Annie Mitchell
Community Psychologist in South Devon.
I have over 40 years experience as a psychologist, university lecturer, trainer and mentor and formerly as a clinical psychologist and developmental psychologist in health and child development settings. Now I practice and work part time and volunteer as community psychologist, writer, actor, psychotherapist, activist, and grandmother!
Services
What I Offer
Individual psychotherapy for adults, either face to face in my private consulting room or my sheltered garden (subject to Covid restrictions), or remotely (via telephone or zoom).
Mentoring for psychologists in training, for climate activists and for other community members.
Teaching, training, external examining and supervision for NHS Trust staff & University health professional learners/ trainees & staff.
Who do I work with?
Psychological therapy: for anyone experiencing psychological distress such as misery and unhappiness, anxiety, confusion, uncertainty about their future. I have particular experience in supporting adults with long term health conditions or physical disabilities, such as chronic pain, kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, vision impairment. I am especially committed to working with health professionals and learners or trainees who are experiencing psychological distress, exhaustion and overload (sometimes called burnout), or long term health conditions.
Mentoring: for clinical psychology trainees, health care professionals and community activists to support them in developing their community or career development ideas, their leadership aspirations and their work-life balance dilemmas, so they can be part of building resilient communities and workplaces while staying true to their own needs, values and priorities, and drawing on their own particular strengths and creativities.
Teaching, training, external examining and supervision: for health professional training programmes, NHS Trusts and practitioners on various topics and themes, including team work, supervisory relationships, community psychology, clinical health psychology, existential issues and end of life care, and psycho-social aspects of addressing the climate & ecological emergency.
What to expect
Human and social change requires trust, kindness, honesty & challenge. As a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society, I am bound by professional codes of ethics which rightly require confidentiality, compassion, openness and transparency.
About me
I was born and brought up in the north east of England in a white working class mining community, through the 1950s and 60s. I went on to study and research in psychology at the Universities of Exeter, Nottingham, and Surrey. Working for the NHS in Devon for many years (initially providing clinical health psychology services for families of children with disabilities, and latterly for adults with long term health conditions, including kidney disease and transplant care) has taught me a lot about resilience, suffering, pain, trauma, prejudice and stigma. As the Clinical Director for the Doctorates in Clinical Psychology for the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, and external examiner for programmes at the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Lancaster, I know that professionals are only human too: we can all experience distress, confusion, uncertainty and gladness. I provide ongoing training sessions for medical students and clinical psychology trainees on topics including psychological care in physical illness, team work and leadership, compassionate end of life care, understanding climate change, and community psychology.
I was honoured to be awarded the 2018 British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology MB Shapiro Prize for service to the profession. I have always worked part time, and am now largely retired from my public sector career. As well as independent psychological practice, I am committed to: Playback Theatre (as a performing member of a women’s playback theatre company, RedEarth, http://www.playbacktheatre-sw.co.uk/tarte-noire-womens-playback-theatre-company/); supporting the South West Branch of the British Psychological Society Division of Clinical Psychology (as the ex-chair and now committee member); climate awareness raising and non-violent resistance with Extinction Rebellion (https://xrpsychologists.co.uk); being a mentor for the national Point of Care Schwartz Round initiative; being with my little grandchildren, and, in the peaceful moments, gardening, poetry reading and writing, and sea dipping.
My approach
You can expect my approach to psychotherapy or mentoring to be open and collaborative and relationship centred: starting by clarifying what matters most to you, and then agreeing frequency of contact – maybe just one or two meetings, or an ongoing series of one hour, one and a half hour or three hour sessions, which can be scheduled weekly, fortnightly or monthly, and regularly reviewed. The purpose is always to find comfort, clarification and encouragement. For some, just one or two sessions can be enough for transformative change or consolidation of your strengths. For others, sessions may continue for weeks, months or even years – and can be either regular or infrequent, depending on circumstances and need. As a mentor, I am especially interested in exploring how our various identities, including culture, ethnicity, gender, and our childhood and formative experiences, affect how we see ourselves and others, and how we act. As a trainer, supervisor, examiner I try to be flexible and learner-centred, knowing that teaching does not necessarily result in learning: we generally learn best through experience and reflection. All my work includes a particular emphasis on understanding and addressing the social determinants of health and wellbeing.
If you are interested in working with me – either for therapy, mentoring, supervision or teaching – please contact me via email. Initially, I’ll suggest a 15 minute zoom or telephone call to discuss how we might be able to work together. Please email initially to anniemitchellhome@yahoo.co.uk.
Fees
I normally charge £80 per hour for psychological therapy or supervision, but am open to discussion on rates, depending on people’s particular circumstances; I offer free mentoring; my rates for teaching and examining are negotiable.
Annie in garden 