Dr. Mahdi Ghomi

DPsych, CPsychol, BABCP
Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, Counselling Psychologist & Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist.

Clinical Experience

I have 12 years of clinical experience in a variety of settings including the adult mental health and primary care within the NHS, the non statuary counselling and psychotherapy organisations and the private sector. I provide face to face counselling, psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) within a long term and short term capacity. I can also provide therapy in Iranian (Farsi). As a Counselling Psychologist I have training in three main modalities: CBT, Psychodynamic and humanistic approaches and thus I can draw from a variety of theoretical models and theories. I have experience of working with couples, adults and teenagers.

Since qualifying as a chartered psychologist in 2007 I have been working in primary care psychology and specialist trauma clinic at South West London and St. George’s NHS Trust as a specialised Psychologist, clinical supervisor of senior psychologist and therapists and head of specific departments within the primary care. During this period I have also been practicing privately. I currently work as head of all psychological services in primary care at Solent NHS Trust.

I have extensive experience in providing specialist diagnostic assessment and psychological formulation to collaboratively tailor my interventions to the client’s specific difficulties in line with NICE guidelines. I closely follow the latest research to consistently modify my practice and use current evidence base to inform my practice. I specialise in psychological treatments for a wide range of presenting problems such as

• Mood difficulties including Depression and emotional instability
• Aggression and Domestic Violence
• Loss and adjustment difficulties
• Depression and Anxiety in the context of Long term health conditions
• Trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Anxiety Disorders such as OCD, Hoarding, General Anxiety Disorder, Health Anxiety, Social
• Phobia, Panic & Agoraphobia, Body Dysmorphic Disorder
• Eating problems such as binge eating and bulimia
• Self harm, Addictions and other compulsive behaviours
• Personality Disorders and relationship issues and difficulties.
• General life Stress and difficulty in personal professional development, life coaching and self esteem.
• As a member of the HCPC I adhere to good practice ethical guidelines in my clinical practice. This involves providing a safe, non judgemental and respectful space for clients to develop and gradually become autonomous self actualising being.

My Therapy Approaches:

I mainly work within a CBT framework but I tend to integrate the CBT model with other approaches such as psychodynamic therapy, Schema focused therapy, ACT, DBT, CFT, Mindfulness, NET, EMDR and humanistic approaches including Person Centred Therapy. As a Counselling Psychologist establishing, maintaining and working with the therapeutic relationship is the main aspects of my practice. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) aims to enhance client’s experience by teaching them strategies to change their thinking and behavioural patterns which are maintaining their presenting problems.

I tend to focus on the here and now but often work with the past if the past gets in the way of progression in the present. I work with diversity and empathise strongly on each person’s unique goals, characteristics and strength. I believe therapy can provide a very unique experience which will be challenging but highly rewarding. Although the improvement is entirely dependent on clients’ ability and openness to engage with the therapeutic process.

What will a session be like?

In the first session which will take around 90 minutes you can expect a diagnostically driven psychological assessment where we discuss your presenting difficulties and goals and aspiration for treatment. I will provide you with a provisional diagnosis and we will jointly review possible treatment options on a short term and long terms basis accordingly. We can then agree on future sessions and treatment plan.