Dr Hjördis Lorenz

Hjördis is a Clinical Psychologist who works with people experiencing a wide range of psychological difficulties including anxiety, phobias and OCD, as well as relationship difficulties and challenges such as perfectionism, self-criticism and low self-confidence. She is particularly experienced in working with people struggling with the effects of trauma from childhood or adulthood, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Complex PTSD (CPTSD), substance use and social anxiety.

Hjördis is a warm, compassionate and non-judgemental therapist. She works collaboratively with clients to understand their difficulties, make sense of what is keeping them stuck, and work together to make meaningful changes. She adapts her approach to each person, taking account of neurodiversity (including ADHD and ASD), physical health, cultural background and life circumstances.

She believes that, too often, shame and self-blame can silence people, so aims to create a space that feels safe and accepting.

Hjördis’ therapeutic work is informed by the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), compassion focused therapy (CFT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), and systemic family therapy. She is a BABCP-accredited CBT therapist and is also trained in trauma-focused CBT and eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDR).

Prior to clinical training, Hjördis completed her PhD in Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. Her research focused on PTSD and has been published in journals such as the European Journal of Psychotraumatology and the JAMA Network. During a sabbatical (2025-2026), Hjördis worked with war-related mental health in Ukraine through Doctors Without Borders. She currently also works as a Specialist Clinical Psychologist in an NHS trauma service.