About
Annabel Robb
I am an experienced psychotherapist with over a decade spent offering therapy and clinical supervision. Alongside my private practice I run a therapy space called The Therapy Studio and work part-time as a Specialist Practitioner & Art Psychotherapist within the NHS and Childrens Services.
Experience:
Over the past 10 years I have worked within the private and public sectors with adults and young people. Such settings include community based clinics, schools, social services, rehabilitation units, acute hospitals, forensic settings, therapeutic communities and supported housing placements for adults and children. Across this time I have also provided Clinical Supervision to counsellors and psychotherapists, trainees and social workers as well as facilitating individual and group Reflective Practice sessions to Mental Health teams, Childrens Services and teams within the Education Sector.
I have a great deal of experience working with individuals who have been exposed to different live events or traumas, which can in turn manifest in a felt separateness from others and lead to complex emotional responses to the world around them. I have specific experience working with young people who have experienced sexual abuse, along with adult survivors, and those exposed to neglect. I continue this work to date within my private practice as well as within my role in Childrens Services and NHS through the Youth Justice Team, working with young offenders.
I spent many years working within SEN settings and have since built upon my experience of working with children and adults with Autism, ADHD and learning difficulties, as well as families awaiting assessment.
Current Practice:
My practice incorporates my training as an EMDR practitioner, Art Psychotherapist and talking therapist. We may move between these models throughout work or abide by one or two, depending on what people gravitate towards and feels best to meet their needs. I aim to support people to share in whatever way feels safe and helpful, at their own pace. There are no set expectations other than building a therapeutic relationship and navigating challenges together.
My practice is based both in Central Brighton and Shoreham by Sea.
Psychotherapy Training:
MA Art Psychotherapy - Goldsmiths University London
Level 4 EMDR Adults - EMDR Works London David Mitchell
Level 1 EMDR Children and Adolescents - Joanne Morris-Smith
Diploma Supervision - British Association of Art Psychotherapists
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy - APT Trainings
Post Graduate Diploma Systemic Family Interventions - Surrey University Guildford
Other Psychotherapy courses completed:
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Bereavement and Loss, Trauma Informed Psychotherapy, Boarding School Syndrome, Reflective Practice, Internal Family Systems, Body Informed Therapy, Eco Therapy, Art Psychotherapy Formulations, Motivational Interviewing, SEN Communications.
What is EMDR
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing.
Unlike other treatments that focus on unveiling the emotions, thoughts and responses resulting from traumatic experiences, EMDR therapy focuses directly on the memory, and is intended to change the way that the memory is stored in the brain.
With the use of eye movements and other forms of rhythmic left-right (bilateral) stimulation (e.g., tones or taps), the client briefly focuses on the trauma memory, anxiety or fear and simultaneously experiences bilateral stimulation (BLS). This process aims to reduce the vividness and emotion of the memory including targeting any problematic symptoms that have manifested as a result.
I am trained to facilitate EMDR for Adults and Children
What is Art Therapy
Art Psychotherapy is a form of therapy which allows the client to express, communicate and process their experiences through the use of art materials.
It does not require any previous experience of art making or expertise. Making 'good' art is a foreign concept in Art Therapy as clients are often encouraged to channel their instinctive uses of materials.
Artwork can sometimes be made individually, with the therapist or sometimes not at all in sessions. The emphasis remains on the relationship between the client and therapist, discovering and thinking together in the space.