For Scuba Divers

You’re in the right place

If a dive has left you shaken, you’re finding it hard to get back in the water, or diving has brought up difficulties that go wider than diving itself: this is a good place to start. I’m a Clinical Psychologist, and an experienced diver and scuba diving instructor myself, so I understand both the psychology and the diving side of what you’re dealing with.

How I can help

What I help divers with

After a diving incident

Specialist support for the psychological impact of things that happen underwater, drawing on both clinical training and first‑hand knowledge of diving. This includes:

• Underwater panic that had a significant impact on you
• A frightening equipment problem
• Responding to an out‑of‑air situation, entrapment, entanglement, or a rapid ascent
• Coping with a distressing or traumatic incident, including DCI or a near‑drowning
• Taking on the rescuer role, or providing CPR to a buddy
• Support following a DCI or PFO diagnosis

Diving-related concerns

Not every difficulty follows a single dramatic incident. I also work with:

• Ongoing anxiety or repeated panic while diving
• Specific fears or phobias connected to diving
• Stress reactions that get in the way of diving safely or enjoyably
• Difficulty diving or training after a previous drowning event

General mental health concerns

Some divers come to me for support that isn’t diving-specific at all, but is still affecting their diving and their life more generally, including:

• Anxiety, low mood or depression
• Chronic stress and burnout
• Confidence and self‑esteem difficulties

Why a diving-specialist psychologist

Why divers choose this service

I’m a Clinical Psychologist (DClinPsychol, University of Edinburgh, 2010), registered with the HCPC, with over 13 years’ post‑qualification experience including 8 years in the NHS. I’m trained in evidence‑based trauma therapies, including EMDR, and I also have a working understanding of dive medicine, so conditions like DCI and PFO are already familiar territory, not something you need to explain from scratch.

On top of that, I’m a diver myself. That means I already know the equipment, the procedures, and what it actually feels like underwater, so we don’t lose time on the basics. I understand what counts as genuinely risky at different depths and experience levels, I’m familiar with training agency standards, and I know how conditions like narcosis can affect the way things feel and are remembered. It also means I can relate to the specific psychological impact of diving emergencies, rather than working it out from a description alone.

I work with recreational and technical divers, whether you dive open‑circuit or on a rebreather (CCR), as well as commercial divers.