Lisa Vaughan
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am a qualified, experienced psychotherapist and psychoanalyst, based in the Hampstead area of North-West London. I offer therapy for adults seeking help with issues including depression, anxiety, loss and bereavement, relationships, low self-esteem, work problems, phobias, post-traumatic stress, panic attacks, life transitions and relocation.
I specialise in medium- to longer-term therapy, but I am also available for shorter term therapy if we decide that is most appropriate.
Why Have Therapy?
At some point in life, most of us experience emotional difficulties that can feel unmanageable, confusing or overwhelming. At these times, we can feel very alone and isolated with our worries. When we have problems or are distressed, it can help to talk about it with a therapist who is specially trained to listen and understand emotional distress. Evidence shows psychological therapies do help.
How Therapy Works
Psychotherapy involves a series of regular meetings in which we will work together to explore and understand what is troubling you. It's a collaborative process, tailored to your individual needs. I don't give advice, but I can think with you about your situation and help you find your own solutions.
What Happens in a Session
Sessions last 50 minutes and offer the opportunity to reflect on how you think, feel, relate to others, and respond to life events. In a professional and supportive environment, you can safely discuss past experiences, current challenges or your hopes for the future. Through talking with a qualified and experienced therapist, you can gain self-awareness and explore your potential.
How I Work
I provide a safe and confidential space where you can talk openly without fear of being judged, criticised, rejected or blamed. I work from a psychodynamic and psychoanalytic perspective, based on the principal that problems and distress in the present may be related to early experiences. Understanding these can help you gain fresh insights into your life and find the best way forward. The evolving therapeutic relationship and the here-and-now of the session are important aspects of the treatment, providing opportunities for understanding through a live emotional experience.
Psychotherapy or Psychoanalysis?
When we meet in the initial consultation, you can tell me about yourself and we will discuss the most suitable treatment options for you. We may decide to have a few more preliminary meetings to get to know each other and decide whether it would be helpful to work together.
Psychotherapy is designed to treat more complex and long-standing issues, which may have origins in childhood. As more deep-seated issues take time to untangle, psychotherapy tends to be a longer-term and more intensive treatment. People often opt for two, three or four sessions per week. The increased frequency of psychotherapy facilitates the therapeutic process and promotes more lasting change.
Psychoanalysis seeks to bring troubling unconscious forces affecting our emotions, behaviour and relationships into conscious awareness. With the insights gained during treatment, the patient can work at improving relationships and productivity, interrupt self-defeating or self-destructive patterns, and perhaps unlock creative potential. It’s a lengthy and intensive process, usually requiring several years of four to five times a week sessions to resolve long-standing difficulties. The frequency of sessions provides the stable and confidential structure for patient and analyst to connect with and understand what’s happening at a deeper level.
The relationship between patient and analyst is an integral aspect of the work, providing the opportunity for a live emotional experience that enables analysand and analyst to better understand the individual’s internal world and relationships. The hope is that over time, the individual can recover lost emotional connections and vitality, give up unhealthy ones, adapt more effectively to one's current circumstances and thus live more fully.
With the generosity of time, attention and thought given in psychoanalysis, authentic and lasting change is possible, even when working with substantial emotional difficulties. It’s important that the analysis is brought to a proper ending so the patient can leave intact and autonomous, with new ways of thinking in hand and new horizons in view.
Training, qualifications & experience
My Qualifications
I completed my five-year professional training as a Psychoanalyst at the British Psychoanalytic Association (BPA) in London. I am a qualified member of the BPA and the International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA).
I completed my training as a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist and Counsellor at WPF Therapy, London. I hold a WPF Advanced Diploma in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Studies from Roehampton University. I also hold a WPF Post-Qualifying Certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
In addition to my private practice, I work in the Trauma Service at the Tavistock Centre, the London specialist National Health Service mental health care trust. I have also worked in the NHS as a counsellor in general practice, at WPF Therapy, and with the national charity Victim Support.
My accrediting memberships include:
• The British Psychoanalytic Association (BPA)
• The International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA)
• The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC)
• The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
• The Foundation for Psychotherapy and Counselling (WPF)
I work to the strict ethical codes and professional standards required by the organisations to which I belong. See my website at http://www.psychotherapy.co.uk for my Terms and Conditions, including Data Protection information.
Member organisations
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) is a professional association, representing the profession of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
The organisation is itself made up of fourteen member organisations and BPC accredits the trainings of its member organisations. An individual who qualifies from one of these trainings is then eligible for entry into the BPC's register.
BPC registrants are governed by a code of ethics, a policy of continuing professional development, a statement on confidentiality and a complaints procedure. The BPC is a Member Society of the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Public Sector (EFPP). Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Relocation difficulties
Therapies offered
Fees
£75.00 per session
Additional information
Fees
Fees start at £75 for a 50-minute session. I reserve a small number of more affordable spaces for people on low incomes. A 90-minute initial consultation is £90.
The First Meeting
The purpose of the initial consultation is to discuss your needs and expectations, whether therapy could be helpful for you, and explore how we might work together. There is no commitment to continue, but we may decide to have a few more preliminary meetings to get to know each other and considering whether working together would be helpful. If we decide to proceed, we will agree a regular time (s) to meet each week.
Further information
How to Find My Practice
My consulting room is easy to get to using the Northern Line on London Underground and London Overground links. It’s a five-minute walk from Hampstead tube station, and a 15-minute walk from Hampstead Heath Overground station. Bus routes serving the area include the 268 and 46 from Swiss Cottage, St John’s Wood and Jubilee Line stations; the 603 at school start and end times; the C11 and 210 from Highgate/Archway; and the 13 from Golders Green and Hendon.
Limited metered parking is available on adjacent streets and Hampstead High Street.
Strictly Confidential
All enquiries are strictly confidential. You do not need a referral from your GP to make an appointment.
