We are a team of fully qualified therapists that work under the NICE guidelines. We are fully insured and are full members of the BACP Accredited register, providing all of our clients with the reassurance they are working with safe, ethical, and experienced therapists. All of our therapists have also had first-hand experience of what it is like to live with OCD. We believe that our professional training and personal experiences allow us to work from a unique perspective that helps our clients feel understood from their first chat with us.
Craig Shirley is the co-founder of The OCD Treatment Centre and is a highly passionate, motivated person who has over twelve years of experience working in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Craig also has first-hand knowledge of OCD, having experienced severe symptoms for more than twelve years. Craig found it extremely challenging to access effective therapy for his symptoms, which became the primary motivator to train as a fully qualified therapist and ultimately set up an OCD specialist treatment centre.
After completing a Psychology BSc at the University of The West of England, Craig went on to study for an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy at Bridgwater and Taunton College.
Craig completed his placement hours in several reputable professional organizations, including an OCD specific clinic based in London, a private drug rehabilitation clinic in Weston Super Mare, and Personal Recovery Services (PRS) in Burnham-On-Sea, a highly prestigious centre working with a range of different issues including loss, depression, abuse, low self-esteem, relationship breakdowns, and grief.
Craig is a fully registered member of the accredited BACP register. He works following their ethical procedures and policies to ensure that he provides clients with the highest possible service. He also attends regular supervision with a BACP supervisor and works under the NICE guidelines for OCD. In addition, throughout his career, Craig has continued to attend training in several other areas as part of his continual professional development (CPD), including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Rational Emotive Behavioural Therapy (REBT), Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction (MBSR) an Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT).
Craig has regularly featured in the media on ITV’s This Morning, Somerset’s Tone FM, BBC Somerset Sound, and Channel 4. Craig has also contributed to the NHS Patient Access App as an expert in OCD and has appeared in several other publications. He has also worked closely with the G. Halley Marville Trust and Dr. Ysanne Marville in facilitating several Mental health conferences Internationally as an OCD expert, providing clear information about the symptoms of OCD, treatment protocols, and the how-to access safe and effective treatment for OCD. He has also worked with the charities OCD Action, Mind, and The OCD Awareness Foundation (OCDAF), facilitating group courses, conference calls for people with OCD, and raising positive and accurate awareness of OCD in the media.
In 2005 Craig won the young persons Mayor Award for ‘Young Person’s Outstanding Contributions to Mental Health’ and was awarded first prize in the Social Enterprise ‘Biz’ idea Award in 2009.
Sharon Davies is a highly experienced OCD expert with over 14 years of experience working in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and other anxiety-related disorders. She has also had first-hand experience living with OCD. Sharon completed her training as an integrative psychotherapist at Somerset College of Arts and Technology (SCAT) in partnership with the University of Plymouth for over five years. She also completed her training and placement hours at an OCD-specific clinic in London.
Sharon has also continued to complete extensive training in Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy and went on to complete her CBT qualification. Sharon works following the NICE guidelines when working with OCD and anxiety. Sharon can also incorporate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) skills into her therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) as part of her work with clients with OCD.
Between 2014-and 2019, Sharon worked at the prestigious Prometheus Psychological Centre based in Taunton before deciding to set up her practice in 2019 with a colleague. During her time at Prometheus, Sharon regularly attended supervision with a team of Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and leading mental health professionals. Sharon has also conducted Continual Professional Development (CPD) courses for the team about OCD and how to treat OCD effectively.
Sharon is a fully registered member of the accredited BACP register. She works following their ethical procedures and policies to ensure that she provides clients with the highest possible service. She also has regular supervision with a BABCP supervisor.
Sharon also works closely with the rest of the team at The OCD Treatment Centre to continually strive to improve our courses and their content. Sharon understands OCD on a profound level and the tools and techniques best suitable to manage OCD successfully.
I enjoy Costa coffee, making my home look nice, and spending time with my pets and my family in my own time.
Korinna is a HCPC Registered Clinical Psychologist with vast experience of working in both public and private sectors. She has experience of working in community, residential and in-patient services. She provides a range of psychological services including specialist diagnostic (such as Autism/Asperger’s Syndrome) and psychological assessments and interventions for mental health problems (e.g. depression, anxiety, PTSD).
She provides individual and group therapy. She has until recently worked within the NHS for over 15 years as a Clinical Psychologist in a variety of teams including an Asperger’s Specialist Service. She holds a specialist interest in working with people who are on the Autistic Spectrum/Asperger’s Syndrome, this entails providing assessments as well as therapeutic support. She has a longstanding interest in working with adults who have learning or intellectual difficulties. Her approach is integrative, drawing from a range of psychological theories and models to provide evidence-based practice, and very much tailored to the individual needs of the client. Dr Eaton has provided independent psychological reports for Court in Family Law Proceedings since 2011.
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My journey towards becoming a therapist started with several challenging personal life experiences, including a very close bereavement, relationship issues, a medical health diagnosis (life-changing at the time), and bouts of OCD that I would experience in waves. I recognized how much of a negative impact these external factors had on my life, causing the onset of my obsessive-compulsive symptoms, so I decided that enough was enough. I had to start to make some changes. In addition, I understood that I had to take responsibility for myself to begin regaining control over my life once again.
I knew that I needed a healthy mental frame, but I was struggling and starting to lose hope; the obsessions and compulsions left me feeling like a bat hanging upside down. I felt bewildered and utterly hopeless, with nowhere to turn. I soon realized that only I could take the first step and put a full stop to my suffering by taking responsibility for my own life. I knew that I needed the right tools to overcome this and to find them, I needed the right therapist and professional support.
After a rather negative experience with a therapist, I realized the importance of the relationship between the therapist and client. From that day onwards, I decided that I would train to become a therapist due to my own negative experiences within Psychotherapy and the impact this had had on me both generally and on my OCD. I felt passionate about making a positive difference in the therapeutic and counselling world.
All I wanted at the time of my suffering was a space to be heard, entirely without judgment, and to be given the practical skills to start regaining control of my life. Finally, after much time and persistence, I managed to find someone to offer me some, but not at all, of the skills that I needed. Still, it was enough to get me back on the correct path, one toward hope which ultimately led them to become a fully qualified therapist.
I pride myself on my approachability, down-to-earth nature, and ability to connect professionally and personally with people. My approach to therapy for OCD includes both a safe and non-judgemental space to talk while focusing on practical and applicable knowledge and tools to help successfully manage OCD. I am also a firm believer that even if we have some of the most valuable tools, they must be practiced and sharpened to be most effective. Recovery takes work, and I enjoy supporting my clients along that journey.
I feel a great sense of satisfaction when a client leaves my therapy room feeling listened to, supported, and confident that they can start working towards a more fully functioning self.
Jim has been raising positive awareness of OCD for many years and is the founder and director of the OCD Awareness Foundation in America. Jim also has extensive experience and qualifications in the film industry, which he now channels into creating short films and coaching videos to help sufferers of the condition, based within his own recovery of OCD. Jim is also a popular author of the books: "It's a Matter of Trust," published in 2016, and "Positive Posts for OCD and Anxiety," more recently published in 2021. In addition, Jim's videos and social media content are regularly viewed by tens of thousands of people with overwhelming praise.
The onset of OCD came for me in 1982 at age 29. To this day, I stay on top of my recovery with continued CBT/ ERP, spiritual, medical, and holistic therapies and treatments, consequently emerging as an educator and a public speaker specializing in OCD and anxiety. I am very proud to affiliate with The OCD Treatment Centre and am looking forward to the continued effort to raise accurate and positive awareness of OCD recovery. We have many exciting projects in the pipeline, including writing the third book, creating online OCD-specific digital content, and making a positive difference in the OCD community.
I started my college teaching and professional filmmaking career in my early 20s. Since then, I have earned over 30 national and international film festival awards and critical acclaim for writing and directing films about physically and emotionally challenged individuals. In addition, I was commissioned by the International OCD Foundation to make the first dramatic educational film about a child with OCD, The Touching Tree.
I currently provide inspiration and recovery techniques through regularly uploading OCD Coaching Videos and words of hope. My articles can be found at afocd.org, Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms. I am also the co-founder and president of the Awareness Foundation for OCD. I live with my wife Jeanine by the ocean in northern California, USA.
I am the proud author of two OCD-specific help books. My first publication is called ‘It’s A Matter Of Trust.’ This hopeful and inspirational memoir is a warm and casual account of my recovery process. My second book is called ‘Positive Posts for OCD and Anxiety,’ which was received equally well by the OCD community. My care was multifaceted, including hospitalization, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Exposure Response Prevention Therapy (ERP), and an array of innovative approaches.
I have chronicled my three decades of getting the right help while living with OCD with compassion, empathy, humor, and wisdom. I found that OCD robbed me of trust and infused me with fears and phobias about people, places, and things and debilitating anxiety. I didn’t trust life. I regained that trust by using helpful tools to reclaim my power—to trust myself again. In my books, I share those tools to help with your recovery.
