Dr Hitomi Nakamura
Dr Hitomi Nakamura CPsychol CSci AFBPsS BA MSc MSc PPDipCP DPsych
Hitomi is a Chartered Psychologist, registered and accredited with the British Psychological Society and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She is a Chartered Scientist registered with the Science Council and a member of the British Psychological Society's Division of Counselling Psychology. She undertook her clinical training both in the USA (New York University) and the UK.
Having gained valuable experience in both the UK and Japan while working within schools, GP's surgeries, community mental health teams, health psychology departments and specialised psychosis clinics, she has acquired specialist counselling skills for the treatment of a variety of psychological problems and severe mental health difficulties. She currently holds a full time post as a Highly Specialised Counselling Psychologist with North East London Mental Health NHS Trust.
She has a developed expertise in working with adults, adolescents, children, families and couples. She has gained extensive experience in implementing and facilitating cognitive-behavioural (CBT) psycho-educational group workshops for individuals experiencing stress, anxiety, and panic disorder while fulfilling the role of chartered counselling psychologist within Tower Hamlets Primary Care NHS Trust for a number of years.
As a consultant she has been influential in the case-management of primary care patients providing the latest evidenced based psycho-education and consultancy around the development and implementation of psychological services to GPs surgeries, local NHS mental health services, voluntary counselling agencies, and local educational, legal, and employment agencies as well as social services departments within inner-City London.
Hitomi is highly experienced in providing psychological assessment and brief psychological therapy for a range of conditions including: depression, stress, anxiety, panic disorder, phobia, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, social anxiety, eating disorders, low self-esteem, anger, psycho-somatic problems (chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome), eating disorders, relationship difficulties, body image problems, psychological distress due to physical illness, child sexual abuse, personality disorder, and psychosis.
Her therapeutic approach is integrative, based on cognitive-behavioural (CBT), solution-focused, person-centred, psychodynamic, systemic, and cognitive-analytical therapies. She is flexible in her approach in terms of frequency, length, and intensity of psychological therapy.
Hitomi is originally from Japan and is fluent in both English and Japanese. She has worked extensively with Japanese expatriates in the UK, helping them to develop coping strategies around cultural issues and adjustments to living and postings abroad.
Her research interests include: gender identity disorder, the stigma of mental health, subjective experiences of psychosis, and qualitative methodologies. She has conducted extensive doctoral research which has proved as an inspirational and invaluable asset to the specialist service of gender identity disorder at the Tavistock Clinic, London. Hitomi is an empathic and reflective clinician and researcher.
