I believe passionately in a collaborative approach to helping clients to address their issues, where an individual’s needs are recognised in the specific context of their life and met in an empathetic and supportive manner. A key challenge in working with clients is helping them to resolve their ambivalence and fears around change and to promote hope and belief in their ability to achieve their chosen goals. 

Essential in achieving this is developing a trusting therapeutic alliance by working in a supportive, empathic, and non‑judgmental manner that takes into account the discrimination and stigma that is too often associated with mental health issues, and addiction in particular.

Position at Priory

Andrew initially joined Priory in 2012 as a mental health nurse, working with adult patients in acute psychiatric services, before leaving to study for a postgraduate diploma in cognitive behavioural psychotherapy. 

Since 2014, Andrew has worked as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, delivering group therapy and one-to-one therapy for clients as part of a highly skilled team of dedicated individuals who provide evidence-based treatment programmes concordant with NICE guidelines. 

Andrew frequently works with clients who have a dual diagnosis, helping them to address their issues and build their resilience to sustain their recovery and achieve their stated goals. Andrew has also delivered a CBT-based, eight-week depression treatment programme, and has co-facilitated an eight week mindfulness-based stress reduction programme.

Training

Andrew gained a BSc in mental health from Salford University in 2013 and is a registered mental nurse, having completed his three year training in a variety of settings including acute psychiatric hospitals, forensic institutions, and community mental health teams, where he worked with patients experiencing a variety of enduring mental health conditions with often complex needs. 

After working as a nurse, Andrew studied for a postgraduate diploma in cognitive behavioural psychotherapy at Salford University, which incorporated modules on addiction, anxiety, depression, complex cases, and third wave interventions such as mindfulness, compassion focused therapy (CFT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).  Following his postgraduate diploma, Andrew completed mindfulness resilience enhancement (MRE) training and his MBSR and MBCT teacher training from Bangor University. He now attends an annual mindfulness retreat in Snowdonia. 

Andrew also continues to practice and develop his CFT skills for which he receives regular supervision and has completed various training courses related to this, including an advanced clinical skills course, and a trauma therapy course. Andrew has also completed an ACT training course at Birmingham University. In 2021 Andrew completed his schema training and continues to deliver schema therapy at Priory.