Tara Michhiana – Accredited CBT & EMDR Therapist for Anxiety, Trauma & PTSD

Tara Michhiana - CBT & EMDR Therapist - My Therapist Online

Meet Tara Michhiana - CBT & EMDR Therapist - My Therapist Online

Tara Michhiana

Accredited CBT & EMDR Therapist

Pronouns: She/Her

Hi, I’m Tara, a BABCP Accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist and EMDR psychotherapist.

I believe that caring for your emotional and mental well-being is essential — it influences how you think, feel, and behave, and ultimately shapes your quality of life.

I specialise in working with adults and children aged 11 and over, supporting them through a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges.

My approach is warm, collaborative, compassionate and non-judgmental. Together, we’ll work to understand your difficulties, reduce psychological distress, and develop practical coping strategies. My goal is to support you in building emotional resilience, so you’re better equipped to navigate current and future challenges with confidence and clarity

Areas of Specialism

Anxiety Disorders

  • Agoraphobia

  • Anxiety (General)

  • Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

  • Health Anxiety

  • Panic Disorder / Panic Attacks

  • Performance Anxiety

  • Phobias

  • Social

Trauma & PTSD

  • Childhood Trauma

  • Complex PTSD

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Rape / Sexual Assault

  • Road Traffic Accidents

Mood & Emotional Difficulties

  • Depression / Low Mood

  • Emotional Regulation Difficulties

  • Low Self-Esteem

  • Stress

  • Work-Related Stress

Obsessive & Related Disorders

  • Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)

  • Emetophobia (Specific Fear of Vomiting)

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Eating & Behavioural Difficulties

  • Eating Disorders (Overeating & Weight Loss)

Family & Caring Roles

  • Carer Difficulties

Commonly Treated Difficulties

  • ADHD

  • Anxiety - Separation

  • Anxiety - Fears of abandonment

  • Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

  • Body Image Problems

  • Depression - Major

  • Pregnancy, Prenatal, Postpartum

  • Depression - Seasonal Affective Disorder

  • Family Issues - Blended families

  • Parenting Issues

  • Menopause

  • Grief / Bereavement / Loss

  • Hoarding

  • Loneliness

  • Perfectionism

  • Procrastination

  • Skin/Hair picking (tricotillomania / dermatillomania)

  • Sleep - Problems

  • Sleep - Insomnia

  • Tinnitus

  • Career Coaching

  • Life transitions

  • Work - Bullying

  • Work - General Problems

  • Work - Redundancy

  • Anger

  • Trauma - Dissasociation

  • Trauma - Childhood sexual abuse

Therapeutic Approaches & Models

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

  • BABCP Accredited CBT Therapist

  • Exposure Response Prevention (ERP)

  • Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR)

  • Narrative Exposure Therapy Training.

  • Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Mindfulness

  • Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

  • Interpersonal therapy

  • Person-centred therapy

  • Solution Focused Therapy

Tara works with:

  • Adolescents (10 - 15 Years)

  • Adolescents (16 - 18 Years)

  • Adults (19-65 Years)

  • Elderly (65+ Years)


Professional Training & Accreditations

  • BABCP Accreditation: 101164

  • Level 1 Postgraduate Diploma in MCT.

  • EMDR Parts 1, 2 & 3.

  • Postgraduate Certificate in
    Supervision for CYP IAPT.

  • Postgraduate Diploma in Evidence Based Psychological Treatments.

  • Advanced Certificate in Systemic Practice with Families & Couples.

  • Certificate in Psychological Research Methods.

  • BSc Hons Psychology.

Client Testimonials

“A Thoughtful and Skilled Therapist Who Makes a Lasting Difference”

"Tara, you have been a wonderful therapist and support  . I have learnt so much and value your effort and approach to my situation."

“Transforming Fear into Confidence: Expert CBT for Childhood Phobias”

"I highly recommend Tara and would like to share my experience with CBT treatment for my son’s needle phobia. Before starting therapy, my son would become incredibly anxious and distressed at the mere mention of needles, making medical appointments a nightmare. Thanks to CBT and Tara, he has made remarkable progress in managing his fear. Tara used gentle exposure techniques, teaching coping strategies that helped him gradually confront and overcome his fear. Now, he faces needle procedures with much less anxiety, and our medical visits are no longer filled with dread. CBT truly made a positive difference in my son’s life, and I’m grateful for the expertise and support we received. Money well spent."

“Instilling Hope, Compassion and Deep Self-Understanding”

"Tara has been alongside me, encouraging me, educating me when I needed knowledge, and inspiring me to carry on. Although we faced blocks and avoidance, Tara never once gave up on me.  One of the most valuable things that Tara and our sessions gave me is hope. She enabled me to understand myself in a totally new way and shone a light on a new, compassionate way of thinking about myself which is something I never thought I would genuinely want to do. Now I am able to look at situations in a completely new way and make sense of who I am and my past in a different narrative."

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a psychological approach based on scientific principles which research has shown to be effective for a wide range of problems. 

    CBT involves the client and therapist working together to identify and understand problems in terms of the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. The cognitive component in CBT refers to how people think about and create meaning about situations, symptoms and events in their lives and develop beliefs about themselves, others and the world. It uses techniques to help people become more aware of how they reason, and the kinds of automatic thought that spring to mind and give meaning to things. 

    The behavioural component in CBT refers to the way in which people respond when distressed. Responses such as avoidance, reduced activity and unhelpful behaviours can act to keep the problems going or worsen how the person feels. The aim of CBT to help a person feel safe enough to gradually test out their assumptions and fears and change their behaviours. For example, this might include helping people to gradually face feared or avoided situations as a means to reducing anxiety and learning new behavioural skills to tackle problems. 

    Importantly the aim of CBT is to directly target distressing symptoms, reduce distress, re-evaluate thinking and promote helpful behavioural responses by offering problem-focused skills-based treatment interventions. The focus of CBT is usually on problems in the here and now, although it recognizes the importance of causes of distress or symptoms in the past. It relies on a shared model of understanding, using a psycho-educational approach, working towards a client’s own therapy goals.

    The focus in CBT is in specific psychological and practical skills aimed at enabling the client to generate solutions to their problems that are more helpful than their present ways of coping. CBT involves the client using the time between therapy sessions to try things out, record information and bring this feedback to the next session. Outcome of interventions are continually monitored, evaluated and modified where required to gain the maximum effect. The approaches can be used to help anyone irrespective of ability, culture, race, gender or sexual preference.

  • EMDR is - Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing - Therapy

    EMDR is a psychological therapy for the treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It is designed to alleviate the distress associated with traumatic memories. EMDR facilitates the accessing and processing of traumatic memories to bring these to an adaptive resolution. After successful treatment with EMDR, emotional distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and anxiety is reduced. 

    Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing integrates elements of many effective psychotherapies in structured protocols that are designed to maximise treatment effects. The effectiveness of EMDR for PTSD has been demonstrated by research, and EMDR is recommended as an evidence-based procedure by the British Department of Health, among other professional bodies.

DBS Checked