Gemma Krier Mead

A few words about myself

Gemma Mead, BA (Hons) BSc (Hons) RMN PgDip CBT Cert MBCT

I am a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, Mindfulness Practitioner (Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy) and a registered Mental Health Nurse. I am a member of the British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP); a member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP); and licenced for practice with the NMC (Nursing Midwifery Council).  I have over 12 years of qualified clinical experience behind me and I have supported many people to overcome a wide range of mental health conditions and emotional problems, within the NHS, private practice, education, forensics and the voluntary sector.  I also work with children under the age of 16 years, accompanied by their parents, guardians or carers.  When providing therapy for children I follow the guidelines set out by the Department of Health with regards to therapy and confidentiality.

I believe that everyone, with the right kind of support, has the potential to master their life struggles or mental health problems, despite what a person is facing or how they may be feeling. 

My professional experience includes:

Working in acute in-patient hospitals supporting people with mental health and drug/alcohol problems.
NHS work in the community as a Senior Clinician in mental health teams, providing individual psychological interventions, group therapy and workshops. 
Professional Lead working in managerial and advisory roles alongside private therapy practice.
CBT Therapist and Forensic Practitioner for the London Courts - providing therapy for people, producing mental health assessments for Judges and writing pre-sentence reports.
Senior Practitioner Trainer and Therapist, designing and teaching CBT to support people and their loved ones to overcome a range of mental health conditions.

Alongside my private practice at Asana Health, I also consult as a therapist to a psychology firm within the City of London and I work in a London University supporting students with their mental health conditions. Coupled with this I am a freelance Consultant Trainer for doctors, mental health professionals and business on a range of CBT, Mindfulness and Recovery courses.

How could I help you?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy helps you change the way that you feel, through making changes with how you think and your behaviour. Let’s give an example, if a person feels really down or anxious, it's not that their thinking is wrong or bad, but it's likely that the person experiences very critical, worrying or negative thoughts. This in turn affects the way that they feel and what they feel able to do. I would help you find ways of thinking about yourself differently, supporting you to develop more balanced thinking. We all see the world through our own eyes, based partly on our past experiences. If our beliefs about ourselves as a person are not so good, then this can darken our view of the world, like putting on a pair of dark glasses. But it doesn't have to be this way, as you can learn to develop more positive beliefs. Often our problems get stronger because of the things we do, or don't do perhaps. Making sense of this and trying out new things gives you the chance to make real changes in your life. CBT isn't a complicated kind of therapy and many people have found it so helpful for their recovery.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy has its roots in the far East, from ancient Buddhist practice; but you don't have to be a Buddhist or even have any beliefs to practice being Mindful. Mindfulness helps you to stay in the present moment and to accept yourself for who you are without criticism or judgment. Our minds can be filled with so much worry or anxious thinking or perhaps we feel stuck in the past, beating ourselves up with what could have been or what we should have done. You may find that you are really battling with your thoughts, or trying to push them away. In the end, this can make us feel much worse. It's as if our mind really does have a mind of its own. Before we know it, we can be left feeling so down, upset or angry, without truly understanding how we got to feel this way. Using a Cognitive Mindfulness approach you can learn ways to become mindful in your own life, from practicing different meditations and breath techniques, to learning more about the way that you think and feel. You will discover that you can slow your mind down and give yourself the chance to step aside from these loops of thinking. In doing so you give yourself the space to think about things differently and act differently too. Mindfulness can help not just emotional difficulties but also with physical problems too.

Some of the areas I may be able to help you with:

• Addiction
• Affairs and betrayals
• Anger management
• Antisocial personality disorder
• Anxiety
• Attachment disorder
• Avoidant personality disorder
• Bipolar disorder/Manic depression
• Borderline personality disorder
• Bullying
• Career counselling
• Carer support
• Child counselling
• Childhood bullying
• Chronic fatigue syndrome (ME)
• Dependent personality disorder
• Depression
• Disabilities
• Discrimination
• Dissociation
• Family issues
• Fear
• Feeling sad
• Generalised anxiety disorder
• Hearing voices
• Health anxiety
• Histrionic personality disorder
• Hoarding
• Learning difficulties
• LGBTQ+ counselling
• Loneliness
• Low self-confidence
• Low self-esteem
• Narcissistic personality disorder
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder
• Panic attacks
• Paranoia
• Paranoid personality disorder
• Passive aggressive behaviour
• Personality disorders
• Phobias
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Postnatal depression
• Pregnancy and birth
• Psychosis
• Redundancy
• Relationship issues
• Schizoid personality disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Schizotypal personality disorder
• Seasonal affective disorder
• Self-harm
• Separation and divorce
• Separation anxiety
• Smoking
• Spirituality
• Stress
• Suicidal thoughts
• Tourette's syndrome
• Trauma
• Work related stress
• Young carers

I work with people of all ages.  I am able to work with children under the age of 16 years, accompanied by their parents, guardians or carers.  On some occasions children prefer to be seen alone.  I am happy to offer children below the age of 16 sessions on their own, with the consent of parents or guardians.  When providing therapy for children I follow the guidelines set out by the Department of Health with regards to therapy and confidentiality.

Therapies offered:

•  Cognitive and behavioural therapies
•  Humanistic therapies
•  Behavioural therapy
•  Cognitive therapy
•  Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
•  Psychodynamic therapy
•  Person-centred therapy
•  Mindfulness
•  Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
•  Solution focused brief therapy
•  Group therapy
•  Other therapies
•  Compassion-Focused Therapy

Workshops and Courses

I also offer workshops and courses on overcoming Anxiety, Depression, Bi-polar, Psychosis, Mental Health Awareness, Mindfulness and Recovery.  Anyone is welcome, whether you are experiencing these difficulties yourself, you care about and support someone who is, you are a business, or if you are a health professional or support staff.

Contact

I am happy to make appointments weekdays, evenings and weekends. 

Please do get in touch with me directly to discuss your needs and how I can help you.

Call: 07495 514855

E-mail:  mail@therapywithpromise.com  

Website: www.therapywithpromise.com

Separate fees apply for Assessment Reports for Solicitors, Court Reports, Pre-sentence Reports and ongoing therapy.  Please feel welcome to get in touch with me for terms and conditions.

Training, qualifications & experience:

Post Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy with Merit
London Metropolitan University
Oct 2006 – May 2007

Certificate in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
London Meditation Centre
April– July 2012

BSc (Hons) Degree Mental Health Nursing (RMN) with 1st Class Honours
London South Bank University
Sep 2000 – June 2003

Diploma in Teaching, Supervision, Mentorship & Assessment in Clinical Practice with Distinction
Sep 2003 - July 2004

BA (Hons) Degree Fine Art, Photography & History of Art with 2:1 Honours
De Mont Fort University

Additional Professional Development Training

CBT for Worry & Clinical Perfectionism, Undercover Strengths and Build Resilience with CBT, Clinical Reflection & Supervision, Overcoming Depression, Mastering Psychosis - living with and beyond voices and unusual experiences, Teaching clients Mindfulness Skills, Motivational Interviewing, Deaf Awareness & Sign Language Training, Recovery Training for Trainers, CBT for Anger & Irritability, Emergency Life Support, Mental Health Act Capacity Training, Safe Guarding Children & Adults, Beating Worry & Procrastination, Care Programme Approach (CPA), Solution Focused Therapy, Emotional Regulation and understanding Self-Harm.