Steph Orr

I obtained my 1^st Class Honours Psychology degree in 2011 from the University of Lincoln, after which I worked within a specialist educational provision for those with moderate-severe disabilities (including Autism and ADHD). I then commenced my Mental Health Nursing Masters degree at the Univesity of Nottingham in 2013, for which I was awarded a Distinction. I have since worked within a local NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health service (CAMHS) as a Lead Nurse, providing evidence-based support to young people and families, as well as completing Autism Assessments, having been ADOS trained since 2015. I was subsequently selected to train in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in 2017 and EMDR in 2019. Using these skills, I now work part time for CAMHS as a Psychotherapist (alongside Autism assessments) and work privately with adults on a remote basis. I also spent 2 years working for the University of Derby as a Senior Lecturer on their Educational Mental Health Practitioner PGDip, which focused on increasing the availability of evidence-based therapies (in this case, low intensity CBT) within schools.

I have special interests in anxiety, trauma and self-esteem and my extensive experience with neurodiversity enables me to adapt my approach in order to best meet an individual’s needs. 

Whilst my sessions are primarily based on the evidence-based treatment protocols of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and EMDR, my approach is grounded within a compassionate and non-judgmental ethos, which focuses on an empathic understanding of an individual’s difficulties within the social context of their lives. Inherent in this is a belief that individuals do not fit neatly into diagnostic or treatment ‘boxes’ and that ‘flexibility within fidelity’ best enables an individual to reach their desired outcomes within therapy.