Dr Liz Kirkland, Consultant Clinical Psychologist (Adults)
BSc (Hons) Psychology University of Lancaster 1991
Clin Psy D University of Manchester 1995
Certificate in Systemic Practice (therapeutic work with families and groups) University of Birmingham 1997
Accredited Life Coach
HCPC registered
Therapy That Makes Sense of Your Story
Introduction:
For over 30 years, I have worked with adults, couples, and families as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist. My experience, in the NHS and independent practice, has led me to a foundational belief: you are not a set of symptoms to be labelled, but a person with a story that makes sense.
Overwhelming feelings—anxiety, panic, low mood, or relational struggles—are often signs of an internal alarm system that learned to be on high alert. My work is to help you understand why your mind and body react as they do, tracing patterns back to their roots in past experiences, so you can find a new sense of safety and choice in the present.
My approach: A Collaborative, Formulation-Driven Partnership
I do not start with diagnosis. I start with curiosity. Together, we will build a formulation—a respectful, coherent story that explains how your difficulties developed and what keeps them going. This isn’t about blame or reliving trauma; it’s about making sense of your protective strategies and the parts of you that have always been trying to help you survive.
This often means understanding how early experiences of unsafety, unpredictability, or emotional neglect shaped your nervous system’s wiring. When danger was real, your mind and body developed brilliant, necessary adaptations: constant scanning, high achievement, perfectionism, or withdrawal. These were solutions then. The problem may be that now these same protective parts may be working too hard, long after the immediate danger has passed.
Therapy as a Space to Re-calibrate Safety:
Therapy with me is not about “fixing” you. It is a gradual, supported process of helping your nervous system learn that it can stand down; that you are an adult now, with choices, resources, and safety you didn’t have as a child. We will focus on:
- Making Sense: Connecting the dots between past experiences and present triggers (why a certain place, relationship dynamic, or sensation feels so destabilising).
- Building Safety in the Present: Developing practical, somatic tools to ground yourself when fear or panic arises—helping you separate memory from current reality.
- Integrating Protective Parts: Honouring the parts of you that had to be the achiever, the caregiver, the watchdog, or the escape artist, while helping them find new, less exhausting roles.
- Negotiating Relationships: Untangling natural caution from past harm, so you can choose intimacy and set boundaries from a place of wisdom, not fear.
The Difficulties I Work With:
I help people struggling with a range of experiences, always through this understanding lens:
- Anxiety & Overwhelm: Including panic, phobias, obsessive thoughts, and the exhausting feeling of being constantly on alert.
- The Weight of the Past: Low mood, shame, and distress that often have roots in earlier experiences of neglect, invalidation, or trauma.
- Relationship Patterns: Difficulties with trust, intimacy, and boundary-setting, especially when past relationships have been unsafe or abusive.
- Coping Strategies That Have Run Their Course: Including eating disorders, sleep problems, and perfectionism—understanding their protective function before exploring change.
- Parental Stress & Burnout: Supporting parents who are navigating their own histories while caring for others.
My Background & Practicalities:
My practice is integrative. It is informed by decades of clinical experience, research knowledge, and broad training. This means I draw flexibly on established psychological principles, tailoring them to your individual formulation and goals.
I now work entirely online.