Dr Jodie Fellows (BSc Hons, DClinPsy, AfBPSs) is a Principal Clinical Psychologist regulated by the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC). She is also an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Birmingham. Jodie undertook her clinical training in the Universities of Coventry and Warwick and has worked in Birmingham for the last five years.
Jodie has special interests in the links between physical and mental health (how one can exert influence upon the other) and in helping people learn to live with their experiences of psychological trauma. Jodie’s role in the team is to support the further development of psychological skills within the already very experienced team, to offer joint consultations, assessments and in some cases offer one to one psychological therapy.
She is trained to use several different therapeutic approaches; in particular she is an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist with the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP http://www.babcp.com/Default.aspx) an accredited Eye Movement and Desensitisation and Reprocessing Practitioner with EMDR UK and Ireland (http://www.emdrassociation.org.uk/home/index.htm); and she is currently undertaking further practitioner training in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) (http://www.acat.me.uk/page/home).
Irrespective of whether contact with Jodie is via a joint consultation or one to one appointment, the overarching emphasis is upon listening (really listening), in a non-judgemental way, providing empathy and a genuine interaction. These are seen as essential in order to feel safe in the appointment. Defensiveness, shame, anxiety, embarrassment etc can get in the way of thinking about oneself in an honest open way with a therapist. A good deal of emphasis is put on ensuring the feelings of trust and safety in appointments.