My name is Dr Jo Daniels and I am an experienced Health and Care Professions Council registered clinical psychologist and British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy accredited Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist. I qualified in 2009 from the University of Manchester, and I am currently working in Bristol and Bath in clinical practice and training clinical psychologists at the University of Bath. I also work with and advise media and press on issues relating to anxiety and mental health, and have been involved in national guideline development.

My broad area of expertise is psychological distress in medical conditions and health settings. This means that I mostly work with people who have concerns about their health, who have received a difficult diagnosis or who work in medical settings.

Living with a medical condition, or with someone who has a medical condition, can be very difficult. It may require new adaptations, new ways of thinking and being, and may also be accompanied by feelings of loss, anxiety or frustration. No two people respond to medical conditions in the same way, and there is no right way to respond.

I work collaboratively with individuals to ensure I understand the nature of their difficulties, so that I can work with them to identify their goals for therapy, and plan how to reach those goals. I primarily use cognitive behaviour therapy, which is a time-limited therapy focusing on the ‘here and now’, the difficulties they are facing at the time.

CBT is the most widely supported type of therapy for those with medical conditions, and it is designed to improve quality of life, physical functioning and reduce psychological distress associated with a health problems. The focus is on understanding how thoughts, feelings, behaviour and our physiology can interact and influence our day-to-day life and experiences.

I have particular expertise in the follow areas:

• Health related anxiety
• Chronic fatigue
• Chronic pain
• Generalised anxiety and excessive worry
• Traumatic stress
• Sleep disturbance
• Adjustment to and living with medical conditions

Qualifications:

• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University of Manchester – 2009
• Accreditation in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy – 2011
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy – 2014

Please contact me using my web form if you have a specific difficulty that is not covered here.