Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies

We specialise in psychological therapy for women who are distressed about their breastfeeding experiences. Whether you breastfed for a day, a month, or three years plus, if you are struggling with the emotional aspects of breastfeeding challenges, weaning, or anything else, we are here for you.

Are you grieving or struggling to come to terms with your breastfeeding journey? Perhaps you feel "a failure" about how breastfeeding turned out, or traumatised by what you went through to feed your baby. Are you anxious about your baby's health, or weight gain, or your milk supply? We can help you to talk and work through what you have been through, and help you to move forwards without being burdened by so much self-criticism, or guilt, or anxiety. We often work with women in the immediate post-partum period, or when the "dust has settled" a little, or indeed when they are pregnant again, and worried after their previous challenging feeding experiences.

We also work with people who are struggling with the emotional aspects of an ongoing breastfeeding relationship. For instance, with feeling overwhelmed or touched out, managing relationships with those close to you, breastfeeding aversions or D-MER. We can support you with psychological strategies to make these challenges more manageable. We know what an overwhelming time the post-partum period can be, and are passionate about supporting you with expert care, while you are so busy caring for your little one.

We are also a safe and supportive place for you to come for psychological therapy if you are struggling with something other than breastfeeding, but want to see a psychologist who you know will be supportive of breastfeeding and understand your context. We are supportive of natural-term breastfeeding, and won't "scapegoat" your breastfeeding relationship or assume that weaning is the easy answer.

Models of Therapy

Our psychological therapists are highly skilled at deciding which type of therapy may best meet your needs, and working flexibly in the way that best suits you as an individual. For instance, we may focus on one type of therapy, or offer a combination to suit your needs and goals. We always work collaboratively with you as a team to help you with the problem.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

CBT is an effective type of therapy for problems such as depression, anxiety, trauma, low self-esteem and more. It works by helping us to develop an understanding of how our early experiences have shaped our beliefs about ourselves, the world and others. It helps us to clearly map out our thoughts, feelings and responses. In CBT we address patterns of thinking and responding that may be unintentionally keeping you stuck rather than helping you to move forwards.

When working with trauma or PTSD, CBT helps by processing the traumatic memories, and working on what your experiences meant to you. It is a goal-focused and practical approach, and can be really effective at helping you to improve how you are feeling. Dr Kelsey O’Reilly and some of our other Psychological Therapists are accredited by the BABCP, demonstrating their high level of skill in this approach.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)

EMDR is designed to help you to process and heal from traumatic memories. It has a strong evidence-base for PTSD and traumatic experiences, and we will often recommend it if there are key images or memories that seem to be keeping you feeling stuck.

EMDR uses bilateral stimulation such as eye movements or tapping to help your brain to more effectively process and integrate traumatic memories. This helps to reduce the emotional intensity of memories, and allows you to move forwards and improve how you are feeling. It may be offered as a standalone therapy, or integrated with other approaches.

Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

CFT is designed to help people work gently with feelings of shame, self-criticism, or harsh inner judgement. It encourages the development of a kinder and more supportive relationship with oneself. For parents, this can be a valuable way of nurturing self-acceptance during times when you might feel pressure to “get everything right.” It recognises that caring for a baby is demanding, and that being compassionate with yourself supports both your own wellbeing and your relationship with your child.

CFT draws on practices such as mindfulness, imagery, and breathing techniques to strengthen a sense of safety in the body. This helps reduce the threat response and allows you to approach difficulties with greater balance.

Individual Psychological Therapy

Individual therapy is personalised to what you are struggling with in particular. This may be specifically focused on your breastfeeding challenges, or we may realise that the emotional struggles related to breastfeeding highlighted a wider theme that you struggle with. For instance, self-esteem, perfectionism or anxiety.

Our Psychological Therapists are trained in a range of types of therapy, including, but not limited to, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye-Movement and Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Schema Therapy.

How does it work?

We are happy to offer a free 15-minute consultation to answer any questions that you may have, and to check that we are a good “fit” for each other if it is helpful

The next step is to arrange an initial assessment where we work together to better understand what you are struggling with, your hopes for therapy, and to agree a treatment plan.

Recovering from Breastfeeding Grief and Trauma Group

We will explore together the concepts of breastfeeding grief and trauma, and what is keeping you feeling "stuck". We will then experiment with a range of psychological strategies to help you to process what you have been through, feel more self-compassionate, and better able to live life the way you want to live it. Although this is a group therapy, there is no expectation to share personal details, or anything you don't feel comfortable with. 

How does it work?

  • An individual assessment consultation to talk through your experiences, what you are still struggling with, and hoping for from the group.

  • Four group therapy sessions with a maximum of six women with similar experiences. The focus is interactive and engaging fto support you to experiment with various psychological strategies to manage anxiety, self-criticism, avoidance, worry and more.

Running for four weeks from Friday 11th September - Friday 2nd October 9.30-11am

Cost £350

Joint Breastfeeding Debrief IBCLC and Clinical Psychologist

This is a uniquely holistic approach to "debriefing" your breastfeeding experiences, with expertise from both the world of infant feeding and clinical psychology. 

How does it work?

45 minutes with Shami Shafi, IBCLC and Health Visitor to focus on what would help you most from a breastfeeding perspective. This may be to understand what "went wrong", or what you may want to put in place if you intend to breastfeed again in future, or to optimise your current feeding plans. 

90 minutes with Dr Kelsey O'Reilly, Consultant Clinical Psychologist to acknowledge the emotional impact of what you went through, and to leave with a range of evidence-based psychological strategies to process your experiences, and move forwards with less self-criticism, guilt and distress. 

Cost £250

Contact us to book any of the above

“Finding Kelsey felt like a beacon of light when I had been screaming into the void for so long — finally someone who understood how I had been feeling, and could help me.”

“Therapy has really helped me to come to terms with a very traumatic breastfeeding journey. I can now go to baby groups with only a small twinge of sadness when I see a breastfeeding mother rather than overwhelming anger and guilt. I am now contemplating another pregnancy, which didn’t feel possible before. If I do become pregnant again, I would work together with Kelsey and an IBCLC to prepare for how to manage emotionally and practically next time to hopefully have a more successful breastfeeding journey.”

“Tackling my anxiety about my baby's milk intake and weight gain has helped so much with my experience of motherhood. I am now so much more relaxed and happy, and able to trust my body and baby.”

What our Clients Say

Frequently Asked Questions

  • We offer therapy with both Clinical Psychologists and CBT therapists, and all are highly trained, experienced, and committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based care. The right choice will depend on your needs, preferences, and what you’re hoping to get from therapy.

    Clinical Psychologists have completed a doctoral-level qualification, including extensive training in psychological theory, research, and a wide range of therapeutic approaches across different settings. A key part of their expertise is in formulation—developing a holistic, in-depth understanding of your experiences, particularly when difficulties feel complex, longstanding, or hard to make sense of. They are well placed to support when there are multiple overlapping issues, or when you’re not sure where to start.

    CBT therapists are specialists in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a structured, evidence-based approach that focuses on understanding and changing patterns of thinking and behaviour. CBT can be particularly helpful for specific difficulties such as anxiety, low mood, intrusive thoughts, or low self-esteem, and often offers a more structured, goal-focused way of working.

    Both approaches are valuable, and many people benefit from either. Some clients choose to work with a Clinical Psychologist where they are looking for a more integrative, approach, particularly for more complex or longstanding difficulties. Others prefer the focused, skills-based nature of CBT.

    If you’re unsure, we’re very happy to help guide you towards the best fit based on what you’re experiencing and what feels most helpful for you.

  • We initially schedule a free 15-minute telephone call to answer any questions you may have about the process, and to check that we are the right service for you. If you wish to go ahead, we will agree which of our Psychological Therapists seems the best fit for your needs and schedule an initial assessment appointment via Microsoft Teams. This is an opportunity to develop a detailed picture of what has contributed to your distress, what factors may be keeping you feeling stuck, and how you would like to be able to move forwards. We will then make a plan on how we can work together to start moving forwards towards your goals. We can either meet weekly or fortnightly, usually at the same time and day each week, we only work online at present. The number of sessions we will need is variable, and we can decide between us. Sometimes a few sessions are enough to work through what you have been through, and show you the path for healing and moving forwards. In other cases, a longer piece of work is required to consider more complex factors. This will always be agreed together and a clear plan made.

  • Session fees depend on the therapist you work with, and reflect the different levels of training, experience, and therapeutic approaches offered.

    Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Founder (Dr Kelsey O’Reilly): £135 per session

    Clinical Psychologist: £125 per session

    CBT Therapist: £100 per session

    We also offer a small, time-limited therapy group for breastfeeding grief and trauma, which provides a more cost-effective alternative to individual therapy, with a structured programme of support for £350.

  • Ideally, therapy sessions are a space where you can just focus on you and your needs. However, we understand that when you have a young child this may be challenging! We encourage you where possible to arrange childcare, but if you need baby with you for a feed, or childcare would be a barrier to coming then of course bring them along. Just be aware that this may mean that our sessions need to be adapted.  

  • Most people who attend a therapy group are initially a little nervous about what to expect. We will meet before the group starts to get to know each other a little and ease any nerves. There is no expectation to talk more than you are comfortable with, and the focus is on together learning and applying new techniques to manage guilt, anxiety, self-criticism and more, rather than sharing in depth what you have been through. Please get in touch to talk it through more!