Dr Anna Balmer

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

I have worked across a broad range of mental and physical health services throughout my career, including specialist secondary and tertiary care settings.

During my clinical psychology training, I developed specialist experience within maternity and neonatal intensive care services. This included supporting people experiencing birth trauma, anxiety, difficult pregnancy or birth experiences, adjustment to parenthood, and the psychological impact of having a baby receiving neonatal intensive care.

I also specialised in neuropsychology and have experience working therapeutically with people experiencing neurological and neurodegenerative conditions, including Functional Neurological Disorder and functional neurological symptoms.

Before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked within psychology services at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. My wider career has included experience across both child and adult psychological services, and I now work predominantly with teenagers and adults, while remaining open to working across ages depending on an individual’s needs.

Although my career has taken me around the UK, I am very much a Belfast girl. Growing up in Belfast has shaped some of the perspective I bring to my work, including an understanding of the impact of living within a post-conflict society and the ways in which trauma, community experiences and family histories can continue to influence people over time.

I also hope to bring some of the openness, warmth and sense of comfort that Belfast is known for into my work as a psychologist.

I see it as a privilege to do this work and to be trusted with parts of people’s lives that may feel difficult, vulnerable or painful to share. The relationship I develop with the people I work with is deeply important to me. I value taking time to understand you as an individual and to create a therapeutic space in which you feel seen, heard and supported.

Your first session is an opportunity to begin settling into the therapeutic space and getting to know me, while also giving me time to begin getting to know you.

There is no expectation that you need to tell me everything immediately. I recognise the vulnerability, openness and courage that can be involved in coming to therapy, particularly when you may be talking about experiences that have been difficult to share elsewhere. I want us to work at a pace that feels comfortable and manageable for you.

We will usually spend some time thinking together about what has brought you to therapy, what you would like support with and what feels most important to you at the moment. We can begin developing an understanding of your experiences and consider what you would like therapy to help you move towards.

Building a comfortable and trusting therapeutic relationship is one of my main priorities. I want you to feel that therapy is somewhere you can return to and bring whatever you need to bring, including things that may feel confusing, difficult to explain or hard to speak about.

It is important to me that you feel listened to and understood as a person. I will give time and consideration to your individual needs and we will collaboratively consider how therapy can work best for you.

I work integratively and draw from several psychological therapies, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy and DNA-V.

The way we work together can be adapted over time, depending on what feels most beneficial and relevant to you. We can first develop an understanding of you, your experiences and what you are hoping to gain from therapy before deciding together which approaches may be most helpful.

My work is informed by psychological formulation and trauma-informed practice. This means thinking about how your experiences, relationships, environment and the ways you have learned to cope may have contributed to the difficulties you are experiencing now.

I aim for therapy to feel collaborative; we can regularly consider what is helpful, what feels less useful and whether we need to adapt the way we are working.

I work with teenagers and adults experiencing a broad range of psychological difficulties. I have particular experience working with people whose difficulties have developed in the context of trauma, relationships, adversity, complex mental health needs or significant changes in their lives.

This includes working with anxiety, depression, low mood, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress and trauma-related difficulties, difficulties with self-esteem and confidence, self-criticism, shame, self-acceptance, emotional regulation, distress tolerance and burnout.

I have experience supporting people who have experienced coercive control and domestic abuse, childhood abuse, bullying, relational trauma and other difficult or harmful relationship experiences.

I also work with people adjusting to physical health difficulties, neurological conditions and Functional Neurological Disorder, as well as those experiencing functional neurological symptoms.

My maternity and neonatal experience includes working with birth trauma, anxiety surrounding pregnancy or parenthood, difficult birth experiences, adjustment and the psychological impact of neonatal intensive care.

You do not need to arrive at therapy already knowing exactly how to describe or make sense of what you are experiencing. Sometimes people know that something is difficult without yet knowing how to make sense of it. Part of our work can involve understanding your experience, difficulties that may have developed over time and what you would like to be different.

Outside of my clinical work, I am naturally curious and enjoy continuing to learn from different people, communities and perspectives. I spend a lot of my free time going to exhibitions and talks, reading, and exploring art and culture.

I also volunteer with the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland, which is something I care deeply about and find very meaningful.

I make a conscious effort to look after my own mental and physical wellbeing too. For me, that is part of being able to bring the attention, energy and presence I want to bring to my work, while also making space for the things I enjoy outside of psychology.

I love living in and exploring London, and outside of work I am often accompanied by my Italian Greyhound, Hector.