Dr Laurence Rogers

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

I first became motivated to pursue a career as a Clinical Psychologist during my undergraduate studies at the University of Leeds. During that time, I worked as an Honorary Assistant Psychologist in a Down’s syndrome and dementia service.

Afterwards, I completed a master’s degree in Clinical Neurodevelopmental Sciences at King’s College London. I then worked as a Dementia Coordinator and Clinical Psychologist Assistant Practitioner in community learning disability teams across Surrey and London. My proudest achievement so far has been earning my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from King’s College London.

These roles have allowed me work with many people who differed in age, gender, cultural backgrounds, and neurodiversity. To date, my clinical experience includes:

• Delivering therapy for adults struggling with low mood and/or anxiety.
• Providing individual and group support to young people with ADHD and autism.
• Offering therapy for older adults experiencing mental health problems, difficulties in managing grief, and/or relationship challenges.
• Providing therapy for individuals who have experienced trauma.
• Offering assessments, therapies, and family support for individuals with learning disabilities and/or autism. This includes working with families in crisis.
• Delivering therapies and family support for people with psychosis.
• Offering neuropsychological assessments for individuals experiencing cognitive difficulties.

I appreciate that people might be coming to therapy with different preconceptions, goals, past experiences, and/or worries. As starting therapy takes a lot of courage, it is important we go at your pace.

As such, our first session together will focus on:

• getting to know each other to make sure I am the right fit for you.
• exploring the difficulties you would like support with. We might also start to develop your goals and think about the type of therapy best suited to meet these.
• covering other important aspects such as confidentiality, session length, and timings so we know what to expect from each other.

I believe an essential part of therapy is the creation of a supportive, trusting, and positive relationship. As this takes time to develop, I will ask for feedback at various stages to better understand the aspects of therapy you have liked and the things I can do differently.

A personal value of mine is to ‘not assume what you don’t know’. As such, I try to promote equal partnerships through mutual collaboration, curiosity, openness, and will encourage learning outside of our sessions (for both of us).

Through working together, I hope we are able to discover new and meaningful insights which promote recovery, self-growth, and opportunities which help you live the life you want.

I use an ‘integrative’ approach when delivering therapy, which means I might draw on different types of therapy to help you meet your goals. Although most of my experience has been in CBT, I have also delivered other therapies, including:

• Cognitive Analytic Therapy
• Compassion Focused Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Tree of Life
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• CBT for psychosis

These approaches have helped me support individuals struggling with low mood, anxiety, grief/loss, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, psychosis, and the impact of trauma.

I also have experience creating Positive Behavioural Support plans for people with autism, their families, and support networks.

Playing and watching sports has always helped me relax and stay active. One of my biggest passions is football and I also enjoy wakeboarding, tennis, and badminton.

From a young age, my Grandad instilled in me a love of history which I continue to enjoy through reading, going to museums, and watching documentaries.

I also unwind by binging a good Netflix series and listening to music. I particularly enjoy old school Hip Hop, Reggae, and recently re-discovered my teenage love for heavy metal.

Chapman, A., Dodd, K., & Rogers, L. (2020). Knowledge of mental capacity assessment in staff working with people with learning disabilities. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 14(1), 14-24.

McKellar, J., & Rogers, L. (2021). Our service response to racism. FPID Bulletin The Bulletin of the Faculty for People with Intellectual Disabilities, 19(2), 76-78

To be published:

Rogers L., Onwumere J., & Valmaggia, L. (In press). Using Virtual Reality (VR) training to support caregivers of people with psychosis with their communication styles: a feasibility study.

Rogers L., Onwumere J., & Valmaggia, L. (In press). Psychoeducation for informal (unpaid) caregivers of individuals with first-episode psychosis: a systematic review of effectiveness and key components.