EMOTIONAL RESPONSE THERAPY (ERT) • BRISTOL & ONLINE
You don't have to relive it to heal it
Emotional Response Therapy (ERT) for adults whose fear and trauma responses are still switched on - a flinch, a shutdown, a wave of panic that doesn't match what's happening now. ERT works directly with that response, without asking you to relive the story in detail.
BACP ACCREDITED • ERT TRAINED • TRAUMA-FOCUSED
NEURODIVERGENT SPECIALIST • BRISTOL & ONLINE UK-WIDE
WHAT IS ERT?
Emotional Response Therapy (ERT) is a therapeutic approach for people struggling with unwanted distress, including trauma. It works to reduce the emotions connected to distressing memories or thoughts, and can be delivered face-to-face or online. Research has shown ERT to be successful in eliminating distress, and it can help with trauma, phobias, grief and other forms of psychological distress - often more quickly than many other therapies.
Fear is a natural response we share with animals - it's part of the fight-or-flight system that keeps us safe. But unlike animals, humans tend to keep thinking about frightening or distressing experiences long after they're over, which is often what keeps the emotional response switched on. ERT teaches a specific procedure to switch off this emotional response.
ERT involves very little talking. Rather than asking you to describe or relive what happened in detail, it moves away from traditional talking therapy and works directly with the body and your felt experience - which many clients find quicker and considerably less distressing.
£110
per 50-minute session
ERT can be integrated into your regular counselling sessions or offered as a focused course of treatment. Insurance accepted: AXA, Vitality, Aviva, WPA. Access to Work also accepted.
AVAILABLE TO
ERT is available to all adults, not just neurodivergent clients. Specialist adaptations available for autistic, ADHD and AuDHD clients.
WHAT ERT CAN HELP WITH
ERT is effective for a wide range of difficulties, not just single-event trauma. I work with adults of all backgrounds on:
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Single-incident trauma - accidents, medical procedures, frightening events
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Rejection sensitivity dysphoria
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Panic responses that feel disproportionate to the present moment
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Memories that still carry a strong physical or emotional charge
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Rejection and shame responses rooted in past experiences
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Sensory trauma and shutdown/meltdown triggers
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Anxiety that traces back to earlier fear-learning
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Difficulty putting distressing experiences into words
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Nervous-system patterns that feel stuck on high alert
I believe that ERT can be particularly helpful for neurodivergent people - including autistic adults, people who are ADHD and AuDHD - many of whom find repeated verbal recounting exhausting or overwhelming. If you are neurodivergent and considering ERT, please do mention this when we speak.
MY APPROACH
I bring ERT together with my existing trauma-informed practice, including EMDR and IFS training, so we can choose whichever approach fits what's happened to you and how your nervous system works, rather than forcing one method to fit everyone.
ERT is often a good fit for clients who find repeated verbal recounting exhausting, overwhelming, or simply unhelpful. We move at your pace, with breaks and non-verbal ways to signal distress built in from the start.
We'll always begin with preparation - making sure you feel safe, resourced and ready before we work with any specific memory or emotional response. Many clients are surprised by how quickly ERT can bring relief.
1
Free 15-min call
Is ERT right for you?
2
Assessment
History & goals
3
Preparation
Resources & stability
4
Processing
Working with the response directly
5
Integration
Consolidating the work
ERT can be integrated into your regular counselling sessions or offered as a more focused standalone course of treatment - we'll discuss what makes sense for your situation on our initial call.
NEURODIVERGENCE & TRAUMA
"Many neurodivergent people carry significant trauma — not from a single dramatic event, but from a lifetime of not fitting in, of being misunderstood, of masking in order to survive."
This kind of cumulative, socially inflicted trauma is real, it is significant, and it responds well to treatment. If you are autistic, ADHD or AuDHD and considering ERT, it is important to work with a therapist who understands how neurodivergence affects trauma processing - including alexithymia and interoception differences that can make detailed verbal recounting especially hard.
I have completed specific training in ERT and bring my own lived experience as an autistic person to this work. You will not need to mask, explain yourself, or translate your experience into neurotypical terms.
