About Nick Dommett

Person-centred therapy sits at the heart of my practice. It puts the client at the centre of the work, recognising that they are best placed to understand their own experiences. It is based on the belief that, when people feel truly heard and understood, they have a natural capacity for growth, healing and positive change. Rather than being told what or how to think, I will support you as you reflect on your experiences in a safe, accepting and non-judgemental environment.

At the root of this approach is the therapeutic relationship, whereby experiencing empathy, acceptance and genuine understanding, many people find it easier to talk about difficult thoughts and feelings, develop greater self-awareness and gain clarity about the challenges they are facing. Through supportive exploration, therapy can help you reconnect with your own strengths, values and sense of identity.

Attachment-based therapy begins with the understanding that relationships matter. From our earliest years, the relationships we have with parents, carers and other important people help shape how we understand ourselves, how safe we feel in the world, and how we relate to others. These early experiences can influence the ways we manage emotions, seek support, navigate relationships and respond to life's challenges.

Attachment-based therapy explores these patterns with curiosity and compassion. Rather than focusing solely on symptoms or behaviours, it seeks to understand the experiences and relationships that may lie beneath them.

Through a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship, people can develop greater self-awareness, emotional resilience and new ways of relating to themselves and others. For children and young people, this often includes thinking about the wider family relationships that support their emotional wellbeing and development.

For children, play is often a more natural form of communication than words. Thoughts and feelings are often expressed through play, creativity, imagination and behaviour. Play therapy taps into this by using play, stories, games and creative activities to bring out their inner world and explore their experiences in a way that is not too overwhelming.

Through play, children, young people and even adults can begin to make sense of difficult feelings, process emotions and begin to develop a stronger sense of Self. Underpinning this is the therapeutic relationship where the person begins to trust me as we delve into their internal world.

CBT is based on the understanding that our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours are closely connected. Sometimes we can become caught in patterns that contribute to anxiety, low mood, stress, low self-esteem or emotional overwhelm.

CBT helps people identify these patterns and understand how they may be influencing their day-to-day lives. Together, we explore alternative ways of thinking and responding, helping to build practical strategies, greater self-awareness and a stronger sense of confidence when facing challenges.

Involving many of the basic principles of person-centred therapy, mindfulness-based approaches encourage us to bring greater awareness to our everyday activities rather than going on “autopilot”. Similar to CBT, it aims to recognise and explore negative patterns of thinking and supports you in finding more helpful ways of responding.

Mindfulness practices may include breathing exercises, body awareness, meditation or mindful movement like yoga. These approaches can be particularly helpful for those experiencing stress, anxiety or feeling disconnected from themselves and their surroundings.

Trauma can result from a single distressing event or from difficult experiences that occur over time. The wounds from these leave an indelible mark on our brains and nervous system, leading someone to relive the event or events over and over again, even when there is no obvious threat. It is recognisable through symptoms like flashbacks, hypervigilance, insomnia, irritability and anger and can lead to dissociation and other avoidant behaviours.

In therapy, establishing a sense of safety, trust and stability is crucial, moving at a pace that feels manageable for the individual. From this foundation, we can gently explore the effects of past experiences and develop healthier ways of coping, relating and moving forward.

A form of person-centred therapy, Gestalt therapy focuses on the here and now. It emphasises a non-judgemental space and brings a relational perspective where the therapist is impacting and being impacted by the client.

It can be viewed as quite challenging as the therapist will bring how they are feeling in the room with you. Body awareness is a key aspect of this type of therapy and I use this when appropriate with clients. Another common technique is the empty chair where you imagine a dialogue with a person or a part of yourself that you are in conflict with.

MBT is a talking therapy that helps people better understand their own thoughts, feelings and intentions, as well as those of other people. It focuses on improving emotional regulation and relationships by making sense of how we and others may be thinking or feeling in the moment.

Originally developed for people with borderline personality disorder, MBT is now used more widely to support difficulties such as relationship conflict, emotional overwhelm and problems with self-understanding.