About
Dr. Susie Rudge is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist with 20 years of experience working in the NHS, prison service, academia, charities, and independent and group private practice. Susie completed her undergraduate psychology degree at the University of Birmingham in 2006 and went on to receive her doctoral training in clinical psychology from University College London in 2014.
Susie’s therapeutic approach is evidence-based, drawing upon a range of techniques from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and Compassion-Focussed Therapy (CFT), with a focus on Mindfulness skills-building where appropriate.
Susie’s collaborative, warm, and empathic approach is centred around helping you identify, formulate, and address your challenges. She understands that every journey is unique, which is why she works with you to draw upon your strengths and resilience, supporting you in taking necessary steps towards achieving your agreed-upon therapeutic goals.
What can Susie help with?
Susie has experience working with a range of difficulties, including mild to severe anxiety disorders (such as OCD, social anxiety, health anxiety, and phobias), depression, trauma, bereavement, sleep difficulties and adjustment to life changes and challenges. Additionally, she has experience working psychologically with physical health diagnoses such as insomnia, fibromyalgia, arthritis, and other long-term health conditions. Susie also has additional training and experience in the psychological treatment and management of adult ADHD. Please click for more information on ADHD assessments.
What is Clinical Psychology and how does this differ from Counselling or Psychotherapy ?
Psychology is the scientific study of people – their emotions, thoughts, behaviour, interactions and relationships with other people, and how these are shaped by their previous experiences and learning histories. Clinical psychologists apply a psychological perspective to personal circumstances, with the aim of relieving distress by increasing and improving understanding of the various factors that may be contributing to and/or maintaining a given problem, difficulty or situation. This is called a clinical formulation. Clinical psychologists may also diagnose a range of mental health conditions and will use their skills, training, knowledge and experience to help to identify new and different ways to respond to challenging circumstances, promoting personal development, self-improvement and enhancing well-being.
Clinical psychologists work with a wide range of emotional, behavioural and interpersonal difficulties across the lifespan with individuals, couples, groups and organisations.
The terms ‘counselling’ and ‘psychotherapy’ are umbrella terms used to describe a range of talking therapies which can be undertaken by clinical psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists who may all draw upon similar psychological models towards understanding the same types of problems. However, the professions differ in terms of training and regulation.
The title Clinical Psychologist is regulated by the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) and must not be used by a professional who is not accredited and registered. A registered clinical psychologist has studied psychology at doctoral level, requiring a minimum of six years at university plus sufficient clinical and research experience gained in the field prior to commencing doctoral training. A clinical psychologist may also be voluntarily registered with the British Psychological Society as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist.
Currently, there is no central (mandatory) professional body responsible for regulating and overseeing the work of psychotherapists or counsellors and as such their training can vary greatly. They may voluntarily register with an organisation such as the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy (BABCP) however.
Counsellors and psychotherapists often specialise in one form of therapy (such as person-centred, psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioural or systemic therapy). This can be useful if you know which type of therapy would be most helpful to your problem.
Clinical psychologists are trained to assess and treat a wide range of psychological difficulties, providing at least two (but in practice, often several), different forms of psychotherapy.
Related work
Aside from clinical work, Susie has a keen interest in research and academia and holds an additional position as an Associate Clinical Tutor on the UCL Doctorate in Clinical Psychology training course. Here, Susie supports trainees throughout their three years of doctoral training, visiting them at their placements to examine and facilitate progress, and supporting pastorally where appropriate. She also assists with selection for new cohorts every year and acts as an external examiner of third year doctoral theses via the viva process.
Susie has published peer-reviewed articles in the Journal of Mental Health and is currently writing a book about therapy for Cambridge University Press.