My Approach

My approach to therapy is very practical and grounded: I believe it should not only free you from ‘symptoms’ and distress, but also enable you to feel real happiness, as far as possible given the current world situation, to do things you couldn't do before, and to have warm, supportive relationships and a fulfilling life.
If you’ve had therapy before, you might find working with me quite different. I’ll answer your questions, help you understand yourself and what you’re going through, target the root causes of present-day difficulties and support your brain to heal and create healthier, more adaptive patterns.
You’ll learn to calm anxiety, steady and strengthen yourself when you need to, and start to trust yourself again — and you will not only heal but grow stronger, more confident, peaceful, assertive, and assured.
Reprocessing through EMDR therapy is like clearing away the clouds that were covering the sun. It was always there; you just could not see it. You may begin to feel things you’ve never felt before, and find yourself surprised and moved by your resilience and capacity to heal.


I learned to work with developmental trauma and dissociative disorders ‘from the bottom up’ — through my own experience of healing and integration through psychotherapy and EMDR. Practising yoga, and the many skilled teachers from whom I learned, showed me the power of working with the body to heal complex trauma. At the same time, I was reading everything I could find on trauma, dissociation, and up-to-date approaches to psychotherapy — from foundational texts to the most recent developments — and immersing myself in courses and seminars, mostly in person.

Psychotherapy is evolving rapidly, guided by neuroscience and ongoing research, and I continue to develop my work through reading, consultation with colleagues, practising yoga, and attending courses and conferences.

For more information, you are welcome to visit my website, maryclaredeechevarria.com.

Mary Clare

About Me

In recent decades, psychotherapy has undergone a profound shift. We now understand with much greater clarity how unresolved negative experiences shape how we feel, think, relate and respond — and how deeply these patterns can change given the right conditions and therapeutic approaches.

The word ‘trauma’ sometimes seems too big for what we have experienced, but up-to-date, trauma-informed psychotherapy understands that most ‘symptoms’ in the present are linked to unresolved trauma, not only of commission (obvious trauma) but also of omission: what should have happened but did not. For instance, not feeling safe, having no-one to turn to; being cared for physically but not loved emotionally; having parents or caregivers who could not hold us when we felt intense emotions and help us to handle them; having caregivers who were depressed or grieving, or who could not see us for who we were, rather than for our ability to meet their needs. These are experiences many people hesitate to call ‘trauma’, but they shape our self-worth and self-confidence, our ability to feel deserving, and the ways we may sabotage ourselves. Sometimes there are no clear memories, but that doesn’t matter, as EMDR can begin with a feeling, a thought, or a response in the present.

The way I work integrates many different modalities, including integrative, relational psychotherapy; Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP); Attachment-Focused EMDR; the Progressive Approach to EMDR; ego state therapy and work with dissociative parts; the Structural Dissociation Model; Internal Family Systems; Somatic Experiencing; Sensorimotor Psychotherapy; yoga therapy; and transpersonal psychotherapy. However, EMDR is my go-to, as I find it the quickest and most user-friendly.

Areas of specialisation:

• Difficulties in relationships
• Inability to make a decision or do things you want to do; feeling stuck; or sabotaging what matters to you
• Acute or recurring anxiety or depression; phobias, panic attacks, nightmares, suicidal thoughts
• Wanting something but believing you can’t have it — or don’t deserve it
• Not knowing who you are or what you want, or not being able to assert yourself
• Emotional, physical or sexual abuse
• PTSD
• CPTSD or complex trauma (also called developmental or attachment trauma), dissociation, ego state therapy, working with dissociative parts
• Bereavement and grief, overwhelming loss or change, loss of meaning or purpose
• EMDR clinical supervision/consultation

I work with

• Individuals
• Private healthcare referrals

Special Interests

Like all UKCP registered psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors I can work with a wide range of issues, but here are some areas in which I have a special interest or additional experience.

Types of Therapies Offered

• Transpersonal Psychotherapist

What I can help with

• Abuse
• Adoption
• AIDS/HIV
• Anxiety
• Bereavement
• Bullying
• Cancer
• Chronic Illness
• Depression
• Domestic Violence
• Employment Difficulties
• Infertility
• Mental Health Issues
• Parents
• Physical Abuse
• Post-Traumatic Stress
• Private Practice Issues
• Sex Problems
• Sexual Abuse
• Sexuality
• Spirituality
• Stress
• Suicide
• Supervision
• Terminal Illness
• Trauma
• Workplace Counselling