My Approach

I work with clients either in person at my practice rooms or online via Zoom. While most human beings are infinitely variable, and so each person's experience of psychotherapy is unique, most do tend to follow a similar pattern whether online or in person:

Trust: Together, we will need to establish a trusting relationship in which you feel able to speak freely and openly.

Dealing with the presenting problem: Perhaps you came to me with a specific problem – panic attacks, anxiety, depression, there may be many reasons. Our priority is understanding why these symptoms are happening, what is behind them and how we might deal with them. Our work together at this stage may not mean making the symptoms immediately disappear but instead bringing some understanding to what is happening so that they may be a little more manageable.

Exploring: This is when the work will deepen into a psychodynamic approach. We will move beyond what is happening to you into the more profound question of why it is happening to you: We will explore your childhood, your dreams, your relationships, and your thoughts and feelings about the world and others. The purpose will be to look at your way of being in the world to discover how you relate to others and the world surrounding you. Sometimes this will feel purposeful and clear; other times, it may feel like a ramble in the dark.

Transformation: As the saying goes, 'we cannot change what we cannot see'. In other words, once you have begun to gain a deeper insight into yourself, conscious change, if you wish, can begin. Clients of mine have changed jobs, moved countries, ended relationships and started new families. While life is, of course, a never-changing process, I intend that our work together will bring consciousness, clarity and agency to this change process.

Practicalities

Confidentiality: Confidentiality is very important to me. What you talk about in our sessions will be treated as confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone else except in a few exceptional circumstances, which I will explain to you.

Ethical standards: I am a chartered member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and a number of other professional bodies. I work in accordance with their guidelines.

Sessions: Therapy sessions are normally 50 minutes long and held weekly but I can and do work in other ways with my clients - sometimes I see people less frequently, sometimes I will see them for a longer session on a more intensive basis. This is something we will work out together when we begin working together.

Fees: A 50-minute daytime appointment is £75. Evening sessions are £85. Extended sessions are £125. However, concessions are available, and I reserve a number of low-cost appointments so that my services are affordable. I reserve the right to review my fees and would always give you, the client, 28 days' notice of any amendment.

What is a session like? Sessions are generally held weekly on a day and time that we have agreed is mutually suitable, however I do also work with my clients on a intensive basis.

In our first few sessions, I may ask you a question to start the work together, but after the first few sessions, I will give you the space to start the session: This may seem strange at first, and there may be some silence, but the space is there to enable you to speak about what is most pressing for you. I experience that people get used to this different sort of conversation and appreciate that the time and the space are theirs to speak about whatever they wish.
Throughout the session, I will respond to what you say; I may ask you questions or make links between things you have previously mentioned. I won't expect you to work everything out for yourself. Ideally, you would achieve insight on your own, and you will, but it might take months, which you may not feel you have, so I will point things out to you to help you with the process.
I won't wait for you to run into resistance or other problems and work through them slowly on your own instead, I'll try to see what's coming and help you avoid it.
My overall approach prioritises necessary change in the short term, without forgetting that the root causes of most psychological problems lie deep in the past and that taking time to deal with them can be very valuable.