Practice record

Bristol · 2009 to now

Trauma and the shadow it leaves behind.

I’m Renata Königsman, a psychologist and psychotherapist in Bristol. I work with trauma, PTSD, anxiety and depression.

Sometimes a difficult experience keeps shaping how you feel long after it has passed: sleep, concentration, the way you react to things.

My work is mainly EMDR and CBT, with adults, in English and Polish.

Book an assessment

Adults only · Bristol and online · English and Polish

01What I do

EMDR and CBT, and an assessment first.

I have worked in private practice since June 2009. My work is mainly CBT and EMDR within a trauma-informed, integrative approach: I draw on both, and on what the assessment shows, rather than following one script.

I work with adults only. Sessions are face to face at The Harbourside Practice in Redcliffe, Bristol, or online across the UK. I also supervise other therapists.

  1. 2012–2022

    Psychotherapist in the NHS

    Ten years in NHS IAPT services, offering psychotherapy for depression, anxiety and trauma.

  2. 2016–2023

    Supervisor, University of Exeter

    Almost seven years supervising High Intensity CBT trainee therapists.

Qualifications

  • Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (High Intensity IAPT), University of Exeter
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (CBT Pathway), University of Wales, Newport
  • EMDR training, Level 3, University of Exeter
  • MSc Health Psychology, Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz

Accredited by the BABCP and the EMDR Association UK.

“Healing isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about remembering who you were before fear taught you otherwise.”

Renata Königsman

02EMDR

Eight phases, in order.

EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing — is the main way I work with trauma. It uses short, repeated sets of bilateral stimulation, usually eye movements and sometimes tapping, while a memory is held in mind.

It isn’t hypnosis. You stay awake and you stay in charge of the pace. The eight phases below are the standard structure of the work.

  1. 01

    History and planning

    What has brought you here, what we would work on, and in what order. The assessment sits here.

  2. 02

    Preparation

    How the sessions work, how to slow down or stop, and what helps between them.

  3. 03

    Assessment

    The memory or image we start with, the belief you hold about yourself when it comes to mind, and how strongly it still pulls now.

  4. 04

    Desensitisation

    Short sets of bilateral stimulation while you hold the memory, with a check-in between each set.

  5. 05

    Installation

    The same sets, pairing the memory with the belief you would rather hold about yourself.

  6. 06

    Body scan

    Holding the memory and the new belief in mind, and noticing what is left anywhere in the body.

  7. 07

    Closure

    Coming back to a settled state before the session ends, whatever it has brought up.

  8. 08

    Re-evaluation

    Reviewing the week after, then deciding whether to stay with the same target or move to another.

EMDR is one of the things I offer, not the only one. I would only suggest it where an assessment points that way.

03Who I work with

Adults, and what they bring.

I work with adults only. People come to me with a particular memory, or with something harder to name that has been there for years. Both are a reasonable place to start.

  • Stress
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Generalised anxiety
  • Health and death anxiety
  • Social anxiety
  • PTSD and complex PTSD
  • Panic disorder
  • Specific phobias, such as emetophobia
  • OCD
  • Sleep problems
  • Low self-esteem
  • Eating disorders
  • Bereavement and pet bereavement
  • Relationship difficulties
  • Assertiveness and self-care

Alongside therapy I offer assessment and consultation, and supervision for other therapists. If what you need sits outside what I do, I will say so at the assessment.

04Fees

What sessions cost.

Sessions usually last 55–60 minutes. We meet weekly or fortnightly, usually at the same time. Most of my work is short term, around 10–12 sessions; sometimes longer work of 20 sessions or more is needed.

  • £95 Face to face55–60 minutes, EMDR, CBT or psychotherapy
  • £95 Video call55–60 minutes, by Zoom or Bilateral Base
  • £140 A 90-minute sessionWhen a longer session is needed, usually for EMDR
  • £300 EMDR Mini IntensivesThree hours, on request, online
  • £95 Missed appointmentOr a cancellation with less than 48 hours’ notice
  • £85 Students
  • £85 Reduced-fee spacesA limited number, agreed at the assessment

I accept payment by bank transfer, 48 hours before each session. Please ask about the reduced fees at the assessment; the conversation stays between us.

05Polish

English and Polish.

I work in both. Assessment, therapy sessions and EMDR are available in either language.

06Contact

Start with an assessment.

Email me with a short note about what you are looking for. I will reply with times, or with a suggestion of someone better placed if I am not the right fit.

renata.konigsman@gmail.com
Book online

Where

The Harbourside Practice
3 Redcliffe Parade East
Redcliffe
Bristol BS1 6SW

Online

Video sessions across the UK, by Zoom or Bilateral Base.

Reviews

5.0 on Google, from 12 reviews.