Carol Ellis

Professional Profile

My name is Carol and I am a fully qualified and BABCP accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist working with Think CBT from my consulting rooms in Westcliff-On-Sea (SS0).

After more than 30 years experience as an NHS Mental Health Nurse, helping adults with various Mental Health Problems, I have retired from the NHS.

During my nursing career, 11 years ago, I had the opportunity to train as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and used the skills to very successfully treat clients with anxiety, depression or both. 

Last year, I also completed EMDR  training and am working towards accreditation . This therapy has given clients huge relief from symptoms of trauma as well as many other disorders.

In November 2021, I also added Virtual  Reality as a form of treatment used mainly for exposure to feared experiences (some of which may be difficult to simulate in usual circumstances), such as phobias. public speaking, flying spiders, driving .  This has also proved to be an excellent technique to provide environments of relaxation and mindfulness. 

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is a treatment that is evidence-based and recommended by the NICE guidelines.
As a BABCP member, I always follow the guidelines and code of conduct in order to achieve the best outcomes within the shortest time.

My approach is informal and friendly, sharing and empathic. The sessions are structured with clients goals in mind.

My specialisms include PTSD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Mindfulness, Emetophobia, Health Anxiety, OCD, Specific phobia and Driving Anxiety following road traffic accidents.

 Additional training includes Mindfulness Based CBT, Group therapy facilitation, Various trauma related (Ehlers), Eating disorders,Virtual Reality training, CBT for Sleep, Emetophobia and regular updates regarding specific disorders and CBT skills. 
   Recently, I have completed EMDR ( Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprosessing Therapy), training and find this is an extremely effective form of treatment which is recommended by NICE. Although sessions are longer, generally people find they require less sessions than CBT. Although it is recommended mostly for trauma, it is now proving to help with many other issues such as phobias. 

 More  recently  Virtual Reality therapy has been added as part of exposure therapy, which is used as to  treat anxiety disorders as part of CBT therapy. 
  Although it is preferable to use this  as face-to-face, in the current climate VR therapy may be offered to clients who have access to a universal VR headset that takes their mobile phone. Headsets are widely available online for approximately £30. 

 Sessions are offered either remotely or face- to- face .