Sophie Bolam

Sophie Bolam – BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist

When anxiety takes over, intrusive thoughts won’t leave you alone, or experiences from the past continue to affect how safe you feel, it can be difficult to know how to move forward. You might find yourself constantly worrying, avoiding situations that frighten you, checking or seeking reassurance, or feeling exhausted from trying to keep everything together.

I’m Sophie, a BABCP accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and Registered Mental Health Nurse with over 14 years’ experience across NHS mental health services, including CAMHS, crisis teams and specialist settings. I work with children, teenagers and adults experiencing a range of difficulties, including generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), OCD, social anxiety, panic attacks, health anxiety, specific phobias, trauma, PTSD and complex PTSD, depression, low self-esteem and emotional regulation difficulties.

I understand that these difficulties can look very different from person to person. Anxiety might mean your mind never switches off, OCD might leave you questioning your thoughts or needing certainty, and trauma might make it difficult to feel safe even when you’re no longer in the situation that hurt you. For children and teenagers, difficulties can show up through school avoidance, emotional overwhelm, changes in behaviour, friendship problems or struggling to manage everyday expectations.

My approach is collaborative, compassionate and focused on understanding what’s happening underneath your difficulties. CBT is my main therapeutic approach, and I also draw on DBT-informed, Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)-informed and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-informed approaches where helpful. For OCD, I can use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and I have training in the FLASH Technique for trauma work.

I have a particular interest in working with children and teenagers, including neurodivergent young people whose needs may be misunderstood or whose difficulties look different at home, at school or around other people. I also support adults who may have spent years masking, putting others first or feeling they should be coping better than they are.

Therapy isn’t about being told to think positively or trying harder. It’s about making sense of what’s happening, developing practical ways forward and finding approaches that work in your everyday life.

I provide therapy across North Tyneside and the wider North East, with online sessions available across England.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before getting in touch. We can start with what’s been happening for you and explore whether working together feels like the right fit.

Further Information

I know reaching out for therapy can feel daunting, particularly when you’ve spent a long time trying to manage things yourself or you’re unsure where to start. You don’t need to have the right words, a diagnosis or a clear idea of what you want to work on before getting in touch.

My approach is collaborative and tailored to you. We’ll work together to understand what’s keeping things difficult, explore patterns that may be contributing to how you’re feeling and develop practical ways to make life feel more manageable. Therapy isn’t about fitting you into a particular model; it’s about finding an approach that makes sense for you and your circumstances.

When working with children and teenagers, I recognise that difficulties can look very different at home, at school and in other settings. Where appropriate, I work collaboratively with parents and carers, helping them understand what’s happening underneath their child’s behaviour and how they can support change outside sessions.

I offer a free, confidential initial consultation to discuss what’s been happening, answer your questions and explore whether I might be the right therapist for you or your child. There’s no pressure to commit to therapy.

I offer sessions across North Tyneside and the wider North East, with online appointments available across England. Individual sessions are £89, and I accept eligible referrals through Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva and Vitality.