Dr Liz Kirkland Consultant Clinical Psychologist

With over 30 years of experience within NHS and independent practice, I provide psychological therapy and assessment for adults, children, young people, and families. My work is based on a core belief: meaningful change begins with a deep, shared understanding of your unique story or your child’s world.

I now work successfully online, a mode I have found to be highly accessible and effective since 2020. While my practice is online, I maintain strong professional links with schools, mental health teams, and other local services across Cumbria and Lancaster, which can aid in providing holistic support where necessary and with your consent only.

My Approach: A Formulation-Driven Partnership
I work from a formulation-driven perspective as a Clinical Psychologist. This means we collaborate to build a coherent understanding of how and why difficulties developed and what keeps them going. We look at the whole picture: life experiences, relationships, strengths, and the context of home, school, or work. This detailed, personal understanding is the foundation for any meaningful change.

For Children & Families: Challenges like anxiety, behaviour, or withdrawal are often signs of an overwhelmed system. They are adaptations to stress, fear, or past experiences. My work helps you make sense of these through the lens of safety, regulation, and connection, with you, the parent, as the central agent of change. I often work with children and parents together, as this is typically most effective.

For Young Adults: A significant part of my practice involves working with young adults (aged 18-25). This is a unique transitional stage between adolescence and independent adulthood. I often support them and their families during this period, with parents commonly involved in initiating and supporting the therapeutic process.

For Adults: Overwhelming feelings—be it anxiety, low mood, or relational struggles—are frequently connected to learned protective strategies. Therapy is a space to understand these patterns, update old blueprints for safety, and relate to yourself with greater compassion and choice.

The Process: Assessment, Formulation & Intervention
1. Detailed Assessment: We start by meeting (online) to understand not just the problem, but the whole person—your history, family life, current circumstances, strengths, and hopes.

2. Shared Formulation: This is the understanding we develop together. For many, this process of being truly heard and making sense of their story is profoundly relieving and creates meaningful change in itself. This typically takes one to three sessions.

3. Intervention: If further support is helpful, we can arrange ongoing therapy tailored to your needs. Alternatively, I can provide specific advice or recommend other services. My practice is integrative, informed by decades of clinical experience, research, and broad training, always tailored to your individual formulation.

For Children, Young People & Families:

• Parental Stress & Burnout: Addressing overwhelm to restore family balance and parenting confidence.
• Early Childhood Difficulties: Behavioural problems, anger, eating, toileting, and sleep issues (e.g., night terrors).
• Later Childhood & Adolescence: Anxiety (panic, phobias, OCD, school refusal), low mood, adjustment to loss or family change, somatic symptoms (e.g., unexplained aches), eating problems, and support understanding neurodiversity (e.g., ASD, ADHD).

For Adults:

• Anxiety, panic, phobias, and OCD.
• Low mood, depression, and distress.
• The impact of trauma, past adversity, or complex family experiences.
• Relationship difficulties and patterns.
• Eating disorders.
• Life transitions, stress, and burnout.

I work with individuals, couples, and families.

(Next Steps)
The relationship between client and therapist is crucial. I offer a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your needs, answer your questions, and help you decide if working together feels like the right fit.