James Vlahov

I would like to acknowledge and highly recommend the exceptional care and support I have received from Psychologist, James Vlahov .The time that I’ve spent working with James has been the most pivotal and valuable of my life. I experienced a traumatic, physical workplace assault, ongoing torment and social trauma, leading to a PTSD diagnosis. James is patient and compassionate whilst being proactive and constructively challenging when he needs to be. I found this combination of empathy and robust testing of my negative perceptions immensely helpful. Not only did we form a trusting, patient relationship, but he has helped me to elucidate and articulate the origins of deeply embedded patterns of behaviour and of negative and self defeating thinking, as we navigated my PTSD journey. This proved essential in enabling him to then work with me to develop practical strategies for loosening their grip on me.Before seeing James, I tried to battle on and cope with what had happened to me. I had found myself suddenly overwhelmed with stress, fear and anxiety across my work and home life. I assumed that this was just what I had to deal with, that it was normal. As a consequence, I suffered a myriad of unfamiliar and worrying metal and physical responses, that at the time, I just didn’t understand. Again, I believed it would all just resolve itself, pass and that I would soon get back to normal. Well that just didn’t happen. Things just went on a downward spiral.James was phenomenal from the first meeting, always professional, attentive, and never judgmental. He also communicated closely with my treating psychiatrist. This level of investment in my case was incredibly reassuring and ultimately lead to a PTSD diagnosis. I sought out therapy to find someone who could help me understand my physical responses, triggers and thought processes in a more coherent way. James is that person. He employed a mix of tailored strategies including discussion, questioning, role play CBT and EMDR, looking into the traumatic events, to better understand my anxiety and how to manage it. His structured, logical, evidence based approach to my mental state was something I could easily understand and work with. His sessions helped me understand how and why my brain was locked into a powerful cycle of fight or flight. Each session was broken down into sections of things that needed to be discussed, and we went about understanding them in detail. One step at a time, we went through my trauma, triggers and through all the experiences that had brought me to the point I was at.As is common with PTSD, I would make great breakthroughs and promising progress, putting the strategies into place and doing the hard work to recover...but then relapse again when triggered. It was soul destroying for me. James never once gave up on me, or let me feel like I had failed. Again, I was so impressed with his abundant level of experience and fast thinking adaptivity to cater for the unpredictable things that I was facing. I believe this comes from his years of experience and naturally calm and caring demeanor. His rationality and sheer understanding of the way our minds work and react to traumatic events is exceptional.Whilst life still presents me with challenges and we still have work to do, I feel that I know myself in a much more clear and coherent way. James has always been present and available through emails and phone calls to reflect on my experiences, and answer any questions or concerns. He has been completely invested in all aspects of my health, well-being and lengthy recovery. His strong belief in a better outcome for me, has inspired me to work hard, empowered me to face challenges and to achieve my mental goals. His encouragement and positivity has helped me stay focused on getting my life back and overcoming setbacks. His high level of professionalism and close monitoring builds complete trust and his genuine holistic treatment, strives to heal both the body and mind. Thank you James, for your exceptional care!