Heather Darwall-Smith
Psychotherapist, MA. UKCP accred.
Heather has a specific speciality in sleep and stress and is particularly interested in the mechanism of the nervous system, circadian rhythms and sensory expereince outside of conscious control.
Sleep issues can be complex, and as well as the core sleep problems such as insomnia, nightmares, vivid dreaming and biological sleep disorders her work includes anxiety, depression, PTSD, addiction, sensory issues, questions around sexuality and deep-seated issues from childhood, Heather often works with chronic pain and auto-immune conditions, including the rising number of individuals experiencing long covid.
She works principally as a core process psychotherapist drawing on mindfulness traditions integrated with cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia. Quite often, clients come seeking support to improve their sleep and find that sleep improves relatively quickly, but they realise underlying issues that need addressing.
Heather works with individuals aged 18 and upwards. This can be short or long-term, in person or online. Heather has worked in several clinical organisations, including The London Sleep Centre on Harley Street. Today she has a private practice face-to-face on Wimpole Street in London and Oxfordshire as well as online, across the UK and abroad (depending on local restrictions for psychotherapists).
Psychotherapy is not Heather's first career. Before retraining, she spent over 20 years in design and marketing, gaining her first degree in graphic design at Kingston University and going on to work in advertising agencies in London and Sydney. At the same time as starting a family, she set up and ran her own design and marketing business before going client-side and heading up a marketing team.
When the opportunity came to retrain, Heather Darwall-Smith completed her MA in Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy via The Karuna Institute/Middlesex University and is accredited with UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy). She also holds a diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy from Bath Centre for Psychotherapy and Counselling (BCPC).
In addition, she has completed training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (MBCBT) and Sleep Science at the University of Oxford. Heather is also a member of the British Sleep Society and The Society of Behavioural Sleep Medicine.
Heather set up and continues to offer bespoke training addressing stress and sleep issues in the workplace. She also provides mediation support in organisations where individuals faced problems with resolving stress-based matters in the workplace.
In June 2021, Heather published her first book: The Science of Sleep which provides evidence-based answers to over 100 common questions about all things sleep.
Heather regularly contributes as an expert resource for multiple significant publications.
You can book to see Heather face-to-face at 85 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 9RJ and at the Ashcroft Therapy Centre in Deddington, Oxfordshire or online.
She is registered with several private healthcare insurance providers.
