About Kathy
Kathy Herring is a qualified and accredited psychotherapist specialising in trauma and attachment. With over 30 years of experience supporting children, parents, families and individuals to recover, rebuild and move forward after painful or difficult life experiences.
She aims to create a warm, safe, supportive relationship where clients can explore thoughts, feelings and experiences that may be difficult to make sense of alone. Her aim is to help clients understand themselves more clearly, so they can grow from their experiences rather than feel weighed down by them.
Kathy draws on a wide range of therapeutic approaches and tailors her work to each individual. Her approach is collaborative, compassionate, curious and grounded in evidence-based practice.
Kathy's Background
Kathy has always been drawn to help others and try to make sense of people. She advocates for those who struggle to be heard, challenges unfairness and helps people who have been held back find their strength. She mediates between people in conflict and recognises that we often agree about more than we realise.
She began working in schools with young people whose emotional and behavioural difficulties meant they were struggling to access an education. She recognised that their life experience had made it difficult to feel safe in the world and wished she could make more of a difference.
Kathy then went on to work with Social Services with children at risk, looked after and adopted children and families. She recognised that removing people from the environments that harmed them often wasn't enough. Sometimes the care system added to the difficulties. She wanted to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
One day in a care meeting where all the adults were struggling with a young boy in a residential care home a Play Therapist presented her assessment. She expertly explained, with compassion and understanding, how his experience had shaped his development and communicated his needs. This helped us to make sense of his bizarre behaviour. She told the grown ups how they could help him to heal and grow safely. Kathy began to follow in her footsteps and a few years later qualified as a Play Therapist herself.
After some years practicing as a Play Therapist with looked after and adopted children, Kathy understood that trauma and attachment were the roots of most of her clients' difficulties. She focused all her regular training around this. In 2012 she qualified as an EMDR practitioner and in 2019 she gained a Masters in EMDR Therapy.
Kathy, through her personal and professional experience, has developed an interest and some expertise working with Autism, ADHD, neurodivergence and difference. She is able to adapt her approach to meet her clients where they are.
Kathy's journey as a therapist and a human being continues. Her curiosity and drive to understand keep her exploring and learning. Personally, her self care journey involves yoga, martial arts, sound meditation, dream journeying and laughter. Professionally, she is all about evidence-based practice and practice-based evidence. Her recent areas of exploration are intergenerational trauma, nutritional psychiatry and lifestyle medicine.
Kathy's Approach
Specialising in early, complex trauma and attachment, treatments are tailored to provide lasting transformation for individuals, parents, and children.
Supportive counselling and collaborative problem solving
EMDR trauma & phobia treatment
Play Therapy
Attachment and Life story work
Parent-child sessions
Brief & intensive therapy
Kathy's Qualifications
EMDR Parts I-IV
Masters Degree EMDR Therapy -University of Worcester
Post Graduate Certificate Health Studies -University of Birmingham
Post Graduate Diploma Play Therapy -University of Roehampton
Certificate in Counselling -Manchester Metropolitan University