Agata Podstepska

Agata Podstepska is Trainee Clinical Psychologist who has experience working with a wide range of mental health difficulties in a variety of settings.

She has over 3 years of experience working within private practice and the NHS, and has worked with a wide range of difficulties including depression and anxiety disorders, work related stress, personality disorders, trauma, relationship difficulties, mood disorders (e.g bipolar), schizoaffective disorders, and psychosis.

Agata has a particular interest in working with borderline personality disorder (BPD) also known emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD) as well as complex post-traumatic stress disorder (c-PTSD) and has knowledge and insight into both cognitive and dialectical behaviour therapy (CBT and DBT) techniques which are evidence-based methods seen to be most successful in managing these disorders.

Agata has an understanding of how neglect and abuse, in both childhood and adulthood, can lead to complex emotional difficulties as well as difficulties in managing relationships. She understands how interpersonal skills, being mindful and present, learning to tolerate distressing situations, and emotional regulation are important skills that can help manage your difficulties more effectively.

Agata is committed to helping people gain insight into how their early experiences are influencing them in the here and now and helps people create changes in their lives by managing their responses to difficult emotions

Therapy

Building a good therapeutic relationship determines how successful treatment can be, and Agata’s main goal is to work with her clients to do this. Her aim is to give her clients a safe environment where they can be honest and open without feeling pressured or judged. She also has a great understanding of how culture, religion, spirituality and other socioeconomic factors can impact mental health and finds it very important to put her client’s difficulties into context. Therapy can be a difficult first step to growth and improvement of your mental wellbeing, and Agata works to ease her clients into the process to make them more comfortable in their own time.

Your first session with Agata will help her understand your difficulties, give you an opportunity to find out more about how she works, and discuss how you can work together to meet your goals. In following sessions you will work together to address these goals, regularly review your progress and reflect on how you are finding the sessions. You may also be given exercises to partake in outside of your therapy sessions. This will help build on what you learn in your sessions and equip you with the skills you need to deal with your issues in real life contexts.

Education

Agata is currently completing her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Surrey and previously completed a Masters in Psychology, and an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences. She has extensive knowledge in research and a great understanding of the connection between mind and body, and how it can impact our wellbeing.