Complex or Long-Standing Difficulties Patterns that have persisted for a long time or previous therapy hasn’t resolved.
Do you feel stuck in patterns that have been present for a long time, or that previous therapy hasn’t fully helped with? Therapy focuses on understanding the bigger picture through a formulation-led approach, supporting meaningful, lasting change at a pace that feels manageable.
A thoughtful, specialist way of working
My work is grounded in a warm, collaborative and formulation-led approach, with a focus on helping people make sense of long-standing patterns and move towards meaningful, sustainable change.
Experience and background
I am a HCPC-registered psychologist and accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapist with over 10 years’ experience working across forensic, NHS and specialist mental health services.
My clinical work often focuses on supporting people who feel stuck in repeating patterns in relationships, sense of self or emotional life.
I often work with people who have tried therapy before or managed things alone but still feel stuck, anxious or overwhelmed.
Alongside therapy, I also undertake specialist psychological assessments.
Approach
My therapeutic approach is warm, collaborative and thoughtful. I aim to create a compassionate space where people feel able to talk openly about their experiences, while we develop a shared understanding of the patterns that may be maintaining their difficulties.
I draw from Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) and Compassion Focused Therapy, alongside trauma-focused approaches. This includes EMDR, Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy, allowing the work to be grounded in evidence-based models while remaining responsive to individual needs.
I am also trained in Radically Open Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (RO-DBT). This can be particularly helpful for individuals experiencing difficulties related to over-control, perfectionism, and emotional loneliness.
My work is grounded in a neuro-affirming and trauma-informed perspective. The focus is on supporting meaningful and sustainable change, at a pace that feels manageable and appropriate for you.
Therapeutic models and specialist training
My work is grounded in Cognitive Analytic Therapy, alongside a range of specialist, evidence-based psychological approaches, allowing the work to remain both structured and responsive to individual need.
Qualifications & Training
• Doctorate in Forensic Psychology
• HCPC Registered Forensic Psychologist
• Accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapist
• EMDR Trained Therapist
• RO-DBT (Level 2 Practitioner Pathway Training)
• Prolonged Exposure for PTSD
• Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD
• Compassion Focused Therapy (specialist training across multiple clinical applications)
• Schema Therapy (ISST-approved, 40 hours)
• Personality, Autism and ADHD gold-standard assessment tools
I also bring extensive experience in complex psychological assessment and formulation, including work with trauma, relational patterns and neurodevelopmental presentations.
What is therapy
Therapy offers a space to pause and make sense of your experiences — understanding the patterns that may have developed over time, how they continue to shape your life, and what might begin to shift.
Understanding patterns and creating change
Many people come to therapy because they feel stuck — perhaps in difficult relationships, overwhelming emotions, intrusive thoughts, or ways of coping that no longer seem to help.
Therapy offers time and space to understand how these patterns developed and how they continue to shape your experiences today.
Together, we begin by developing a shared understanding of what is happening for you.
Once we understand these patterns more clearly, therapy focuses on helping you find new ways of responding to them.
Whether you are coming to therapy for the first time or returning after trying it before, we can take time to understand what you need and what might help most.
Therapy is guided by evidence-based psychological understanding while remaining flexible enough to fit your individual needs.
Therapy can sometimes involve looking at difficult experiences or patterns that have been in place for a long time.
Principles that guide my work
It takes courage to come to therapy. Talking honestly about painful experiences and patterns in our lives is not easy.
Your experiences make sense. Many patterns that feel confusing today often began as ways of coping or surviving.
Our minds adapt to experience. Trauma and prolonged stress can affect how the body responds to the world.
People are not problems to be fixed. Therapy is about understanding patterns rather than judging them.
Self-compassion matters. Learning to respond to yourself with greater understanding can be transformative.
Real change begins with recognising patterns. Greater awareness can create new possibilities.
Growth is rarely linear. Reflection and setbacks are a normal part of change.
Ways of working together
A range of structured and flexible ways of working, depending on what you’re looking for.
A thoughtful, collaborative space to explore difficult experiences, relationships and long-standing emotional patterns.
Therapy focuses on developing a shared understanding of what may be maintaining current difficulties, while working towards meaningful and sustainable change.
A structured consultation designed to help you understand recurring professional and relational patterns at work.
You might find yourself asking:
• Why do I keep ending up in the same situations?
• Why do certain roles or relationships feel difficult or draining?
• Why does this keep happening, even when I try to change it?
Includes an extended consultation session and follow-up. This is a time-limited, formulation-based piece of work rather than ongoing therapy.
Ongoing or one-off clinical supervision for psychologists and therapists working with complex presentations.
This can provide a reflective space to think in depth about clinical work, or a more focused consultation on a specific case, question or dilemma.
Professionals can view further details via my Supervisor Platform profile →
A focused consultation offering an experienced psychological perspective on a specific piece of work or situation.
Suited to clinicians, teams or organisations seeking clarity, direction or a second opinion where there is complexity, uncertainty or risk.
This may involve developing a clearer psychological understanding, supporting decision-making, or offering a different perspective on complex situations.
Typically offered as a standalone consultation.
Practical information about starting therapy
This section outlines what the first session involves, how therapy is usually arranged, and some of the practical information that can be helpful to know before getting in touch.
The first session
Our first meeting is an opportunity to talk about what has brought you to therapy and what you hope might change. We will begin to understand your experiences, patterns and goals, and think together about how therapy might help.
You are also able to ask any questions about the process. Many people feel nervous before the first session — that is completely normal.
Session length, format and frequency
Sessions are typically 50 minutes and are usually held weekly. Sessions take place online via a secure video platform.
Regular sessions allow us to build a shared understanding of what is happening in your life and work steadily towards meaningful change.
Occasionally the frequency of sessions may be adjusted depending on your needs.
Payment and insurance
Sessions are £140 per session.
Payment is required in advance of each session to confirm your appointment.
I accept self-funding clients and some private insurance providers. If you plan to use insurance, please check your policy and obtain authorisation before beginning therapy.
Cancellations and fit
If you need to cancel or rearrange a session, please provide at least 48 hours’ notice. Sessions cancelled with less than 48 hours’ notice are usually charged in full.
This policy helps protect time that has been set aside for you. However, I understand unexpected situations can arise and, where possible, I will try to offer an alternative appointment within the same week if availability allows.
A strong therapeutic relationship is important. If at any point therapy does not feel helpful or you feel we are not the right fit, we can talk openly about this.
Confidentiality and crisis support
Everything discussed in therapy is confidential.
There are a small number of circumstances where confidentiality may need to be broken — for example where there is a serious risk of harm. If this situation arose, we would aim to discuss this openly and collaboratively wherever possible.
Therapy sessions are not designed to provide emergency or crisis support. If you are experiencing an immediate mental health crisis or feel at risk of harming yourself or others, please contact your GP, NHS 111, Samaritans on 116 123, or attend A&E.
Online sessions and professional standards
Sessions are offered online via a secure video platform.
I am a HCPC-registered psychologist and engage in regular clinical supervision and continuing professional development, supporting reflective practice and helping ensure that the therapy I offer remains safe, ethical and effective.
Get in touch
If you would like to enquire about therapy, supervision or consultation, you are very welcome to get in touch. You can use the form below to include a brief outline of what has brought you here, along with any questions you may have.
I aim to respond within 2–3 working days. This form is not monitored for urgent or crisis support.
Common questions
Answers to some of the questions people often have before starting therapy.
I tend to work best with people who are open to reflecting on patterns in their thoughts, emotions, and relationships, particularly where difficulties feel more complex or longstanding, often linked to past experiences or relationship patterns.
My work is focused within clearly defined areas of expertise, and I work deliberately within these areas, thinking carefully about whether I am the right person to help with what you are experiencing.
This is something we would consider together early on, rather than after you have already begun the work. If it seemed that a different type of support would be more appropriate, I would discuss this with you openly and support you in finding the right option.
This varies depending on what you’re looking for. Some people come for a focused piece of work over a number of sessions, while others choose to work together for longer to explore more complex or longstanding patterns.
In the early stages, we take time to understand what has brought you to therapy and what you would like to change. From this, we develop a shared sense of direction and an initial idea of how the work might be structured.
Some approaches I use are more time-focused, while others allow for deeper exploration. We will agree a way of working that feels clear and manageable, and review this together as we go, so that therapy remains purposeful and does not feel open-ended.
I am a Cognitive Analytic Therapist (CAT) and HCPC-registered psychologist, with additional training in trauma-focused, evidence-based approaches including EMDR.
Alongside my core training, I have developed additional expertise across a number of specialist approaches, particularly in working with trauma and more complex presentations.
I specialise in working with difficulties that feel complex, longstanding, or hard to fully make sense of — often where things haven’t shifted despite previous efforts or therapy.
My approach focuses on helping you understand the patterns underlying these difficulties, and using this understanding to guide change. The work is structured enough to give a clear sense of direction, while allowing space to explore things at a deeper level where needed.
HCPC-registered Psychologist & Accredited Cognitive Analytic Therapist