Me receiving the Queens Award for Voluntary Services (QAVS) for services to mental health (2014)

Hello, I’m Matt Coleclough, a psychotherapist and mental health speaker who specialises in the recovery of all types of anxiety disorders and depression.  I consider myself to be an expert in the recovery of panic disordergeneralised anxiety disorder, and agoraphobia and know first-hand how to successfully treat these illnesses.  I once endured a long bout of panic disorder/agoraphobia with intermittent bouts of depression so I can relate exactly to how my clients are feeling.  Helping people to recover is my passion and strength and seeing people get their life back is extremely satisfying and rewarding.  Recovering from an anxiety disorder and/or depression is an incredibly liberating experience which brings with it its own benefits.  The knowledge, wisdom and confidence you will gain on your journey will make you a much more integrated person – happier, peaceful and much more resilient!

My knowledge and understanding comes from years of therapy study, research in fields such as neuroscience, mindfulness and biofeedback and the successful application of this to my own life.  My approach and applied method has seen me successfully treat hundreds of people with a host of anxiety and depressive disorders and I take extreme pride in my ability to treat these illnesses.  My passion and record of achievement in this field speak for themselves.  I began helping people with anxiety disorders in 2006 by self-funding local anxiety support groups and I continued to do this for almost four years before joining BIG in Mental Health.  Here I created the anxiety support division which still continues to this day helping hundreds of anxiety sufferers each year.  In 2011, I became part of the training programme at Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, where I gave educational talks on anxiety disorders to the junior doctors as part of their psychiatric training.  I was recognised for my contributions to mental health services and was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Services in 2014 as part of Bury Involvement Group.  In 2015, I started the Anxiety Recovery Roadshow, a not-for-profit organisation, which operated as a travelling workshop designed to give chronic anxiety sufferers a comprehensive understanding of their anxiety conditions and a programme of recovery.  The Roadshow involved explaining difficult concepts in a fun and interactive way and implemented biofeedback, neurofeedback and mindfulness.  In 2016, I reworked this programme and after much hard work brought my understanding into the workplace.  Since then I have spoken at many conferences and events, big and small, bringing insight, sharing experience and educating people.

I have a keen interest in neuroscience and have studied in great depth the work of Professor Joseph Ledoux and his continual research on the biological underpinnings of emotion and memory, especially brain mechanisms related to fear and anxiety. I have studied all the works of the great late Dr. Claire Weekes, a true pioneer in ‘nervous illness’, and I have studied the mindfulness work and teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh and breathwork of Dr Konstantin Buteyko amongst many others.

Understanding is at the core of my methods, which are unique and tailored to suit, but coincide with a host of conventional CBT type methods, mindfulness-based therapies and biofeedback. My ability to really help people overcome their problems comes from a genuine passion to help, a thorough understanding of these disorders and a wealth of experience.