About Melanie Maynard

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My practice is based in a purpose-built garden office in Woodbury, Devon, UK. I provide psychological therapy to adults (aged 16+), as well as clinical supervision.   

 I am a UK-trained Counselling Psychologist registered with The Health & Care Professions Council (http://www.hpc-uk.org), the British Psychological Society (http://www.bps.org.uk) and the Division of Counselling Psychology. I studied my Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at the University of East London, UK and my BSc in Psychology at the University of York, UK. My doctoral thesis was on ‘The Effectiveness of Cognitive Coping Strategies in Adjusting to Divorce’. I am an accredited EMDR Practitioner, and I have undertaken a large number of continuing professional development courses including courses in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, compassion-focused therapy, Cognitive-Analytical courses, full EMDR training and grief counselling. 

I have been offering therapy to clients for almost 20 years, including working for the UK National Health Service (NHS) in a variety of Primary and Secondary Care Services (including Central London Community Healthcare and Dorking Healthcare), conducting psychological assessments and providing short- and long-term therapy for clients struggling with a large spectrum of difficulties, of varying severity. These included anxiety disorders (including OCD, post traumatic stress, health anxiety, phobias and panic attacks), depressive disorders (including post-natal depression and bipolar), relationship and attachment difficulties, addictions, childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence and bereavement. I have also worked as a Specialist Psychologist at the only NHS Problem Gambling Clinic in the UK. I helped to deliver and revise the cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) program to treat problem and pathological gambling to individuals and groups at the clinic. Since gambling was often functioning as a coping strategy, a lot of my work also involved helping the clients to manage their depression, anxiety or stress. I also presented at an International Addiction Counsellor Seminar in Ireland on the evidence, development and outcomes of a CBT treatment programme for problem/pathological gambling. 

In Hong Kong, I originally worked at ReSource the Counselling Centre. In this role I provided short- and long-term therapy  to local and expat individuals and couples, to help tackle a range of difficulties. These included working with clients with a range of anxiety disorders (including PTSD, OCD, phobias, panic attacks), depressive disorders (including post-natal depression, bipolar), eating disorders, addictions, relationship difficulties, attachment difficulties, adjustment difficulties and many more. I ran a very successful Private Practice at The London Medical Clinic in Hong Kong where I provided short- and long-term therapy to local and expat individuals and couples. In addition I provided pro-bono psychological therapy and supervision for Christian Action Refugee Service in Hong Kong. I also taught the Theory and Techniques of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy course for the Clinical Psychology PsyD program in Hong Kong. It is run by the California School of Professional Psychology (Alliant International University), but is offered in association with City University of Hong Kong. 

More recently I ran a busy private practice in Weybridge, Surrey, and have also co-facilitated a weekly Post-Natal Depression Support Group in Guildford. Please see http://www.postnataldepression.com for more information.  

I permanently relocated near to Exeter, Devon in 2019 and continued my private practice. I have recently become an accredited EMDR Practitioner. I attend regular supervision in line with the BPS/HCPC's requirements for Counselling Psychologists.  Please click here to find more out about what this means. 

 Some of the main difficulties that I can help you with are:

• Trauma and PTSD (recent or past, trauma and abuse)
• Low mood/depression
• Worry/anxiety/panic attacks/phobias/health anxiety
• Work-related or other stress
• Relationship/marital problems
• Divorce adjustment 
• Addiction (Specialism in treating Problem Gambling)
• Baby blues/post natal depression 
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Bereavement and loss
• Low self-esteem
• Interpersonal, attachment and adjustment difficulties
• Eating disorders
• Self-harm

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