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.
Something went wrong on a recent dive?
If you need help right now after a diving accident or incident, Fit To Dive’s resource index has self-help guides and signposting to support, available immediately.
Diving incident resources ↗I’d like to talk to someone
Whether it’s about a recent incident, diving anxiety, or something else affecting your diving, book a free 15‐minute call or send a question.
Book or get in touchI’m a dive medic, nurse or healthcare professional
Qualifications, referral information and how to direct your patient to psychological support.
Referrer information ↗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
Book an appointment
Complimentary 15‑min call
A short video call to find out how it works and whether this is the right fit for you. Tell Laura as much or as little as you like about your situation, and ask any questions.
Book free 15‑min call60‑minute session
Ready to book your first full appointment? Request a 60‑minute session at a time that works for you.
Request 60‑min call90‑minute session
Prefer more time? A 90‑minute first session gives us space to go through some techniques and make more of a start on EMDR.
Request 90‑min callWhy divers choose this service
I’m a Clinical Psychologist (DClinPsychol, University of Edinburgh, 2010), registered with the HCPC, with over 15 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.
What does it cost?
Longer sessions are available too, and often work well for EMDR. A 90-minute session is £180.
To give you an idea, after a diving incident or when working on a specific issue, most people I see come for around 6 to 12 hours in total, spread out in whatever way suits them.
It’s also the case that some people find a single session helpful for talking things through.
- Packages: to support you in completing a full course of therapy, blocks of hours are offered at a discount, which increases with the number of hours booked. You can split the time into sessions of whatever length suits you.
- If you have private health insurance, you may be able to use it for your sessions. Insurers include AXA and BUPA.
Not sure what you’d need?
Book a free 15-minute call and we can talk it through, with no obligation.
In their own words
Statements from divers who have used this service. Every testimonial is anonymous to respect client confidentiality.
Overcoming diving anxiety after a series of stressful dives
“I just wish more people knew about you and how briliiant the service is.”
What part of the contact with Laura/the service was most helpful?
“Lots of things!
●[Laura was] skillful in containing the scope of our work to the diving issues themselves
●[Laura was] great at balancing empathy, encouragement, pace and practicality (that’s not easy!)
●[Laura works] very efficiently
●I came away with simple statements and simple approaches; they fit on one page of my logbook therefore easy to reference
●I learnt a lot!
●I’m back loving my diving, even more. When I came to you I felt I was losing it forever.”
Dealing with regulator skills stress before moving tech/cave training
“I thought everything was great!”
What part of the contact with Laura/the service was most helpful?
“The EMDR coaching, both the software we used & Laura’s prompting/questions throughout. I felt physically & emotionally safe the entire time.”
Help after Rescuer Role and Providing CPR to Buddy
What part of the contact with Laura/the service was most helpful?
“EMDR”
Support following DCI and PFO Diagnosis
“I benefited from pretty much every aspect of it and would highly recommend it to my fellow divers and friends”
“[The service] is very well setup. I was impressed with the website layout and the setup for conducting EMDR.”
“It was incredible to find a service like this, to be able to talk to someone who understood what I was going through and someone who also understood all of the ins and outs of diving. Laura is so easy to talk to, professional, kind and clearly cares alot about what she does. I would have zero reservations about recommending Laura to my fellow club members and non-diving friends.”
Ready to talk, or still deciding?
Either way, book a free 15-minute call and we can talk it through, with no obligation.
Book your free 15-minute call
