Stephen Skippon

I offer sessions  face-to-face at our premises in Hawarden, close to Chester, or via online video, or by phone, whichever you prefer.

I offer therapy sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I'm a Psychotherapist at Lemons to Lemonade, an independent practice based in Hawarden near Chester.

I aim to be both approachable and professional. You'll find me friendly, warm and ready to listen, never judgemental and here to do my best to help you. At the same time, I provide a professional service that’s confidential, ethical, draws on up-to-date psychological knowledge, and uses effective, evidence-based approaches. I specialise in two:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for a range of emotional difficulties such as depression, anxiety, and stress. It’s based on the psychological understanding that people sometimes develop beliefs and automatic patterns of thought that are unhelpful and make it difficult to live life in the way they might want to. I can work with you to help you identify unhelpful thoughts and beliefs and develop alternative ways to respond. I often ask clients to try out various activities that are part of the therapy in between sessions. CBT is particularly suitable for people who prefer a structured approach.

Narrative Therapy provides a way for people to explore the impacts of problems on their lives and to find alternative ways of relating to those problems. It’s based on the psychological understanding that people make sense of their lives through stories that help them connect and explain the events they have experienced. It helps people to develop more empowering ways of seeing themselves based on their own values, skills, and knowledge, which are often obscured and forgotten in the midst of difficulties. I find narrative approaches to be very effective with many of my clients. Few psychotherapists or counsellors have the additional training required to practice Narrative Therapy.

I offer psychological therapy to help people deal with a wide range of emotional difficulties including depression, health anxiety, social anxiety, generalised anxiety, panic, stress, anger, low confidence or self-esteem, and phobias. I also help with problems like loss or grief, relationship issues, divorce or separation, harassment, being bullied, redundancy, or debt.

I provide specialist therapy for anyone who has difficulties sleeping. I have specialist training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia, recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as the preferred treatment. Where sleep difficulties are linked with stress, anxiety, depression or other psychological difficulties I provide combined therapy to address these together.

I also provide specialist therapy for people who find themselves in patterns of sexual behaviour that are legal but that they or others find distressing. This can include infidelity in relationships, excessive use of legal pornography, use of commercial sex workers, chemsex, or unsafe sex. I aim to help clients develop a positive and helpful relationship with their sexuality that enables them to express and experience it in ways that don’t limit or harm themselves or others.

A therapist's qualifications can provide an assurance that they have appropriate training, and a way of distinguishing between practitioners with different levels of training. I have a Master’s degree in Clinical Counselling; am trained to Level 2 in Narrative Therapy, have a British Psychological Society (BPS) approved Master Practitioner Diploma in CBT, and BPS Levels A and B qualifications in Psychometric Testing. I have a doctorate (PhD) in psychology and am a Chartered Psychologist. I'm a nationally recognised expert in changing people’s behaviours: I was asked to contribute a seminar and oral evidence to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry into Behaviour Change.

In the initial session I’ll work together with you to develop a shared understanding of your difficulties and the factors that might be contributing to them. We'll also discuss what you are hoping for from therapy: how you would like to feel, what you would like to be able to do, and what you would like to stop feeling and stop doing. I’ll then agree with you an approach and a therapy plan that’s specifically tailored to your needs, preferences, and goals.

Experience suggests that the most effective pattern of therapy work is to have weekly sessions, so that’s my normal arrangement, though I can vary from this, for instance by having fortnightly session. The number of therapy sessions depends on the nature and complexity of your difficulties: it can be as few as six, ten to twelve is typical, and more may be needed in some cases.