Hi, I’m Rebecca…
Dr Rebecca Chasey, Clinical & Community Psychologist.
BSc (Hons), DClinPsy, CPsychol. Chartered Psychologist. HCPC Registered.
I am here to help you.
Hi, I’m Dr. Rebecca Chasey, a clinical psychologist , chartered by the British Psychological Association, with over 25 years of experience in helping people find emotional balance during stressful, uncertain times. I’m the founder of Sustain Psychology, an Independent Private Psychology Practice for adults in Exeter, UK. I specialise in helping adults with the emotional impact of health conditions, long-term health challenges, chronic pain, trauma & anxiety. More generally, I help people with the difficulties of facing into those times of extended struggle. I’m here to help you manage the challenges that you face so that you can grow & live your life more fully.
My inspiration
From a young age, I have been passionate about understanding how we survive tough times. Seeing people facing their struggles & witnessing incredible resilience, I was inspired to learn how I could help others develop their psychological capacity to come through life’s difficulties.
My journey
Throughout my career, I’ve trained extensively in a variety of psychological approaches & developed skills in a range of therapies to support my clients. I have also learned from personal experience how it feels to be overwhelmed by life’s challenges - & I get how hard it can be when we’re pushed to our limits. Many of the therapeutic methods I offer are ones that I have used on my own personal journey; tools that now help me live a fulfilling life as a working mother & carer for someone with long-term health problems.
My aim
I am determined to use my professional skills & experience to help other people sustain themselves – & even flourish in spite of adversity & uncertain times. I created Sustain Psychology so that I could offer mental health care in a way that is true to my heart & values. I feel really grateful to now be able to weave together all that I’ve learned along the way & to deliver the service that I truly believe in.
My experience & specialisms
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Individual clients
If you are finding aspects of life challenging due to living with a health condition or you are supporting a loved one living with a health condition, I may be able to support you. Since qualifying in 1994 I have provided psychological care across a range of medical & physical healthcare settings in the NHS, covering acute & long-term conditions. I have the training & background to provide psychological care across a variety of difficulties in physical & emotional health.
Having started out in work with older adults & helping people with general health problems, I went on to spend 9 years specialising in gynaecology & maternity, particularly supporting parents through traumatic loss & bereavement. I followed this with 15 years in a multidisciplinary pain clinic & was honoured to hold the position of lead psychologist for the pain psychology team in an NHS hospital for over 10 years.
Using one-to-one therapy, groups & skills training, I have used my psychological expertise to help countless clients resolve a wide variety of issues including grief, adjustment to life crises, anxiety, phobias, depression, problems with body image, PTSD & traumatic life experiences. I have a specialist interest in working with clients experiencing the effects of medical trauma or struggling with uncomfortable memories linked to physical health. I use the latest science & understanding of the brain & nervous system to help people manage their mental & physical health including persistent pain. Over the years, it’s been a privilege to support & guide clients, working together to resolve &/or manage their difficulties & make meaningful improvements in emotional health.
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Staff & organisations
My qualifications & experience also include working with staff, trainees & students from a range of backgrounds & disciplines. It’s a pleasure to be able to support people’s growth & development & I am proficient in supervision, reflective practice, consultation, teaching & training in my field of practice. Having worked across a range of medical, mental health, community & university settings in my career, & having led a team in the NHS, I am no stranger to the challenges that people can face in our pressured workplaces. I have a particular interest in staff well-being & supporting people facing problems with stress & burnout.
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Climate Psychology
Over the years, many of my clients have taught me of the solace & strength that they have found through reconnection with the natural world - connection that has helped them to manage their emotional & physical difficulties. And, I know that my own love of nature has also sustained me through tough times.
As a Clinical & Community Psychology, I believe that our experiences are intimately interlinked with our environments: It is this that fuels my developing interest in Climate Psychology.
I am a certified Climate Psychologist - You can find out more about my work in this area here.
My credentials & qualifications
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I am registered with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC). Registration number PYL03648
I am Clinical Psychologist Chartered by the British Psychological Society (BPS). Membership number 077446
These registrations offer assurance of recognised and accredited professional training to assure appropriate qualifications, ethics, continual professional development & professional standards
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I gained my Doctorate in Clinical & Community Psychology (D.ClinPsy) in 1996 at the University of Exeter. Prior to that I had gained a BSc (Hons) Degree in Behavioural Sciences (Joint Zoology & Psychology) at the University of Nottingham.
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I have extensive additional training in many areas of practice & am committed to staying up to date with best practices & treatments. Key highlights of my additional trainings include:
*Compassion-Focused Therapy Advanced Clinical Skills. plus courses & training on:
CFT for complex attachment & relational trauma
Practicing chair work, basics & beyond.
Compassion-focused therapy for shame-based PTSD
Compassion-focused therapy approaches to anxiety,
Compassion-focused therapy approaches to pain & health problems.
Attachment based yoga & meditation for compassionate trauma recovery
Trauma as a modern-day compassion training: integrating compassionate body practices in healing developmental wounds
*Compassionate Mind Group Facilitator Training. Balanced Minds. Parts, 1,2 & 3.
*Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT):
ACT for Depression & Anxiety
ACT for Brief Interventions
ACT for Physical Health Problems
ACT for Chronic Pain
ACT: 100 key points & techniques
*Schema Therapy (Foundations & Core Skills, Level 1).
*Trauma Focused CBT -
PTSD Masterclass
Complex Trauma, Dissociation & Flashbacks
Actionable Neuroscience for Stress, Anxiety & Trauma.
Enhanced Reliving in PTSD
*Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing:
EMDR Level 1, EMDR Institute (2020)
EMDR (Richman EMDR Training Part 1, 2023)
EMDR treatment of chronic pain
*Certificate in Online Counselling (Counselling Tutor, 80 hours, recognised by ACTO).
*Facilitating Reflective Practice Groups Training. Tavistock & Portman Clinic.
*Introductory Level Training in Hypnosis
*Introduction to Internal Family Systems Therapy
*Functional neurological symptoms from an ISTDP perspective
*Mindfulness-based stress reduction 8 week course.
*Breathworks mindfulness for health (cancer care) 6 weeks course.
*National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioural Medicine (NICABM):
Advanced Master Programme in the Treatment of Trauma
Helping clients undo patterns of pleasing & appeasing
How to foster post-traumatic growth
How to work with the part of trauma that’s trapped in the body
How to work with a client’s perfectionism
How to work with clients who are stuck
Practical brain-focused strategies for working with depression
How to work with clients who struggle with an inner critic
Expert strategies for working with anxiety
Treating racial trauma
The nervous system & depression
*Post Covid/Long Covid:
Understanding post-Covid syndrome
Post ICU Covid Psychological Problems & Treatment pt 1 & 2
*Chronic Pain:
Review & update of evidence base & guidance concerning psychological interventions for pain.
INPUT Pain Management Programme education day
Pain - Irene Tracey
British Pain Society Conferences 2017, 2015, 2013, 2011, 2007
*Other Health Issues:
Introduction to psycho-neuroimmunology
Living with & beyond cancer
IMMAC working with people with long-term conditions
Functional neurological symptoms from an ISTDP perspective.
*Psychology of Sleep
*Staff Care:
Working with moral injury in health care settings.
20-minute care space
Psychologically informed staff support interventions
*Resilience:
Global resilience summit, 2022, 2023
Psychology of resilience conference
*Safeguarding:
Suicide Prevention Summits, 2022,2021,2020
Safeguarding Adults Level 2
Safeguarding Children Level 2
*Ethics:
Ethics in Psychological Practice, British Psychological Society
*Climate Psychology:
Certificate in Climate Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies, USA (10 day accredited training).
Hosting & Facilitating a Climate Cafe, Climate Psychology Alliance.
Holding the Hope: Reviving Psychological & Spiritual Agency in the Face of Climate?
Climate Change & Mental Health: Catalysing a Global Research Community Institute of Global Health Innovation.
The urgent need to use a public health approach in communities to build population mental wellness and resilience for the climate catastrophe. Bob Doppelt
Preventing & healing climate traumas
Mental health and wellbeing in the climate emergency: Global perspectives and calls to Action. Climate Cares. Imperial College London.
Managing Uncertainty in a Changing World. British Psychological Society Webinar
Working with climate anxiety with clients and the profession. Dr Patrick Kennedy-Williams Clinical Psych.
Anxiety in Times of Crisis: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Ecological, Pandemic & Nuclear Anxiety
Active Hope Training. Joanna Macey & Chris Johnstone.
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British Psychological Society (BPS)
Division of Clinical Psychology (BPS)
Faculty of Clinical Health Psychology (BPS)
Association of Clinical Psychology-UK (ACP-UK), including Climate Action Network & Clinical Health Psychology Network
British Pain Society
Compassionate Mind Membership
Psychologists for Social Change
Climate Psychology Alliance
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My research and publications have largely been in the field of physical health psychology, post-traumatic stress & the psychology of women.
Newton-Cross, P., Howell, A., Dewar, J. & Chasey, R. (2019) “Moving forwards with Fibromyalgia”: preliminary feedback from patients attending primary care-based education seminars and workshops. Physiotherapy 105: e173-e174. DOI: 10.1016/j.physio.2018.11.180
Edworthy, Z., Chasey, R., & Williams, H. (2008) The role of schema and appraisals in the development of post‐traumatic stress symptoms following birth. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology 26(2):123-138
Titley, M & Chasey, B. (1996) Across Differences of Age: Young Women Speaking of and with Old Women. In Sue Wilkinson & Celia Kitzinger (Eds.) Representing the Other: A Feminism & Psychology Reader. Sage Publications.
Chasey, R. (1996) Coping & adjustment to chronic illness in older adults. unpublished doctoral research dissertation.
Chasey, R. (1996) Psychological transition during first pregnancy. unpublished doctoral research dissertation.
Chasey, B., et al (1993) The Gender Resource Pack: A Training & Practice Resource for Clinical Psychology. The Gender Working Group, Dept of Clinical & Community Psychology, Exeter Community Health Service NHS Trust. ISBN 0 9522682 0 5.
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I have presented on the application of compassion-focused therapy to chronic pain problems at the international Compassionate Mind Conference and a variety of national conferences including those run by the British Pain Society, the Physiotherapy Pain Association. Also at national meetings of the special interest group in Compassion Focused Therapy & Physical Health.
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Over the decades of my career, I have facilitated training & workshops on multiple aspects of mental health & clinical health psychology for a wide variety of people including medics & other health professionals, students up to Doctoral level at the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth, patients, carers, volunteers, & community groups. More recently I have taken part in a panel discussion for climate scientists at the Met Office & delivered teaching to artists working with climate anxiety.
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I am a certified Supervisor & am registered on the British Psychological Society Register for Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors (RAPPS):
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I hold an enhanced level of DBS certificate (Disclosure & Barring Service).
My ethos
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Compassion
Compassion is at the heart of my practice. Not just kindness & care for ourselves & others, compassion is about the wisdom & courage to make a positive difference & to do the things that matter.
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Growth & Learning
I’m passionate about learning & sharing knowledge. I believe that we can grow & learn through life & that change is possible.
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Sustainability & Hope
I believe that we can be open to better ways to sustain, restore & regenerate our lives. And that when we connect to what really matters, there is beauty, meaning & fulfillment to be found.
My approaches
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I understand that the journey to better mental health doesn't always look the same – I tailor therapies to suit individual needs while taking into account your unique circumstances.
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Many of my clients tell me that they have not felt well listened to, understood or believed, in their previous encounters with helping professionals. With compassionate listening at the center of my approach, I recognise how important it is for you to feel heard & seen, first & foremost.
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I am trained to understand your difficulties & concerns from a variety of perspectives. Taking into account a broad range of factors, we will build an understanding of your difficulties together to begin to make sense of your situation. With this holistic approach & my expertise in how the mind & body work together, I can help you better understand your condition. We'll work together to untangle your problems & find ways to help you move forward with greater confidence, empowerment, resilience & satisfaction in life.
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I draw on the best scientific evidence & understanding of the brain & nervous system to create & support meaningful changes with my clients.
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I am equipped to help you develop the skills and capacities you need to take charge of your life again using a range of therapy approaches to suit you.
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I will seek to help you make well-informed choices about the therapy that is most suited to you. I’ll check in with you regularly during our work together to ensure that our work is ‘on track’ & feeling helpful.
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My approaches combine both the art & science of psychology. I enjoy being creative in finding collaborative solutions. I’ll be sensitive to the pace of therapy & considerate of the interactions between us in our professional relationship.
Finding balance
Having been a very ‘driven’ person for many years, I now truly believe that we all need balance & restoration in our lives. Alongside my practice of Sustain Psychology, I can be found working on my own equanimity, stomping through muddy woods, enjoying time with my family, finding grace & awe in the natural world & planting wildflowers.
Let’s work together so you can begin your path to better mental health & well-being.
Take the first step today.
WORK WITH METherapy
I offer a range of tried & tested face-to-face therapies tailored to your individual needs.
Groups & Services
I offer psychological groups & services to serve individuals, groups & organisations.
