Title
Director and Clinical Psychologist
Who am I?
I’m Bekah and I’m the co-Director of the Psychology Co-operative, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, Researcher and Feminist. I have a specialist interest in the intersections of gender, violence and mental health which includes, but is not limited to sexual health, perinatal mental health and birth trauma. I am also interested in how systems of oppression, such as patriarchy, systemic racism, and anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination impact on mental health. I use social media in order to engage with public communities about both my research and clinical practice using the handle @dr_bekah_shallcross, with the aim of making both research and therapeutic ideas more useful and accessible to all.
You might want to see me if:
In my clinical practice I specialise in gendered experiences such as birth trauma, reproductive and sexual health, perinatal mental health, and societal expectations of women (emotional burden, burden of care, mental load, adaptation to motherhood etc.). Most commonly I work with women who are struggling with emotions such low mood, anxiety or anger, who may also be experiencing feelings of discontentment in their career, relationships or with themselves. Oftentimes the women I work with feel exhausted, trapped, burnout, not-good-enough, or unconfident. Sometimes women are unsure when or how these feelings developed, and other times women can pinpoint a particular life event (such as a childhood experience, end of relationship, pregnancy, birth of a child, loss, or other difficult or traumatic experience) which leads them to seek 1-1 therapy. Whatever you are experiencing; the untangling, head space, and therapeutic relationship offered in a therapy setting aims to provide you with a safe space to explore these difficulties.
My style:
I work integratively, drawing on CBT, and Psychodynamic, Narrative, Systemic and Compassion Focussed models of therapy. I also draw on Feminist Therapy theory and mind/body somatic techniques.