Helen Straupmanis
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am an attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist, of twenty years experience. Previous to that I had been involved in the early days of the charity Childline.
Whilst in private practice I have spent many years working for the NHS, including managing a counselling service for GP practices in south London.
Sometimes it feels difficult to talk to family and friends about your problems. Psychotherapy and counselling can provide a confidential space for you to talk about the things which are preventing you from living a fulfilled life.
Your upbringing, early attachments and past environments may have affected you in some way, leaving you feeling insecure or lacking in confidence and unable to sustain healthy relationships. Talking this through with a psychotherapist can give you fresh perspectives and enable you to understand and value yourself more.
What psychotherapy and counselling can offer you:
Psychotherapy and counselling provides a confidential space in which you can express how you are feeling and reflect on problems and their underlying causes. Therapy is also challenging, as you face difficult feelings and ways of thinking in relation to others.
It is not the job of a Psychotherapist to tell you what to do, but to offer you different perspectives to help you work this out for yourself, through paying attention to your own feelings, instincts and judgements, and increasing your self-belief and confidence.
Initial Consultation
It is natural to be anxious if you have not seen a therapist before, and the initial session is a chance for us both to assess your understanding and expectations of psychotherapy.
How Counselling or Psychotherapy can help
You may have experienced one or more of the following at some point in your life:
- Loneliness and an inability to sustain long term relationships
- Attachment / relationship issues
- A general feeling of unhappiness or depression
- Trying to cope with feelings from past trauma or childhood abuse
- Stress or anger that feels overwhelming and out of proportion
- Work related issues
- Damaging addictions and food disorders
- Extreme anxiety, panic or suicidal feelings
- Bereavement and loss, incorporating many different kinds of grief:
~ the death of a loved one
~ the loss of parenthood through miscarriage and infertility
~ relationship breakdown
Training, qualifications & experience
UKCP Registered Psychotherapist.
Psychotherapy Training at CAPP (Centre for Attachment-based, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy / The Bowlby Centre).
Registered Bowlby Centre Training Psychotherapist.
Registered Bowlby Centre Training Supervisor.
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
Childhood trauma/abuse
Attachment/relationship difficulties from childhood affecting your ability to sustain good adult relationships
General feeling of low-level depression and feeling unhappy and anxious about life.
Therapies offered
Fees
£95.00 per session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
An approximate fee would be between £95 - £105 but I operate a sliding scale depending on individual circumstances - this would be discussed and agreed during the initial assessment session.
Assessment Session £95
When I work
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Daytime and evenings Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Further information
I offer a initial consultation / assessment session where we can explore how psychotherapy or counselling might help and from there decide together which direction will be best suited to you.
If we decide to continue the sessions they would be at a minimum of once weekly and would be arranged for a regular time and day of the week.
