Find your therapist

I have been a practising psychotherapist since 1999 with a former career in commerce, and I also maintain an artistic practice alongside my therapy work.  My wide range of life experience helps me to ‘put myself in your shoes’ and empathise with your individual situation in the context of the uncertain and tragic times we find ourselves in.  I understand the difficulties in balancing earning a living, supporting family, ‘holding it all together’  and trying to live an authentic life where you are able to feel more alive, enriched and nourished by your world.  I have a deep interest in nature and ecology as well as the arts, culture, literature and music.   I work with individual adults and couples, as well as having been a tutor on Counselling Skills and Diploma courses.  I work in private practice both online and face to face and have worked in a number of different settings such as an NHS Medical Centre, specialist therapist for Crohns disease at Derriford Hospital, Eating Disorder Support charity and Sexual Abuse Help Centre.

I am a UKCP-registered integrative existential psychotherapist with extensive experience in delivering long and short term psychotherapy to individuals and couples. I have 14 years’ experience of working therapeutically in higher education, the NHS and in private practice.

As an integrative existential psychotherapist, I am particularly interested in how we make meaning of the world and of our lives, and how this affects our day to day functioning. Experiencing a crisis of meaning can be a major source of stress and anxiety. If your life starts to feel meaningless, you may end up in a hopeless and depressed state. The therapist’s role is to support you to navigate the difficult feelings that can arise in the process and help you find renewed purpose in your life.

I combine elements from different schools in my approach to psychotherapy, including psychodynamic, humanistic, existential, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and mindfulness. I have worked with clients experiencing many different issues, including (but not limited to) anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addictions, relationship issues and religious and spiritual matters. I am experienced in supporting team members and managers with work-based conflicts. Additionally, I have considerable experience in supporting clients with diagnosed mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder, personality disorders and clinical depression.

Qualifications:

Professional Doctorate in Psychotherapy (2012)

Masters Degree in Psychotherapy (2008)

Post-Graduate Diploma in Clinical Supervision (2008)

Post-Graduate Diploma in Integrative Counselling, (2004)

Research and Publications:

Conference Presentations:

Cassar, S. (2015). Existential spirituality: navigating the maze of spiritual thinking within existential psychotherapy. World Conference for Existential Therapy. London

Cassar, S. (2011). The Impact of Psychotherapists’ Spiritual Practice, Beliefs and Values on their Clinical Work: preliminary findings. Theology and Therapy 2011 Day Conference. Edinburgh University.

Publications:

Aceijas, C., Waldhäusl, S., Lambert, N., Cassar, S., Bello Corassa, R., (2016) Determinants of health-related lifestyles among university students. Perspectives in Public Health

Vahrmeyer, M and Cassar, S (2017) The paradox of finitude in the context of infinitude: Is death denial an essential aspect of being in the world? Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 28.1: 151-165

Cooper, M., Wild, C., van Rijn, B., Ward, T., McLeod, J., Cassar, S., Antoniou, P., Michael, C., Michalitis, M., Sreenath, S. (2015) Pluralistic Therapy for Depression: Acceptability, outcomes and helpful aspects in a multisite study. Counselling Psychology Review. 30(1): 6-20

Cassar, S. and P. Shinebourne (2012). “What does Spirituality Mean to You?: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of the Experience of Spirituality. Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis. 23(1): 133-148.

Find a way to live life in the present and recover from trauma: I am a UKCP Integrative Psychotherapist which is mind-body focused. I am certified in trauma work gained in Dublin, Ireland and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) in York. A safe and respectful therapeutic relationship is what I offer. Central to much distress is feelings of shame and not feeling good enough and self-acceptance.  I am passionate about accompanying people on their journey to relieve suffering. I am experienced working with long-term conditions and life-threatening illness, students in the academic world life transitions, dementia, personality disorder,  relationships, identify, childhood abuse and stress and trauma.

“I wish had the courage to express my feelings. I wish that I had let myself be happier”. Hi I’m Nicola and I believe that having courage to seek help when we need it can change our lives. Making you feel safe and heard is my priority. Walking through your difficult feelings you will have the opportunity to explore a new perspective and find the tools needed to equip you to manage situations more effectively. I work with people who have depression, anxiety, bereavement, work stress, abuse, self-esteem and relationship difficulties. I am passionate in helping you to feel more fulfilled and understand more about yourself.

I have previously trained as a primary school teacher. However, after suffering a very close bereavement I reached out for support and saw the benefit and value of counselling which I also wanted to bring to other people.

I offer face to face and online counselling through video calls or telephone counselling. This allows flexibility for you to have a session wherever you feel comfortable without having to travel, especially in these unprecedented times. Furthermore, it offers similar benefits to face to face counselling as we are able to see each other and build the one to one relationship more effectively.

During our first session which is 50 minutes long, I believe building a trusting relationship with you is paramount and we will explore what has brought you to counselling and the experiences you are currently having as well as touching on your past experiences to gain a greater understanding of who you are as a person. I will then discuss with you what your goals of the therapy are which we will review in set intervals together, depending on whether you would like short term or long term counselling.

About me:

Hello! My name is Don.

I am an easy going person who treats each client the way that I would expect to be treated, that is with respect, honesty and integrity.

My style of approach is to encourage you (the client), to take back control as soon as possible. First of all in something small and gradually working towards the final goal. After all, my aim is to help you help yourself in becoming the person that you want to be – to give you a Life After Traumatic Events.

I am a qualified counsellor, psychotherapist and hypnotist. accredited registrant of the National Counselling Society.  I am very passionate about my work and often hear from clients how that has  benefited them.

I have the experience of working with individual adults, young people and couples.  My clients present with issues such as depression, anxiety, self esteem, relationship issues, domestic abuse, trauma, stress, bereavement and loss. Some present with issues which could a detrimental impact on their everyday lives.

I follow data protection policy and guidelines, thus ensuring confidentiality. I am DBS checked and have necessary insurance.

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I am a fully qualified Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist, and a specialist in Rapid Transformational Therapy.

I have worked with many professional women over the years I’ve been in practice. I understand how frustrating it can be for women who are used to achieving and seeing results quickly, to spend months and thousands of pounds in talk therapy and not really feel any tangible, significant shifts, often for years.

I wanted to be able to help my clients to achieve significant results as quickly as possible.

Having researched and experienced many techniques I discovered the power of hypnotherapy, specifically Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT) and have since used it in combination with other therapeutic techniques (including aspects of Psychodynamic,  Solution Focussed Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and NLP) to best suit each individual client. I am now able to help my clients to achieve their goals by getting right to the core of what it is that’s been holding them back, sometimes in as little as three sessions.

Working together I have been able to help my clients to feel a positive shift in as little as 3 sessions with me.

To find out more about RTT, the process and how it works contact me for a free 20 minute discover call…