Mark Vahrmeyer
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Welcome to my profile and thank you for considering me as your potential psychotherapist. Choosing the right psychotherapist to work with can be very daunting. I have tried to provide as much clinically relevant information in my profile as I can but if you have further questions, please contact me.
My background and how I work:
I have a background of 15 years experience in the field of applied psychology having practiced as a psychotherapist across a range of public and private settings, including the NHS and the hospice sector where I was part of the multi-disciplinary team working with terminal patients and subsequently their bereaved relatives.
My Hove private practice is located centrally on Church Road and my Lewes practice just off the high street, minutes from the train station. In both locations I see individuals and couples for open-ended / long-term psychotherapy. I also offer online sessions for clients who are unable to travel or who are not local.
I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy, a Masters in Counseling and Psychotherapy and an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy (AdvDipIntPsych). I am registered with the UKCP as an Integrative Psychotherapist.
I am experienced in working with patients affected by many different issues, some of which have been very personal and particular to the individual and others which are common to many of us at some point in our lives, such as bereavement, relationship issues, depression, anxiety, addiction and anger management.
I practice using a psychoanalytically informed approach. In lay terms, this means I focus on building a picture of a patient's early life and childhood and in understanding how this may be influencing their current relationship patterns; I consider how current relationships with others influence and impact on the patient's thoughts, feelings and behaviour; lastly, I work to help patients integrate their mind and body.
I operate from the fundamental premise that the relationship built between therapist and patient is not incidental to the work, but the active ingredient. What has been broken in relationship can only be repaired in relationship and that is the foundation of what I believe psychotherapy to be.
Supervision
I have trained, managed and supervised trainee counsellors and psychotherapists in a clinical institutional setting. In private practice I offer supervision to trainee counsellors and psychotherapists, qualified counsellors, counselling psychologists and professionals working in the field of palliative care and bereavement.
My supervision model is based on psychodynamic, attachment and existential approaches and built around a relational approach to client work. Online supervision also is offered.
Press
As well as working as a clinician I write extensively about psychotherapy and have been published in the BBC, Huffpost, Newsweek, The Guardian, iNews, The Daily Express and Metro amongst others
Training, qualifications & experience
I initially trained as a counsellor working with individuals and couples in Australia where I subsequently undertook a postgraduate diploma in counselling and psychotherapy.
Whilst in Australia, I also worked for Relationships Australia - the main provider of relationship support in the country.
Since returning to the UK I have furthered my clinical training through completing a MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Goldsmiths College, University of London, followed by an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy at Regent's University - a UKCP accredited psychotherapy training. I have held UKCP accreditation as a psychotherapist since 2012. I have run my own private practice since 2008.
My clinical experience as a psychotherapist in the UK includes working for the NHS in East Sussex, The Rock Clinic in Brighton and in running successful psychotherapy practices in Brighton and Lewes. More recently I have been employed for four years as part of a clinical team as a psychotherapist in a large hospice, providing psychological support to patients and their family members.
I currently focus my time solely on running my private practices in Hove and in Lewes and coordinating a team of 17 associates who work from my three clinics.
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 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
Much of my clinical work is underpinned by the belief (and evidence) that it is our early attachment relationships that dictate both how we subsequently relate to others in our life, but also to ourselves.
It is through our early relationships that we frow our own mind; a mind being the capacity to make sense of what we are thinking and feeling as well as being able to hold another's experience in mind at the same time.
Where as infants and children we felt unable or it was unsafe to rely on our caregivers emotionally, this impacts on our capacity to experience ordinary dependence in relationships - also known as intimacy - and limits our capacity to allow ourselves to experience the full range of emotions.
Psychotherapy is about learning to have a relationship with oneself and another.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£70.00 - £120.00
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
Fees for Psychotherapy
Ongoing fees are dependant on circumstances and start at £70 for individuals per therapy hour (50 minutes).
For couples, my fee starts at £80 per therapy hour (50 minutes).
Online counselling/psychotherapy is charged at the same rate as face-to-face sessions
Supervision Fees
Supervision is offered fortnightly or monthly on an ongoing basis. My fee for supervision depends on various factors best discussed over the phone or in person.
When I work
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Monday - Lewes and Online
Tuesday & Wednesday - Hove
Thursday & Friday - Lewes and Online
Further information
My Hove practice is centrally located on Church Road, on the corner of Selborne Road. The premises are a fifteen-minute walk from Hove train station, offer nearby on-street parking and are on the main bus routes.
My Lewes practice is a large comfortable and quiet consulting room located in The Hive on the high street. The Hive is a short walk from the station and is within easy walking distance from two car parks.
The First Step
If you are interested in working with me then please get in touch. This can be via email or by phone. I will then agree a mutually convenient time for us to speak over the phone so that we can both see whether scheduling and initial consultation would be the right way forward.
