Calming Minds Therapy, Supervision & Training

Transform your life with Calming Minds -
Specialists in EMDR and Trauma Focused Interventions  

About Us
At Calming Minds we support mental wellbeing through therapy, supervision & training. Our work is trauma informed and our team of experienced therapists specialise in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT) as well as a number of other interventions (see Psychological Therapy).

Calming Minds is operated by Debra Malkin, Clinical Director and Rachel Grainey, Business Director. Debra is an EMDR Europe Accredited Consultant and a BABCP Accredited Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapist, Supervisor and Trainer. She has worked in both the private sector and the NHS. Her particular area of expertise is working with psychological trauma (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD. She has been involved in a number of research projects both nationally and internationally and has presented at a number of conferences. Rachel has extensive IT, business and administrative knowledge and has worked in mental health services for 26 years.

Calming Minds are able to offer timely access to psychological treatment with appointments available both online anywhere in the UK or in-person at a number of locations across the North West. 

All of our associates are fully qualified,  registered with a governing bodies and 
have enhanced DBS certificates.

We support trauma informed practice through offering specialist clinical supervision and 
bespoke training packages.

Take the first step towards a brighter future.


Take Control of Your Mental
Wellbeing
Empowering individuals through understanding

Our Services

Psychological Therapy

Professional Supervision

Specialised Training

Psychological Therapy

At Calming Minds, we are dedicated to helping individuals navigate challenges, overcome obstacles and achieve personal growth. Our focus is on creating a safe and supportive space for psychological healing and recovery.

We work with highly qualified therapists who have a wealth of experience and are ready to work alongside you to improve your mental wellbeing. We offer a range of effective interventions for both adults and children who are experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Depression, Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, Health Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Grief Reactions, Eating Disorders, Psychosis or other mental health presentations.

Our treatment approaches include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT), and Dialectical Behaviour Informed Therapy.

We accept private referrals and currently have therapists available for in person consultations (availability permitting)  in the following areas:

Chorlton, Manchester

Lytham St Annes

Maghull

Rainhill

St. Helens

Chorley

Burnley

We can also offer online appointments for any location within the UK if you prefer.

Please contact us at admin@calming-minds.com to discuss your requirements.

Discover the difference our therapy can make in your life today.


 Professional Supervision

We provide professional clinical supervision services to therapists working in private and public sectors aiming to guide evidence based treatments in order to ensure high standards of care for patients.

Our EMDR consultants are available to provide supervision to EMDR practitioners who are working towards or have already attained accreditation.

Specialised Training

Enhance your skills in mental health care with our specialised training programs. Informed by the latest evidence our workshops are designed to empower psychological therapists when delivering trauma focused interventions.

We are also able to support organisations to increase trauma informed awareness for staff teams by offering bespoke training packages. 

Our team have been instrumental in developing a protocol to treat EMDR for Psychosis for people presenting with PTSD symptoms. We can offer specialist training in this approach for individuals who have completed level 3 EMDR training.

Please contact us at admin@calming-minds.com with your training requirements.


Testimonials

     

 “We approached Calming Minds when our preteen daughter was navigating what human nature could be like! She had become quite anxious around a certain individual at school and this was affecting her sleep. Justin helped our daughter to develop a resilience toolkit which I have no doubt she will use to navigate all types of relationships as she goes through life. Justin is very skilful at delivering effective therapy such as EMDR and CBT whilst making it fun and engaging for young persons. We were also assured that he was delivering results with the minimum number of sessions. We see that supporting our daughter’s resilience is one of the best gifts we can give her. Thank you Justin for turning this into a positive experience for our daughter. “ 

Parent Therapy Feedback
     

 I have attended a two day workshop where Debra has been a co-trainer. At the time my knowledge of treating PTSD was limited. The workshop gave me the knowledge I required to start to address the needs of my clients. Debra's ability to share her knowledge and experience of working with clients with PTSD was inspiring and helped me to have more confidence in treating clients with PTSD. When attending training with Debra, her manner encourages those attending to participate in the training. She creates an atmosphere where clinicians feel able to express different views and experiences and to raise questions in regards to practice.   I recently had the opportunity to attend an EMDR conference for psychosis where Debra’s contribution as a trainer was invaluable. When working with clients who have PTSD and psychosis it brings challenges on how to support clients to process past traumatic events and make sense of past experiences. Debra brought case examples of how EMDR has been used in her clinical practice to support clients with PTSD and psychosis. She demonstrated how clinicians can use EMDR and other psychological interventions to support clients to make sense of their past traumatic experiences.   I would highly recommend any training course that Debra is providing or facilitating. 

Training Feedback
     

 After trying a number of therapists and also a psychologist over various points in my life (none of which had any impact) I was thankfully recommended to (Calming Minds Therapist). At the time I was going through the most stressful point in my life and was suffering from panic attacks and insomnia (resulting in a max three hours sleep a night). Physically and mentally I was a mess and at that point nothing seemed to be working. From my very first session (Calming Minds Therapist) tapped into what was going wrong and ways to provide relief. Throughout the 6 month period I addressed a lifetime of CPTSD. I must stress that there wasn’t one particular trauma but “just” baggage which had accumulated over my 40plus years. I would definitely recommend that anyone suffering anxiety (whether low level or acute) access this therapy. The EMDR and sleep relearning process we followed was revolutionary and I found it helped me both at the time to provide immediate relief and also as time has gone on and I an now far more resilient. This in real terms means that i spend less time worrying about what’s being said about me at work or at the school gates and instead I am free to plough my energies into my career and family. I’ve just secured my dream job because I was able to sell my true worth due my self confidence being the strongest it’s ever been. Thank you from the bottom of heart. 

Psychological Therapy Feedback
     

 My (Calming Minds Supervisor) has been instrumental in my development as a competent therapist. She is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in providing therapy, supervision and associated research. She utilises a mixture of skills and supervision styles to aid my development as a therapist and to guide evidenced based treatment. Her approach is extremely supportive and genuine with a calming and reassuring nature. I would highly recommend anyone seeking clinical supervision to work with Calming Minds. 

Feedback from supervisee
     

 I was experiencing flashbacks and nightmares in relation to the death of my mother which were distressing me. I was also experiencing guilt which was impacting my sleep efficiency and functioning at work. (Calming Minds Therapist) helped me to develop a shared understanding and make sense of my difficulties. She explained that the traumatic events I had experienced were not properly processed in the brain when they happened and that this was the reason that they were continuing to affect me with nightmares, flashbacks, and feelings that the trauma was happening again even though my mother had died in 2021. With the therapists help, I was able to process what had happened using EMDR and move on from the experience. I am able to look forward to the future now and I don’t experience any distress when I think about what has happened. 

Psychological Therapy Feedback
     

 (Calming Minds Supervisor) has provided clinical supervision in both in my NHS work and in my private practice. She is a brilliant supervisor and has a natural ability to both challenge my practice in a positive and constructive manner while at the same time provide a safe place for me to bring my concerns and achievements. My experience over the many years that she has supervised me has been really positive and enabled me to develop and maintain high standards of care to clients. She ensures that I bring both recorded sessions as well as verbal accounts of my interventions with clients and I have learned to value the support and advice that she provides. She is quite simply the best! 

EMDR supervision feedback

 I have attended a two day workshop where Debra has been a co-trainer. At the time my knowledge of treating PTSD was limited. The workshop gave me the knowledge I required to start to address the needs of my clients. Debra's ability to share her knowledge and experience of working with clients with PTSD was inspiring and helped me to have more confidence in treating clients with PTSD. When attending training with Debra her manner encourages those attending to participate in the training. She creates an atmosphere where clinicians feel able to express different views and experiences and to raise questions in regards to practice.   I recently had the opportunity to attend an EMDR conference for psychosis where Debra’s contribution as a trainer was invaluable. When working with clients who have PTSD and psychosis it brings challenges on how to support clients to process past traumatic events and make sense of past experiences. Debra brought case examples of how EMDR has been used in her clinical practice to support clients with PTSD and psychosis. She demonstrated how clinicians can use EMDR and other psychological interventions to support clients to make sense of their past traumatic experiences.   I would highly recommend any training course that Debra is providing or facilitating. 

Training Feedback

 Delivered training excellently for subject that was covered. 

DT Hughes Foundation: Trauma Awareness Training
     

 Debbie was extremely knowledgeable empathetic and warm. Couldn't speak highly enough of her. 

Therapy Feedback
     

 Debra is a total professional in every way....Compassionate and empathetic, she creates a safe place to both help you feel heard and seen 

Therapy Feedback
  

F.A.Q

If you are interested in psychological therapy, please send us a brief email with your current difficulties, along with your contact details and contact preference (email, telephone call, text or whatsapp) and we will get back to you as soon as possible. We can arrange a free 15 minute telephone appointment with our Clinical Director.

We offer online therapy sessions which you can do from a desktop computer, laptop or smartphone from any location in the world providing you have a good stable network connection or we can offer in-person sessions, currently available in the following towns in the North West of England, UK

Lytham St Annes
Chorley
Chorlton
Maghull
Rainhill
St. Helens

The costs for therapy start from £110 per session (sessions are typically 50-60 minutes).

For therapy that is funded under an insurance policy, sessions will be invoiced at the agreed cost with your insurer. Authorisation must be sought from your provider in the first instance and an authorisation code provided to us.

We are currently registered with CIGNA, WPA and Aviva.

If self funding - in order to secure your booking with a therapist, payment for your appointment must be paid within 24 hours of receiving your invoice. We accept most debit/credit cards or bank transfer payments.


Please note: 

- Therapists do not deal with payments for your sessions nor do we accept cash payments in any circumstances.  

- To secure your booking, please pay your invoice within 24 hours of the booking.

- We kindly ask for 48 hours notice for all cancellations or appointment changes, as we will be unable to re-schedule or refund outside of this time period.

Please contact us at admin@calming-minds.com to discuss your requirements.

Discover the difference our therapy can make in your life today.
Normally sessions are between 50-60 minutes. However, there may be occasions where the therapist recommends longer treatment sessions of up to 90 minutes; longer sessions will be agreed with you in advance.
If you need to cancel and re-arrange an appointment, we kindly ask that you provide 48 hours notice and we will do this free of charge.

If you have paid for an appointment but you change your mind and do not wish to continue with therapy, providing you give 48 hours notice, we will provide a full refund via the original payment method.

We understand that sometimes events and illnesses occur which mean that you may not be able to provide the notice period required.   However, we will use our discretion in these circumstances, so it is important that you call or message us as soon as possible if you are unable to attend.

If you fail to attend an appointment and do not contact to let us know that you cannot attend, the full fees will apply.
Calming Minds is not able to offer a crisis service.

If you are experiencing high levels of distress and need urgent crisis support please contact your GP or the Accident and Emergency department at your local hospital.

For 24 Hour telephone help you can access:
NHS
  • 111 (non-emergency)
  • 999 (emergency)
Samaritans
Further crisis information can be found here.


EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a therapy that helps people recover from problems caused by traumatic events in their lives.

It stops difficult memories causing too much distress by helping the brain to reprocess them, working with memory to heal.

EMDR therapy is best known for treating PTSD but can help with a range of mental health conditions in people of all ages including depression and anxiety.

Internationally recognised, EMDR therapy is endorsed by the NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence); the World Health Organisation; The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies; the NHS (in the UK); and many other bodies.

More information about EMDR can be found here


Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a talking therapy that can help you manage your problems by changing the way you think and behave. It's most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems.

How CBT works
CBT is based on the concept that your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a negative cycle.

CBT aims to help you deal with overwhelming problems in a more positive way by breaking them down into smaller parts and you are shown how to change these negative patterns to improve the way you feel. Unlike some other talking treatments, CBT deals with your current problems, rather than focusing on issues from your past. It looks for practical ways to improve your state of mind on a daily basis.

More information about CBT can be found in this video

Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Trauma focused CBT is a type of psychotherapy designed to help somebody struggling with poor mental health following a traumatic event. Trauma focused CBT aims to help a person to process the trauma memory, to be able to reclaim their life back from feelings of anxiety, depression, guilt, or anger by supporting the person to re-engage with activities that are meaningful and important to them and finally to heal from trauma, post-traumatic stress or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

More information about TF-CBT can be found here.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a type of talking therapy.

It's specially helpful for people who feel emotions very intensely.
 
The aim of DBT is to help you:
 
Understand and accept your difficult feelings
Learn skills to manage these feelings
Become able to make positive changes in your life

If you require supervision or are interested in a training package, please contact us at admin@calming-minds.com with your requirements and we will get back to you.

Contact

  • North West, England, UK
  • P.O. BOX 2805 BOLTON BL6 9NL

Company registration number: 15525644 Registered Office address: 31 Wilmslow Road, Cheadle, UK SK8 1DR