Dr. Hannnah Sugarman

DClinPsy. Clinical Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

MSc Cognitive Neuroscience from University College London, UK

BSC. (Hons) Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from University of Nottingham, UK

Dr. Sugarman is a UK trained Clinical Psychologist who has worked in the field of mental health for over 15 years. She is experienced in treating a range of different mental health problems, with expertise in various issues from depression to anxiety and OCD. Her background in physical health settings has led to a particular interest and specialism in problems relating to the interaction between physical and mental health, such as health anxiety or persistent physical symptoms without a clear medical explanation.

Dr. Sugarman lived and worked in Hong Kong for 6 years, during which time, she had the opportunity to work with hundreds of people trying to juggle fast-paced city life with high-pressure jobs and family/social responsibilities. Her time in the city gave her a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges that come with expat life, and she is passionate about helping people to foster the skills they need to navigate bumps in the road and reach their full potential.

Dr. Sugarman is trained in a range of different therapies. Work in sessions may focus on building skills to cope with more recently emerging problems using approaches such as ACT and CBT. Alternatively, it may focus more on the more long-term contexts which led to the emergence of the difficulties, utilising evidence-based approaches such as EMDR. Most of Dr. Sugarman’s work involves a combination of different approaches, with the work being tailored to the needs and goals of the individual. Dr. Sugarman’s primary aim in sessions is to build a therapeutic relationship with you that will allow you to get maximum benefit from the therapeutic tools you go through together. She aims to offer a warm, professional and friendly space, sitting beside you as you make sense of your problems and helping you to find different ways of managing them.

During her time in Hong Kong, Dr. Sugarman also worked as a clinical advisor for Mind Hong Kong, the well-known mental health NGO. Her role involved leading on the development and delivery of training and services targeting mental health awareness and plugging gaps in the healthcare system. This role only served to enhance Dr. Sugarman’s passion for removing barriers to mental health support, whether via providing information and skills or by supporting people one-to-one in therapy. She believes that there is still a long way to go in challenging the stigma around mental health, and wants to do her part in helping people to access the information and support they need as early as possible, so that they can get their lives back on track.

Dr. Sugarman is registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council, the UK regulatory body for practising psychologists. She is based in the UK and offers sessions online via Zoom.