Maxine Altman

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MA. MBACP and UKCP Accredited
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

location_on London, NW3 3EL
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

If you feel anxious, depressed or struggling in a difficult relationship, therapy can help you to understand painful or confusing feelings. Through gentle exploration and with deep respect, I will support you as you make sense of your experience and find ways of dealing with it.

Practical Therapy
I will invite you to describe the trigger issue that is creating anxiety or depression, speak confidentially about your feelings and the impact of the issue on your wellbeing and happiness.

Together we will look closely at what brought you to this point and decide how best to approach it. As a BACP and UKCP accredited psychotherapist and also a trained coach, our work may involve setting specific goals and working towards them, or exploring your past to understand unconscious patterns that are creating unhappiness in your life.

According to your presentation and expectations of this work, I may draw on CBT and solution focused therapy for short term intervention. If you would prefer longer term therapy to explore your inner world and the depths that lay within the unconscious, my approach would include psychodynamic, Gestalt and transpersonal psychotherapy. Many clients find dream analysis effective and this may be helpful for you. We can also explore the layers of meaning in your bodily tension or pain, as a way to reach and heal the root of your issue.

To help you decide if my approach is helpful for you, the initial meeting is charged at a reduced fee.

Coping with Anxiety and Panic
When an anxious response to a difficult or threatening encounter becomes overwhelming, you may want to explore the cause, and develop coping strategies to deal with the symptoms. Anxiety indicates underlying fear often triggered by a memory of a painful event. Even though the event may have taken place in childhood, your body remembers the fear even though your conscious mind has forgotten it.

A range of approaches reduce anxiety and panic. CBT actively reframes anxiety symptoms. A gentle sifting of feelings will uncover the deeper beliefs and doubts that lay beneath. Mindfulness meditation can also identify the places where fear is held in your body, revealing the historical pattern behind your symptoms. Whichever approach works for you, we will follow the threads to unravel your fears. Then, with a clarifying lens, you will discover a more confident self-belief to manage future events.

Couples Counselling and Relationship Issues
If your relationship has reached an impasse or life's pressures are affecting how you communicate, by facing one another honestly and learning new ways to relate, you can transform your conflict and rediscover love. I will show you how to cross the bridge between you and your partner, listen to one other's feelings and recreate a loving relationship where you are true to yourself while respecting the needs of the other.

Help with an Eating Disorder
An eating disorder is secret and isolating, releasing angry or self-punishing feelings. It feels so shameful it is usually done in private. When you eat unhealthily, you can never get enough of food you don’t really want. Eating soothes the pain of a difficult experience and silences unbearable feelings. Talking about the shame and exploring early memories helps to alleviate suffering around this common problem.

Losing Someone You Love
The pain of losing someone close to us can feel unbearable. When we are bereaved, we go through a grieving process which begins with disbelief then turns to anger, deep sorrow and finally acceptance of our loss. You may be feeling isolated and not want to burden others. Therapy allows you to express your feelings in a safe place.

Writing
I came to psychotherapy through my own work as a client, having realised that my therapist had the best job in the world. I was right. It is by far the most humbling and rewarding career of all. I also believe that the process of self-reflection ends only when we do, and that life demands that we continually shed layers of false beliefs that bind us in limitation.

My own reflection takes the form of writing and journalling in which my inner experience is revealed and held. You may be interested in an article posted on the Huffington Post blog on Courage: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/maxine-altman/what-can-we-learn-from-malala_b_9622778.html

You can find out more on my websites:

http://www.maxinealtman.com

http://www.thecoachingroom.co.uk/

Training, qualifications & experience

2007: Diploma in Transpersonal Counselling and Psychotherapy (CCPE)
2008: MA in Transpersonal Counselling & Psychotherapy (De Montfort University)
2008: EMDR Certificate - Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing treatment for trauma (Sandi Richman Training)
2009: CBT Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Certificate (CCPE, Lynn Somerfield Training)
2010: Diploma in Clinical Supervision (CCPE)
2011: Diploma in Couples Counselling (CCPE)
2012: Dreams Analysis Training (CCPE)
2015: NLP Business Coaching Accreditation (Sue Knight Training)

Member organisations

school Registered / Accredited

Registered / Accredited

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.

UKCP
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

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.

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.

Accredited register membership

UK Council for Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

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.

UK Council for Psychotherapy

Areas of counselling I deal with

Other areas of counselling I deal with

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)

Fees

£85.00 per session

Health Insurance/EAP

  • check_circle Aviva
  • check_circle Axa Health
  • check_circle Vitality
  • check_circle Cigna

Additional information

I charge a rate of £85 for individuals for a 50 minute session, with reduced rates for low-income clients.

The fee for couple counselling is £110 per 60 minute session.

I have a 48 hour cancellation policy.

When I work

9am to 9pm weekdays

Further information

I am registered as a psychotherapy provider with Aviva, Allianz, AXA PPP, Cigna, Healix, Inhealth (The Exeter) and Simply Health insurance companies.

Primrose Hill, Belsize Park, London, NW3 3EL

Type of session

In person
Online
Phone

Types of client

Young people (13-17)
Adults (25-64)
Older Adults (65+)
Couples
Families
Groups
Organisations
Employee Assistance Programme

Supervision

In person

I work as a supervisor to counsellors and therapists, in support of your work with your clients.

View supervision profile

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