Dr. Pegah Houshmand, HCPC

Dr. Pegah Houshmand is a HCPC-registered practitioner psychologist based in the United Kingdom with 12 years of experience. She holds a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and has worked in both the NHS and private settings. Pegah focuses on helping people manage difficult emotions and move toward meaningful change in their lives.

Her work draws on a mix of evidence-based approaches so sessions are shaped around what each person needs. She aims for a collaborative relationship, helping clients identify what matters most and take small practical steps forward. Sessions are offered in a calm, non-judgemental environment where thoughts and feelings can be talked through openly.

Pegah has supported people with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, addiction, and intimacy-related issues. She has a particular interest in eating difficulties and understands how pressure can lead to harmful coping patterns. Her aim is to help people develop more sustainable ways of managing stress and emotions.

Her background includes work with adults and couples and experience engaging with children and young people during training with Place2Be, a children’s mental health charity. With that experience she also offers sessions for parents to reflect on their child’s emotional needs and consider supporting strategies.

Pegah’s style is warm and practical. She listens first, then helps people try out different strategies and notice what works. Progress is approached step by step, with attention to strengths as well as difficulties.

Approaches that guide online therapeutic work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting trapped by them and then choose actions that match their values. It can be useful for anxiety, depression and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and testing them with practical experiments and exercises to reduce symptoms like panic, low mood or insomnia. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in close relationships and helps people understand how early experiences influence current ways of relating and feeling safe.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences and will draw from different methods to find what fits best. This is a collaborative process where techniques and pacing are adjusted to what the person finds helpful.

The biography does not list specific session formats, so please confirm the current online options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. They also make it possible for people outside the local area to work with registered or accredited professionals without relocating. The focus remains on practical steps and noticing change between sessions rather than on the setting itself.