Online Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy & EMDR in North Berwick, East Lothian.
Welcome to Rebecca Muller CBT & EMDR online integrative Psychotherapy
Helping Women Heal and Grow after Trauma and Loss
Process Your Past, Ground Yourself In The Present, Visualise Your Future.
I’m Rebecca Muller and I am a highly experienced BABCP Accredited Psychotherapist, specialising in Trauma-Focussed CBT and EMDR. I work with adults offering between 8-12 sessions, in line with NICE Guidelines, which are the 'Gold Standard' for healthcare practices in the UK. I work purely online, although I am physically based in North Berwick, East Lothian.
I'm so glad that you found me and my website. If you found your way here, it means you're choosing to prioritise your needs and your self care which is a wonderful thing. I expect that what brings you here is that something traumatic has already happened to you, and you just cant get past it, you're stuck, no matter how hard you try to feel better. Perhaps your worst fear has already happened, and you're worried that you will never be the same again. You might be worried that you will always feel the way you do now; not safe, not in control, feeling like there is something wrong with you, blaming yourself at times and generally believing you are not good enough. You're looking for peace from the pain of where you currently are.
Symptoms you're experiencing include finding yourself replaying difficult memories over and over in your mind, day and night. Your brain feels foggy and you're zoned out a lot. You're on edge, are constantly 'on guard' scanning your environment for the next bad thing to happen and jump at the slightest noise. You avoid doing the things that bring back bad memories or even the things you one loved. You try to distract yourself from all of this 'noise' by keeping busy, but nothing works. It just seems easier to withdraw from life, as always expecting the worst to happen just leaves you exhausted.
How CBT can help you
From Tears to Triumph!
Given what you've gone through it's no wonder you feel so bad. You're struggling every day, it's hard, I know. I've had first hand lived experience of being where you are now, and I get it. I see you, I hear you and I understand you. I know how truly miserable life can be when you are stuck in this horrible loop. It's so hard to engage with life when you're just feeling so awful, empty and detached.
Even though it doesn't feel like it now, hear me when I say it IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE, with the right support start to re-claim, or even in the most difficult cases start to re-build your life again. You'll move out of simply surviving to thriving again, just like you did before all the bad stuff happened.
I am living proof that there is light at the end of the very dark tunnel you're in, and if I can do it , so can you. Rather than blaming yourself buying into the belief that you are a bad person, you'll start to realise that instead a bad thing happened to you, and that it wasn't your fault. You won't just think this, but really feel it and believe it to be true.You'll experience the freedom of no longer being bothered by intrusive thoughts or images that just pop into your head against your will. You'll understand yourself better and move from tears to triumph as you begin to reclaim your personal strengths and treat yourself in a kinder way.
You'll gain a new appreciation of life, and be open to and welcoming new possibilities. Relationships will feel less scary, and you and other's will start to notice how far you've come. You will start to feel safe again, back in control, and you'll feel more worthy and deserving of living your life to the full, and getting back to all the things you once loved.
Together We are Known.
In my practice I specialise in Trauma Focussed CBT & EMDR. offering a compassionate and professional space for healing. I believe true recovery begins when clients feel genuinely seen, heard, believed and known. My approach integrates evidence-based techniques with deep relational understanding, fostering trust and safety as we get to know each other. Every session is guided by respect for your unique story, helping you process trauma with care and support. You're not just a diagnosis. I see the whole person behind the pain. Together we work to build your resilience, restore hope, and empower you towards meaningful change. Your healing journey is personal, and I am here with you, every step of the way.
Together in Trauma.
At the heart of our therapy, is a commitment to walking together in trauma. I understand that healing from trauma can feel isolating, but you don't have to face it alone. I offer more than my therapeutic expertise and skills; I bring genuine empathy, attuning to your experience with compassion, care and feeling. In each session we create a space, where you are met with understanding, not judgement. We honour your strength and vulnerability, working collaboratively to process pain, rebuild trust, and rediscover hope. Healing happens in relationship. I walk alongside you throughout therapy, and you are never alone in this. I step into your trauma and meet you there, in order to help and guide you back to living life to the full again.
Rise & Reclaim!
My therapeutic approach is rooted in empathy, healing and the powerful theme of 'Rise & Reclaim'. Trauma may shape your past, but I'm a firm believer that it does not have to define your future. Together I support you rise, and help you to reclaim what your trauma tried to take. This process not only supports your recovery, but opens the door to post traumatic growth - where strength, meaning and self awareness can emerge from adversity. You are not just healing but emerging into a more empowered and connected self. This enables you to experience increased emotional well being, more harmonious relationships, a stronger sense of self, better physical health, a renewed purpose and can ripple out into many other areas of your life such as your work or academic life.
Issues I can help with
I have extensive expertise in working with various traumas and PTSD. Please get in contact to see if online Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy or EMDR can help.
Potentially traumatic experiences include:
- Death of a loved one
- Divorce
- Witnessing terror/inability to save or protect someone
- Miscarriage
- Suicide of a loved one
- Illness, terminal illness or injury
- Neglect or abandonment
- Bullying & harassment
- Domestic violence
- Vehicle accidents
- Assault
- Robbery
- Discrimination
- Work related issues
- Financial issues
- Combat
- Natural Disasters
However, Trauma is not exclusively the event. In it's broadest sense the term trauma can refer to any experience that feels overwhelming, triggers strong negative emotions, or involves a sense of powerlessness and intense vulnerability:
"Trauma isn't what happens to you but what happens inside of you as result of what happens to you."
Dr. Gabor Mate.
Working with trauma also involves working with other aspects, of how you think and feel, not just on processing what happened to you. We may work on elements such as fear, sadness, guilt, shame, anger, betrayal, trust, degradation, mental defeat (helplessness and hopelessness), moral injury (when ones beliefs and values are threatened), low self worth, feelings of disgust and contamination (thinking & feeling unclean). We may also work on rumination, dissociation, and re-experiencing difficult memories.
Frequently asked questions
CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is a type of talking therapy. It is a common treatment for a range of mental health problems. It is evidence based and It focuses on how your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes affect how you feel and ultimately how you behave.
EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy involves eye movement techniques or tapping in a specific way while you process traumatic memories that leads to a peaceful resolution. It is also an evidence based therapy and comprises of an eight phase process and clients are not expected to talk at length about their trauma.
You may be aware that you need therapy because you are struggling with something such as anxiety, low mood or trying to come to terms with a bereavement. However, therapy can also be beneficial if you feel lost, or stuck, or you feel that something is preventing you from living the life you want to live and achieving your goals.
Either way, reaching out and working with a therapist can help you become unstuck, and find ways to manage your feelings and move forward in life the way that you want to.
Some techniques that I use require a PTSD diagnosis and others do not. I will carry out a full assessment at the beginning of therapy to ensure we know whether PTSD is a likely factor and plan treatment accordingly.
That's a normal thought , it's just your mind looking out for you, so we have 3 options:
- You can try hard to convince your mind that this really will work, however this is not that easy!
- You can give up therapy as your mind says it won't work, however we know that not all thoughts are true.
- We can let your mind say that and acknowledge it's looking out for you , and work as a team and be open to see what happens.
Critical Incident Stress Debriefing can be carried out on site of the trauma for any number of affected people whether they are first responders or colleagues. This type of work usually happens in a group setting between 24-48 hours after the event.
There are various models of debriefing, which all follow a similar 7 stage protocol. They start with an introduction to the group and participants are encouraged to share their take on the facts, their thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and behaviours and are provided with psycho-education before being prepared to re-enter their workplace or return home to their families.
TF-CBT and EMDR may also all be carried out in a group setting upon request.
In Trauma Focussed CBT we begin by creating safety and stabilisation. We go on to use a technique called Imaginal Exposure whereby we ask you to go back in your imagination to the time of the trauma and tell me every detail you can remember and we will identify the 'Hot Spots' for you.
We then repeatedly work on you recounting this out loud several times per session. We will also record it for you to play back to yourself outside of the session.
The idea behind this is that with every retelling we are able to gain more information, eventually update the meanings or interpretations you made at the time of your 'hotspots' and file the memory away where it belongs so that it is no longer able to be triggered in an involuntary way.
We may do a site visit in person or remotely.
EMDR is a therapy that combines mind and body and your emotions to process any mal-adaptively stored trauma memories. which are getting in the way of you processing information in your usual way and may be the cause of many mental health disorders such as PTSD.
It follows eight distinctive phases:
- History taking where a full history of your life is taken.
- Preparation where calm place and resilience building work are carried out.
- Assessment of both your unhelpful beliefs and preferred outcomes regarding your trauma.
- Desensitisation using bilateral stimulation in the form of eye movements or tapping
- Installation and strengthening of the preferred belief.
- Body Scan to identify any somatic distress.
- Closure and containment work.
- Review and maintenance phase.
The length of time you need to see a therapist for is completely dependent on your unique situation. You may find that working with a therapist on a specific issue really helps and you feel confident managing your emotions yourself so it may only take a few sessions. Nice Guidelines recommend at least 8-12 weekly sessions for working with trauma.
However, the emotions you are facing right now may have their roots in something deeper, some unresolved issues from your past, which may take longer to explore and to make sense of. No two clients are the same and no two issues are the same so therapy takes as long as it needs to, for you to feel that you are in control of your emotions and so you feel equipped to manage them going forward. We usually work to blocks of six and review at the end of each block.
In each CBT session, we will discuss anything that is troubling you. This could be thoughts that you are struggling to deal with, unwanted feelings you may have, or certain behaviours that you feel you can’t control.
Every session is like a problem-solving session, in which you share your experiences. Using various tools and techniques, you reflect objectively on your thoughts, feelings and behaviours we explore them thoroughly, so you can understand them better. With this new understanding, you can take back control and develop ways to manage them in more helpful ways.
In an EMDR sessions we will follow the eight phase protocol comprising of history taking, client preparation, assessment, processing, installation, body scan, closure and re-evaluation of the treatments effect. This therapy is focussed more on working at an emotional level and where you feel this in your physical body, remember ' The Body Keeps The Score' even if you head says otherwise.
When we talk of trauma we are often referring to a single incident such as a car crash, an attack or any other one off traumatic incident.
Complex Trauma refers to a series of traumatic events that take place over a period of time perhaps months or even years. This is particularly difficult for survivors as they may see no end to it or forever be on guard waiting for the next incident to occur.
I am experienced in providing vicarious trauma assessments and psychological wellbeing resilience assessments for Police Scotland, The Scottish Government, Supreme Court and The Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service.
I have been the Clinical Lead for The Scottish Government's Inquiry into Childhood Abuse offering consultative support .
I have been Clinical Lead for Police Scotland offering Trauma Triage assessments for Trauma Focussed CBT & EMDR onward referrals.
I have been the out of hours Clinical Lead on call for The Met Police Trauma Support Service offering initial clinical assessments and ongoing short term counselling.
I have been on-call 24/7 for onsite Clinical Incident Stress Debriefing trauma work for high profile incidents such as sudden deaths by accidents, suicides and Covid 19 related deaths as well as for MET Police Major Incidents.
I have offered bespoke services for organisations who require specialist trauma services and have over ten years experience in providing telephone, and online video counselling as well as ECBT to blue light organisations, as well as the NHS and Central Government.
I currently see clients referred to me by Police Care UK, a charity for serving, and veteran police officers, and staff, volunteers and their families who have suffered any physical and psychological harm as a result of policing.
Fees
Initial 10 minute telephone conversation - FREE.
- Initial Assessment – 50 mins - £120.
- Therapy Session CBT, EMDR – 50 mins - £120
- Psycho-Educational Groups - From £30 per person per hour.
- Critical Incident Stress Debriefing on site - £600 daily rate plus travel/accommodation expenses.
- Details upon request for supervision and training.
Availability
Online Trauma Clinic: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday:
11.00am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm, 4.00pm and 5.30pm.
Cancellation Policy:
If you need to cancel an appointment for any reason, please give at least 24 hours’ notice to avoid being charged in full for the session.
Get in touch
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how CBT psychotherapy, clinical supervision or CBT training works. I also offer a free 10 minute initial telephone conversation. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of having psychotherapy, whether it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right therapist to help.
You can call me on 078 9009 6981 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first. I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have prior to arranging an initial appointment.
All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential and uses secure phone and email services.
Please note I do not offer crisis support and all sessions are pre booked. If you are at high risk of harm to yourself (have thoughts, and a plan and means to carry this out) please contact your GP or 111 if out of hours, or The Samaritans on 08457 909090. Alternatively, if you are at immediate risk (have thoughts, a plan, means and intent) please go to A&E or call 999 urgently.
I am a registered clinician with the following private insurers:
