About Dr Gurpreet Kaur

The person behind the psychologist

I am British-born and South Asian. My identity as a Sikh shapes how I understand learning, connection and service, and my faith has become an important source of meaning in my life, allowing me to lead with self energy.

Growing up with a brother who experienced psychosis brought uncertainty and disruption to our family life when I was in my teens. For a long time, I underestimated its impact on me, probably because my parents were so good at moving forward. I was achieving, hitting milestones and doing what I thought needed to be done.  But it took time to recognise how much of my coping involved living in survival mode all whilst pushing my own wounds aside and trying to fight my sense of being an imposter.  That feeling was there from when I thought I would leave school to work in a factory setting like my parents, to becoming a woman who completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. There is no false pride in my journey, simply an honouring of the my intergenerational roots. However, the inner voices about self doubt have been rampant throughout my journey. Parts of me felt like they didn’t belong as I advanced in my education and then career.

My journey has included doctoral training at UCL, having two babies whilst doing said training, becoming a mother, experiencing bullying during a training placement, and navigating the expectations I placed on myself throughout those and other hidden hurts. I found my faith and have experienced great meaning from it throughout my life trials.  Long before I had the language of regulation, processing and parts , I was beginning to recognise the different parts of me: those striving to achieve, those carrying hurt, and those working hard to keep everything together.

Trusted supervisors, supportive colleagues and deep reflective work has helped me understand these experiences. Leaving the NHS became an important step towards a work-life balance that better reflected my values. Over time, I have questioned old beliefs, worked through painful experiences and become more intentional about the relationships, commitments and influences I make space for.

My brother, my only sibling, unexpectedly passed at the end of 2024. He didn’t reach 50. His loss has brought profound grief and I am adjusting to being the only child. It has also deepened my reflection on mortality, belonging, and how we live when life shows us how temporary it is. My faith and my knowledge of trauma and healing has helped me travel this journey with grace.

This remains an ongoing journey. My personal experiences inform my humanity as a therapist; my clinical training, supervision and continued learning guide the care I offer.  My desire to help is big, but my desire to do so effectively and safely, in a world full of charlatans, is bigger. I embrace the therapeutic models I use, as they embrace me as the therapist and person I have come to be. I always have CPD courses booked, because continued learning allows me to be the best therapist I can be for my clients. In my spare (or not so spare time as a mother of three), you will find me with my head in an audio book, enjoying fictional works, or in the kitchen making wholesome food. I enjoy walks, nature and good company.

How I work

My approach blends clinical science with the human side of healing. I bring 25+ years of experience in the mental health system, with a particular focus on trauma, self-doubt and the experiences that shape our sense of who we are.

I work from a biopsychosocial-spiritual perspective. This means considering your mind and body, relationships, culture, wider circumstances and, where meaningful to you, faith or spirituality.

Compassion, collaboration and respect for cultural and intergenerational experiences are central to my work. Our stories are shaped by the families, histories and worlds we come from, including the expectations we inherit and the circumstances we have had to adapt to. I explore Social Graces in my work with clients for them to better understand their own parts.

I integrate Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).

I also offer  therapy Intensives as I have come to see how people need different paces to heal.

The approaches I use are “top down”, exploring thoughts, beliefs and meanings, and “bottom up”, attending to emotions, bodily sensations and protective responses. Nervous system regulation and value led healing are be fundamental parts of this work. I encourage my clients to reclaim their life in a way that feels empowering and meaningful to them.

Together, we seek to understand why they feel the way they do and work at a pace that respects their needs and capacity. Therapy can involve processing difficult experiences, understanding inner parts that have helped survival, and loosening beliefs that now limit choices.

There is space for existential questions too in therapy with me.

My aim is to support deeper self-understanding and meaningful change, helping you reconnect with your values and reclaim more of your life