Emma Svanberg

Director

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Areas of expertise

Antenatal care and birth prep | Birth trauma and anxiety | Breaking generational cycles | Childhood trauma | Complex trauma | Depression and low mood | Family conflict | Identity changes | Neurodivergent parenting | Parenthood identity | Parenting struggles | Pregnancy | PTSD | race | Relationships | Self-worth and compassion | trauma | Work and family

My why

As humans, we need community to thrive. As practitioners, we need spaces where we can think, feel and work with integrity. The Psychology Co-operative is a collective of warm-hearted, thoughtful professionals who are willing to question inherited models, challenge the status quo, and engage honestly with complex problems (individually and collectively). We are deeply committed to ongoing professional and personal development, grounded in anti-oppressive and relational ways of working. Most importantly, we believe that how we care for one another matters. This work cannot be done well in isolation. Since forming in 2019, we have become a close, supportive family - one that values care, accountability, and connection. We look forward to welcoming you.

Title

Founder & Director

Who am I?

I’m a Chartered Clinical Psychologist, writer, activist and community builder. I’ve worked in a number of different mental health settings but specialise in the perinatal period – the time around pregnancy, birth and the early years of parenthood. I have a particular interest in attachment, trauma and the intergenerational roots of our problems.

I trained at UCL, London and have done further training with organisations such as the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust, the Anna Freud Centre and the Institute of Psychoanalysis. Lately I have learned from educators such as Dr Jennifer Mullan, Lama Rod Owens and teaching with Black Psychotherapy and the Radical Therapist Network.

I am not currently taking on clients for therapeutic work as I focus on running the Psychology Co-operative and writing. However, you’re welcome to contact me for a one-off consultation, professional supervision or if you just want our minds to meet about something you’re grappling with.

You might want to see me if:

You would like help figuring out what’s brought you to the point you are currently at, and what you might like to do next. My skill is in pattern spotting across different domains of your life. We can use this together to talk about all the different factors that are influencing you at the moment, the experiences in your past and from your personal circumstances that have had an impact on you, and the options you have to find a new way forward.

I also oversee the clinical work, development and community building of the Psychology Co-operative. If you get in touch with us, I’ll be the first person you speak to so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss anything about therapy, workshops or the work we do.

I often speak to organisations and on panels and podcasts. You are welcome to contact me if you would like me to speak on topics such as attachment and relationships, parental burnout, the importance of neurodivergence identification and connected parenting.

My style:

I work in an intersectional and relational way, primarily informed by psychodynamic thinking and enriched by systemic perspectives. I am interested in how wider contexts – family systems, organisational cultures, social structures – shape our ways of being and relating.

Drawing on attachment-focused and trauma-informed models, I integrate multiple frameworks to understand complex struggles rather than reducing them to a single lens.

Those who work with me often say I have a way of making complex psychological ideas digestible. I particularly enjoy exploring trauma, attachment, and the systemic roots of individual distress with thoughtful, like-minded others.

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