BABCP-Accredited CBT & EMDR Therapist
About me
I'm Gisela Ramirez. I help adults with OCD, anxiety and trauma, online across the UK and in person in Manchester and Hebden Bridge — in English or Spanish.
Choosing a therapist is a strange kind of decision: you're asked to trust someone before you've met them. This page is everything I'd want to know if I were the one choosing — where I trained, how I actually work, and what to expect.
My story
I'm a BABCP-accredited CBT and EMDR therapist with a special interest in OCD and anxiety disorders. I work with adults online across the UK and around the world, in English and Spanish, and see a small number of clients in person at my bases at Sanctuary Therapy Centre in Prestwich and Hebden Bridge.
Qualifications, accreditations & training
Qualifications
- BABCP Accredited
- MSc CBT
- EMDR Europe Accredited
Accreditation & professional standards
What I believe about therapy
Therapy works best when it is a piece of shared, practical work rather than something done to you. My job is to bring the evidence, the structure and a clear head; yours is to bring what it's actually like to be you. Neither half works without the other.
I also believe you deserve to know whether it's working. We agree at the start what would count as things getting better, we measure it as we go, and if the plan isn't moving you towards it, we change the plan rather than waiting it out.
What I stand for
Evidence first
CBT, ERP and EMDR because the research supports them for these problems — not because they're what I happen to like.
Progress you can see
We score how you're doing with the same standardised measures the NHS uses, so neither of us has to guess.
Plain language
No jargon, no mystique. If I can't explain why we're doing something, we shouldn't be doing it.
Honest about fit
If I'm not the right person for what you need, I'll say so early and help you find someone who is.
Your own language
Therapy in Spanish is not a translation of therapy in English. I work fully in both.
Careful with your privacy
Sessions on a private video link, notes kept to the minimum, and ICO-registered data handling.
How I work
We start with a free 15-minute call, then a full assessment session where we map out what's keeping the problem going. From that we build a plan together, with a rough number of sessions and a clear first target.
Most of the change happens between sessions, so we'll agree small experiments to try in the week. We review formally around session six: what's shifted, what hasn't, and whether the plan needs to change.
Who I work with
I work with adults — most often with OCD and its subtypes, generalised anxiety, panic, health anxiety, social anxiety, phobias and trauma. If what you're dealing with isn't listed, it's still worth asking.
- OCD
- Anxiety
- Trauma
- PTSD
- Depression
- Phobias
In-person sessions
Permanent bases in Prestwich & Hebden Bridge
In-person sessions take place at Sanctuary Therapy Centre, which has two homes: a calm, characterful Victorian building in Prestwich, Manchester — with private therapy rooms, a quiet waiting area and on-site parking — and a welcoming centre on Market Street in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.
Sanctuary Therapy Centre, Prestwich
Oakhill Court, 171 Bury New Road, Prestwich, M25 9ND · Map
Sanctuary Therapy Centre, Hebden Bridge
36 Market Street, Hebden Bridge, HX7 6AA · Map
Questions people ask before booking
How do I know if you're the right therapist for me? The free 15-minute call exists for exactly that. You can describe what's going on, ask me anything, and get a straight answer about whether this is work I'm well placed to do. There's no pressure to book anything afterwards.
What does BABCP-accredited actually mean? The BABCP is the lead body for CBT in the UK, and accreditation is its check that a therapist has the training, supervised practice and ongoing development to work to its standard. It has to be renewed, and it can be withdrawn — it isn't a one-off certificate.
Do you only work with OCD? No, but it's where most of my work sits. I also see people for anxiety, panic, health anxiety, phobias and trauma. What those have in common is that they respond well to the structured, active approaches I'm trained in.
Is online therapy really as good as sitting in the room? For the problems I treat, the research says outcomes are comparable. Some people find the work easier from their own space, and for OCD in particular it can help enormously to do exposure work in the place the problem actually happens.
Can we work in Spanish? Yes — fully, not as a translation. I'm a native Spanish speaker and work in Spanish across the whole course of therapy, including all the written materials.
Work with Gisela
A free 15-minute call is the easiest place to start — no commitment, just a chance to see whether we are a good fit.