Meet Our Team

Dr Claire Balysz

Dr Claire Balysz is an NHS GP Partner and General Practitioner with an Extended Role (GPwER).  She has specialist expertise in neurodevelopmental conditions and women’s health and is trained in both ADHD and autism assessment. Claire is the only General Practitioner within New Forest Psychiatry, bringing a broad medical perspective that complements the expertise of the consultant psychiatrists within the multidisciplinary team.

Claire undertakes ADHD assessments and treatment for both children and adults. With many years’ experience as a GP, she is skilled at recognising the medical, psychological, hormonal and lifestyle factors that can influence attention, mood, and cognitive function, enabling her to provide holistic, person-centred care.

As the only female clinician within the practice, Claire has a particular interest in ADHD and autism in women and girls, whose presentations are often overlooked or masked, leading to diagnosis later in life. She also has specialist expertise in women’s health, with a particular interest in the relationship between hormones and neurodiversity throughout the lifespan.

Alongside her clinical work, Claire has a strong interest in lifestyle medicine, recognising that effective management extends beyond medication alone. She works collaboratively with patients to optimise sleep, nutrition, physical activity and other lifestyle factors that support long-term health and wellbeing.

Claire also brings valuable personal insight through supporting two of her own children with ADHD, complementing her clinical expertise with empathy and practical understanding of the challenges faced by individuals and families.

Claire’s approach is warm, collaborative and evidence-based. She believes that understanding the whole person—not just the diagnosis—is fundamental to delivering excellent care and works with each patient to develop personalised treatment plans that reflect their individual strengths, needs and goals.

Dr Christopher Smith

Dr Smith is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who graduated form Southampton Medical school in 2013. He training in psychiatry as he found that treating the mind is helping the person rather than simply the body and gained membership of the royal college of psychiatrists in 2020. He specialised in working with children and adolescents as this work entails understand a young person as a whole, thinking about a young person as they grow and develop, as part of an important family network and as an individual with a complex internal world.

He has completed higher training in child psychiatry and works as a consultant psychiatrist for the NHS in addition to his work with New Forest Psychiatry. He has training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of depression, anxiety disorders, neurodevelopmental conditions, psychosis and other mental disorders of childhood and adolescence and has an interest in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy.

Dr Smith believes in developing a comprehensive understanding of a young person and their difficulties and using that to help families understand a young person and for a young person to understand themselves. This can then point toward treatments which can include medication or therapy work with an individual or family to support a young person to overcome their difficulties.

Heidi Tyler

Sophia Graeble

Hello, I’m Sophia (she/her).

I’m a BABCP-accredited Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapist and Registered Mental Health Nurse offering psychotherapy in the New Forest and online across the UK.

I hold a BSc (Hons) in Psychology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing and a Postgraduate Diploma in High-Intensity Psychological Therapy. Alongside my private practice, I continue to work within the NHS as a High Intensity Psychological Therapist, providing evidence-based care for adults experiencing a wide range of psychological difficulties. My previous work experience includes working within multidisciplinary mental health teams alongside psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and other healthcare professionals which has given me extensive experience in providing evidence-based care while understanding the complexity of each person’s mental health journey.

I work with people experiencing anxiety disorders, panic, OCD, depression, low self-esteem, trauma, emotional dysregulation and relationship difficulties. I also have a particular interest in supporting neurodivergent adults, including those with ADHD and autistic experiences, and in providing compassionate, trauma-informed therapy for people living with complex emotional difficulties.

Although CBT forms the foundation of my practice, I believe therapy should always be tailored to the individual rather than expecting people to fit a particular model. My approach is formulation-led, collaborative, compassionate and flexible, drawing on evidence-based practice while recognising that every person’s experiences, strengths and goals are unique. Throughout my career I have come to understand that meaningful change happens when people feel genuinely understood rather than judged, so rather than asking, “What’s wrong with you?” I find it more helpful to ask, “What has happened to you?” and “What has helped you survive?”. Every person brings their own history, strengths, values and way of making sense of the world. My role is to work alongside you, creating a therapeutic space where you feel safe enough to explore difficult experiences, develop self-understanding and build lasting change.

Alongside my professional training, I bring lived experience of mental health challenges and ADHD. Understanding my own neurodivergence has shaped both my personal journey and the therapist I have become. It has strengthened my passion for neurodivergent-affirming practice and my belief that emotional distress often makes sense when understood in the context of a person’s life experiences, rather than as something that is simply “wrong” with them.

Outside of work, you’ll usually find me walking in the New Forest with my Cockapoo, Alfie, catching up with friends over coffee, or exploring the mountains of Eryri (Snowdonia), one of my favourite places. Hiking has become an important part of my own wellbeing, reminding me of the value of slowing down, gaining perspective and reconnecting with what matters most.

I understand that reaching out for therapy can feel like a daunting first step. I offer a complimentary 10–15 minute telephone consultation where we can discuss what has brought you to therapy, answer any questions you may have, and explore whether working together feels like the right fit.

John Day

John’s focus is to work as an integrative psychotherapist so that, where necessary, he draws from more than one approach depending on the needs of the client.

John has been a psychologist for 10 years, having lived, trained and worked as a psychologist previously in Cape Town. He is a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) trained psychologist who also works from an existential/humanistic perspective. He also has an interest in working with people who are neurodivergent, and has considerable experience leading ASC assessments in the private sector. He is also trained in Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT).

Research interests
As part of his MA in Counselling Psychology, John produced a research paper on ‘An interpretative–phenomenological analysis of experiences of front line police officers in the Eastern Cape’.

Qualifications
BA Major in Psychology, London Metropolitan University
BA Honours Psychology, Cornerstone Institute Cape Town
MA Counselling Psychology, Rhodes University Makhanda (Grahamstown), South Africa
Accredited assessor of autism, for both the Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) assessment tools