emOTive therapy

Occupational Therapist with a psychotherapeutic approach, supporting mental health and neurodivergence in a way that connects to real life.

Lucinda Pollard - Mental Health Occupational Therapist and EMDR Practitioner

I’m an Occupational Therapist with a psychotherapeutic approach, specialising in mental health and neurodivergence.

My work focuses on understanding how your experiences are impacting your day-to-day life, not just how they show up as symptoms.

Together, we explore what’s going on for you and begin to build ways of living that feel more manageable, meaningful and aligned with what matters to you.

About Me

I take a holistic, psychotherapeutic approach that brings together occupational therapy with evidence-based modalities such as ACT, EMDR, and somatic and sensory-informed approaches.

At the centre of my work is taking time to understand your experience in context, not just what you’re feeling, but how your thoughts, emotions, environment, roles and past experiences are shaping how you function and engage in everyday life.

Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all model, I adapt the work to you. This might involve making sense of patterns, understanding what’s maintaining difficulties, and identifying what genuinely supports you in moving forward.

My Approach

Professional Background

I am an experienced and fully accredited Occupational Therapist (BSc Hons) and EMDR therapist, with a passion for supporting individuals to navigate the complexities of life.

I am:

Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
A member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT)
A member of EMDR UK
A professional member of the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science

Experience

I have over 20 years of experience working within mental health services across both NHS and private settings.

My work has included:

Delivering therapy within inpatient mental health services
Providing 1:1 therapy (including online)
Delivering trauma-focused interventions, including work with survivors of torture
Working as a Specialist Neurodevelopmental Autism Assessor

Alongside clinical work, I have delivered training and talks on topics such as:

Trauma-informed and therapeutic care
The role of the sensory environment in emotional regulation
Burnout within inpatient services

Therapeutic Approaches

My core profession is Occupational Therapy, which is integrated with a range of evidence-based approaches to support your individual needs.

These may include:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT-informed skills)
Internal Family Systems-informed approaches
Chair work

Trauma-focused approaches:

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Flash Technique

Body-based and regulatory approaches:

Somatic informed interventions
Sensoru Informed approaches and adjustments to support emotional regulation and environmental engagement.

Passion and Focus

My work is grounded in supporting people to better understand themselves, develop self-compassion, and build meaningful, sustainable ways of regulating and engaging in life.

I am particularly passionate about:

Neurodivergent-affirming approaches
Supporting emotional regulation in real-life contexts
Developing trauma-informed and therapeutic environments within services

Sessions offer a space to slow things down and explore what’s going on for you at a pace that feels manageable.

Together, we will:

Build a clearer understanding of your patterns and experiences
Explore how your internal world and external environment interact
Reconnect with what matters to you
Develop practical, sustainable ways of engaging in your day-to-day life

This is a collaborative process. There is space to talk, reflect, process and also to consider practical changes that support how you live your life outside of sessions.

Your sessions are about supporting you to build a way of living that feels more aligned, manageable and meaningful.

How I Work