About us
Dr Carly Sandercombe

Practitioner Health Psychologist

Background:

I was born in Bristol, but I grew up in the beautiful Forest of Dean with my family and three younger siblings. I then moved to the Chepstow area as a young adult where I worked locally. I then spent five years living and working in Spain where I got to experience their laid back and relaxed culture and was given the opportunity to meet lots of interesting people, many of whom I am still in contact with today. However, I realised that I wanted to study and decided to move back to Wales in 2011. I have lived here ever since with my husband and son and after gaining my qualifications have enjoyed working in my local community helping people who are experiencing difficulties with their physical and mental health.

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Professional Qualifications:

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Doctor of Health Psychology (2020)

MSc/PGDIP Health Psychology (2016)

BSc (Hons) Psychology (2015)

Diploma: Access to Nursing (2012)

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Additional Training:

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Mental Health First Aid (Wales) Instructor training - Training in Mind

(APT) CBT Essentials, level 1 and 2

(APT) CBT Anger and Irritability, level 1 and 2

(APT) CBT With Stress and Worry, level 1 and 2

CBT - Building Core Therapist & Client Skills With MOM2

Data Protection - High Speed Training

Safeguarding Adults - South Gloucestershire Council

Safeguarding Children Foundation (Level 2) Workshop - Michele Winter Social Care Training

Introduction to Good Clinical Practice - NHS

Socratic Questioning (Essential CBT Skills) - SDS Skills Training

Working with Low Self-Esteem - SDS Skills Training

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Experience:

Throughout my journey to becoming a Health Psychologist I have been lucky to be given some truly amazing opportunities to gain a wealth of experience in the field of Psychology. I have worked at Connect Psychology as well as Oasis Talk in Bristol using cognitive behavioural therapy in group settings with people experiencing common mental health difficulties such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. I have worked at the highly acclaimed Centre for Appearance Research at the University of the West of England working on research projects designed to reduce and prevent body image issues in adolescent girls. In 2015, I was fortunate to be employed at Psychology Wales in Newport as a Senior Assistant Psychologist. I worked at Psychology Wales for just under five years and during my time there gained invaluable experience in a variety of areas. These included designing and facilitating mental health wellbeing courses for corporations, facilitating group psychological courses, working with large organisations to reduce ill mental health in the workplace, and working with clients on a one-to-one basis using the CBT model and psychological models to reduce ill mental health. After five years at Psychology Wales, I made the decision to work independently and in 2019 I set up my own company, Sandercombe Psychology Services. As a private psychologist I work in my local community offering psychological therapy. I also provide teaching and training services as well as consultancy services. In addition, I work part-time as an Associate Lecturer at the University of the West of England within the Psychology department. My work here involves supervising psychology students, teaching, and marking.

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As the company grows I have been lucky enough to expand my practice and we now have another member of the team, Jodie Reece working with us to take on our ever growing client base. 

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Special Clinical Interests:

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My special clinical interests are in the area of traumatic birth where my research for my thesis on the Doctorate Programme focused on women’s experiences of traumatic birth. My study entitled ‘Women’s experience of traumatic childbirth: An interpretative Phenomenological Analysis’ gave women who have previously been left out of this research area a voice as to how their experiences impacted them.

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Professional Registrations:

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I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a registered practitioner Health Psychologist and abide by the ethical principles and code of professional conduct adopted by HCPC and the British Psychology Society.

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I hold chartered membership with the British Psychological Society (BPS) with full membership of the Division of Health Psychology. I abide by the society’s Code of Ethics and Conduct, and their Member Conduct Rules.

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I have a full DBS certificate and Professional Liability Insurance.

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Cost per fifty-minute session: From £90