Dr Lisa Shaverin
I am a HCPC registered and BPS Chartered Clinical Psychologist working with adolescents and adults. I have worked across a range of specialist NHS mental health services and currently work as a Senior Clinical Psychologist within the Tavistock Trauma Service, a specialist NHS Trauma Psychotherapy service. I also see a small number of private clients.
I have always been interested in how our experiences, particularly our relationships, shape our sense of ourselves and the people around us. This has led me to develop a particular interest and expertise in complex trauma, attachment and dissociation, including Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).
My Therapeutic Approach
Many of the people I work with have experienced adversity or trauma and continue to feel its effects long after the events themselves have passed. People often develop remarkably creative ways of coping with overwhelming experiences.
Over time, however, these strategies can begin to create difficulties of their own, leaving people feeling stuck, disconnected from themselves or finding it difficult to feel close to other people.
I don’t assume that I know what someone’s experiences mean. Instead, I see therapy as a process of thinking together, remaining open to different perspectives and developing a shared understanding of your experiences over time.
I believe that developing a trusting therapeutic relationship provides the foundation from which meaningful therapeutic work can develop.
I see therapy as an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of yourself, your relationships and the patterns that have shaped your life.
Through thinking together about these experiences, it becomes possible to find new ways of relating to yourself and others, and to rediscover the resourcefulness, creativity and strengths that may have become hidden over time.
Specialist Training & Experience
Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) is central to my clinical practice. I am an MBT therapist and supervisor, teach on MBT for Adolescents (MBT-A) training programmes through the Anna Freud Centre, and was part of the clinical team that developed Trauma-Focused MBT, an adaptation of MBT designed for people with complex trauma that is currently being evaluated through research trials.
My clinical work is informed by additional training in other trauma and attachment focused therapeutic modalities, including EMDR, Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP), systemic and psychoanalytic approaches. I also provide clinical supervision, consultation and teaching.
