My Experience
Dr Ally Baker
Clinical Psychologist- D ClinPsychol, MA (Hons)
I fully qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in Leeds in 2004, having completed my Masters previously in 1996. I have worked in the NHS for 25 years, in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Leeds, London and Dumfries & Galloway.
I have worked in Adult Mental Health teams, in both primary and secondary care settings, with outpatients and inpatients. I did my Doctoral thesis in Cardiac Psychology, looking at how people recover after a heart attack. I loved working in The Royal Brompton hospital in London, with Cardiac and Respiratory conditions, as well as physical health departments in Glasgow – Chronic Pain and COPD.
I have worked in a Trauma Service (sexual abuse/assault), an Eating Disorders service and two Primary Care Mental Health teams. In these teams I worked offering brief individual therapy for common mental health difficulties. I also ran different psycho-educational groups, such as, Anxiety Management, Compassionate Mind Training, Overcoming Depression, Assertiveness and Relaxation. In other contexts I have run a Survive and Thrive trauma group and a Hearing Voices Group.
I have been supervising other staff for more than 10 years and have the appropriate training to do so. I loved working as a teacher abroad in my twenties and have put these skills to use running teaching and training events for psychology-related topics to staff and members of the public.
I trained as a Joimove Dance Instructor in 2016 and, although not psychology, I found that these groups are wonderful for lifting mood.
I am trained and experienced in a number of different psychological therapies. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Person Centred Therapy, Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), Transactional Analysis, Systemic/Family Therapy, Personal Construct Therapy, plus others to a lesser degree. Which one we use will depend on the evidence base, the issue to be tackled and your personal preference as the client.
What to expect
The first session will allow you space to say what’s brought you along…
I also offer…
- Clinical Supervision of other staff
- Group Sessions / Workshops
- Teaching and Training
- Joimove Dance workshops
