Katie Smith

I offer online therapy sessions between 9.30am and 3.30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays and between 1pm and 7pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

Hello, I'm Katie and I specialize in working with clients heading for or experiencing burnout.

Burnout is grim, trust me I know, because I have walked in your shoes. That’s why I’m passionate about helping people just like you to find balance in your life and to rediscover your spark.

Burnout knocked on my door at a time when I thought my success depended on doing it all and doing it well. I was spinning too many plates, and it all got a bit too much. That’s when I discovered the transformative power (or wizardry?) of therapy.

Therapy taught me that if you approach challenging times with openness, curiosity and a willingness to explore, there’s huge potential for personal growth. Knowing that it’s possible to turn a ‘breakdown’ into a ‘breakthrough’ is what motivated me to train as a therapist.

I work with stressed out professionals, students, caregivers, parents and partners; you might tick one of these boxes or a couple. Your experience of burnout and what you need to move through it will be as unique as you are.

Maybe you...

• have noticed that your body is stuck in a heightened state of anxiety or is feeling like it has shut down 
• are a people pleaser and are exhausted by putting other people’s needs before your own
• have lost your confidence and don’t recognise yourself anymore
• wish that your brain had an ‘off’ switch to give you a break from overthinking 

If you are looking for a route out of burnout, I can help you to find it.

As a Pluralistic Therapist I’ve been trained to use a range of therapeutic approaches.

Pluralism is not about being fixed in one way of thinking or doing things; my starting point will be to talk to you about the aspects of burnout that you are struggling with and what you would like to change. Together, we’ll develop a bespoke route map for therapy, that will be individual to you. 

If you haven’t had therapy before you might not know what type of approach could work best for you and that’s OK. 

If you like structure and have a solution focussed mindset, we would generally take a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) approach. My aim would be to support you to develop coping strategies for dealing with your challenges through focusing on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect your feelings and actions.

If you’d prefer to work in a non-directive way, focusing on the here and now, with the aspiration of developing greater self-awareness, we would be more likely to take a Person-Centred approach. I’d walk alongside you and encourage you to recognise and use your inner wisdom to see your challenges from a different perspective.

If you are interested in learning more about your body’s response to stress, we could use Polyvagal Informed Therapy. This approach blends neuroscience with body-centred techniques to help you to regulate your nervous system.

Alongside the therapies highlighted above, I'm also trained in evidence-based creative approaches (before training as a therapist, I had a career as an artist for 20+ years). We could explore a creative approach to therapy if this suits your learning style or if talking about your challenges initially feels too intense.

I'm currently training as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist and hope to incorporate this approach into my practice from the beginning of next year. 

Your first session is an assessment session which I will generally split into 2 parts.

Contracting: I want you to feel confident about what you can expect from me throughout our work together and to understand what I am expecting of you. Having a contract in place ensures that your therapy will be performed in a safe and professional manner. I’ll talk through the contract with you, answer any questions you might have and give you a written copy which we will both sign. 

Exploration: We’ll also devote a good chunk of time in your first session to exploring what you are currently experiencing and your best hopes for therapy. I don’t want you to feel like you are being interviewed so will only ask questions that are relevant to your situation. Once I’ve got a good understanding of the challenges that you are facing and where you’d like to be, we’ll talk through the different therapeutic approaches we could use and collaboratively agree a route map for therapy. This will be tailored to your unique wants, needs and preferences – I avoid a ‘one size fits all’ approach.

If the choice of therapeutic approaches feels a bit overwhelming, don’t worry – it’s not like having to pick a team. Think of what I offer as a buffet; there might be an approach that’s instantly appealing to you, or you might prefer to ‘taste’ a few or 'pick and mix'. Remember, your therapy is all about you and what you want, need or might prefer. I am flexible and adaptable and will work with you to create a route map that will be as unique as you. 

My goal for the assessment session is for you to leave with clear expectations about how we will work together and what we are likely to achieve. If by the end of the session you feel ready to commit to the process, we can book your next session but if you want to take some time to decide before taking the plunge, that is absolutely fine.