Hi! I’m Claudio and I’m a Clinical Psychologist.

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Can you tell me a bit about your background?

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I am originally from Portugal where I completed my clinical training and started to work as a Clinical Psychologist, primarily with children and young people with emotional difficulties. I came to the UK in 2012 where I furthered my studies through the completion of another MSc and other clinical courses. My clinical experience in the UK has largely been with individuals with personality and emotional difficulties who have experienced long history of relationship problems and who have been at risk of causing harm either to themselves or others. I have also worked with people who have experienced abuse, trauma, and neglect throughout their lives.

 

What will it be like when I meet you?

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My clinical work is based on a relational model where the therapeutic relationship and creating a safe and containing environment is key to our work. We will work at your pace and we will explore both your therapeutic goals and what to expect from our sessions. There might also be an opportunity to explore your early life experiences and how they might have shaped the way you now relate both to yourself and others.

 

What therapies do you use and what kind of difficulties do you help people with?

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Through my clinical training I have developed knowledge and skills in using a variety of different treatment models including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Analytic Therapy, and Compassion Focused Therapy.

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I am also a Certified Schema Therapist. Schema Therapy is designed to address unmet needs and to help clients break patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving, which are often problematic, and to develop healthier alternatives to replace them. Schema Therapy draws on a range of therapeutic modalities, including psychodynamic, object relations, gestalt, person-centred and cognitive-behavioural, and is steeped in attachment and developmental theory and research. The practice of Schema Therapy is process-oriented, and utilises techniques from 4 main domains: experiential, interpersonal, cognitive and behavioural, as well as experiential techniques (such as imagery rescripting, chair-work, and historical roleplay) designed to provide corrective emotional experiences that facilitate deeper level core emotional growth and change.

We will work together to identify patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving that might have caused you difficulties in the past or that might have been holding you back from achieving your goals. This will help you to make sense of difficult past experiences and help keep you from being overwhelmed by their effects.

 

What are your interests outside of psychology?

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Aside from psychology, I am an avid reader. Literature has been an important part of my life from a very young age, and I tend to use my spare time to immerse myself in other worlds. I am also a big fan of music and going to gigs. Lastly, my strong passion for traveling has meant I have had the opportunity to meet new people and get to know different cultures over the years.