I am Dr Natalie Cook, a Perinatal and Early Years Clinical Psychologist, mum of two, and the founder of Little Steps Psychology Practice.

I work with parents and families navigating pregnancy, the postnatal period, NICU experiences, and the realities of life with young children. All therapy is delivered online, which means you can access specialist support from anywhere in the UK.

My background

I completed my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Oxford in 2016. I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the statutory regulator for Clinical Psychologists in the UK.

Most recently, I was the Lead Clinical Psychologist on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Evelina London Children’s Hospital. Before that, I worked on the NICU at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Alongside neonatal work, I have years of clinical experience across adult, child, and paediatric services.

What that means in practice: I understand what families go through during pregnancy, birth, NICU, and the early years. Not as theory. From being in the room with thousands of parents during the hardest moments of their lives.

How I work

My approach is evidence-based, integrative, and tailored to what you actually need. I draw on several therapeutic models, and the combination depends on your situation, your symptoms, and your goals.

Therapeutic approaches I am trained in:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)

• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR)

• Narrative Therapy

• Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy

• Systemic family approaches

I bring clinical rigour and warmth in equal measure. I do not do wellness platitudes, fear-based parenting advice, or one-size-fits-all formulas. What I do is sit with you in the reality of what you are facing, and work with you to find a way through.

A culturally aware, systemic approach

I am a mixed-race woman, and that experience shapes how I work. It made me deeply curious from an early age about how identity, including ethnicity, culture, sexuality, and class, interacts with how we see ourselves, how others see us, and how we move through the world as parents.

I bring a systemic, values-led approach that respects each person’s unique story and background. Your context matters. Your family history matters. The systems around you, supportive or otherwise, matter.