Our Team

Ruthie Giovas is an applied psychology practitioner who works with children/adolescents (age 12-15), individual adults, couples, and families with a wide range of issues and problems including: anxiety; depression; stress; abuse; anger/aggression; autism spectrum disorder; assertiveness; bereavement/grief/loss; body image; bullying; chronic illness; disordered eating; exam stress; gender/sexual identity; insomnia; loneliness; low self-esteeem; mindfulness; neglect; obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); panic; phobias; psychosis; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); relaxation; self-harm; trauma; and many more issues.

Ruthie has particular experience of working with people in crisis or who have experienced trauma as well as with individuals, couples and families with relationship concerns. 
 

Ruthie's way of working

Ruthie is an experienced therapist who is passionate about supporting people. She takes a holistic and client-centred approach to her counselling / psychotherapy work and believes in building a strong therapeutic relationship with each client so they can feel safe to explore their issues fully.

Ruthie combines elements from a number of different therapies into her work including Mindfulness Based Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, DBT-informed therapy, and Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to provide therapy tailored to the individual needs and preferences of each person. She may also make use of art-based therapy tools, particularly when working with clients from other cultures or when working with young adolescents. 

When working with couples, Ruthie uses Gottman Method Couples Therapy. This provides a framework and practical skills as it uses elements from CBT, behaviour-based therapy, psychodynamic-based therapy, narrative affective-based therapy, and existentially-based couples therapy. However Ruthie also incorporates elements from Emotion Focused Therapy as she feels this is helpful for understanding attachment and grief. 
 

Ruthie's background and training

Ruthie has experience providing therapy and support to people in a range of settings both in the UK and abroad. She works in the NHS providing therapy interventions in individual and group settings and has also provided therapy and support for people through various organisations in Cambodia.

Ruthie has a Masters in Science Psychology from St Andrews University, a Diploma in Clinical and Pastoral Counselling from Glasgow Caledonian University, a Bachelor in Social Science Psychology from Western Sydney University, Australia, and she has completed Gottman Method Couples Therapy (levels 1 and 2). 
 

Ruthie's fee

Ruthie charges £75 a session for self-funding clients. She also works with clients referred via their employer/organisation – for further details, please visit First Psychology Assistance.