About me
People come to therapy for all sorts of reasons, and sometimes without being entirely sure what the reason is.
Something may have happened that has made life difficult, or you may find yourself caught in familiar patterns, in relationships, in how you feel about yourself, or in the choices you make. At other times, life may appear to be going perfectly well, yet there is a sense of dissatisfaction, restlessness, or something that is difficult to name.
You don’t need to arrive knowing what is wrong, or what needs to change. Not knowing can be an important place to begin.
I am interested in what brings you to therapy, but also in what might emerge once we begin to think together. Often the things that trouble us have meanings and histories that aren’t immediately apparent. Therapy gives us time to become curious about them rather than rushing to make them disappear.
I am a psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapist with over 23 years of clinical experience. I work with individuals, couples and groups and am registered with the UKCP. Alongside my long standing private practice in North London, I have spent 16 years leading and coordinating a Therapeutic Community for people experiencing complex and longstanding emotional distress.
Why you might come to therapy
You may be living with anxiety, depression or emotional distress, dealing with the effects of trauma, loneliness, loss or a significant change in your life. You may be struggling in a relationship, or wondering why certain difficulties seem to recur despite your efforts to change them.
You may also be functioning well and simply want the opportunity to think more deeply about yourself and your life. Perhaps there are aspects of yourself that you are curious about, or feelings and experiences that have been difficult to understand or put into words.
Some people come to psychotherapy as part of their professional training. Others have been in therapy before and find themselves wanting to return to it, perhaps because something remains unfinished or because they are now able to approach familiar questions differently.
How I work
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is interested not only in what we know about ourselves, but also in what we don’t yet know.
We are all shaped by our histories and by the relationships we have had. Along the way, we develop ways of protecting ourselves and managing difficult feelings. These ways of being may once have been necessary or useful, but they can also become restrictive. We can find ourselves repeating something without quite knowing why.
Therapy offers an unusual kind of space in which these things can be thought about rather than immediately solved.
I won’t tell you how you should live your life or begin with a predetermined idea of who you ought to become. Instead, I listen carefully to what you bring, including contradictions, uncertainties, repetitions and things that may initially seem unimportant.
The relationship that develops between us is also part of the work. The ways we experience one another can sometimes help us recognise patterns that are difficult to see elsewhere.
For me, psychotherapy is as much about curiosity as it is about difficulty. It is about becoming more able to encounter parts of ourselves that we may have avoided, disowned or simply never had the opportunity to know.
My experience
I originally trained as a psychologist and began my professional life working with people experiencing severe and complex mental health difficulties. I later trained in psychoanalytic and psychodynamic psychotherapy, qualifying in 2002.
Alongside my private practice, I have spent 16 years leading and coordinating a Therapeutic Community. This experience has profoundly informed the way I think about relationships, groups and the ways in which we affect, and are affected by, one another.
My clinical experience includes individual, couples and group psychotherapy. I also offer psychotherapy assessments and clinical supervisioN.
Training, qualifications & experience
1993-1996 BSc Psychology with Women Studies.
1997-2002 Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Psychotherapist.
Proficiency in Psychoanalytic Supervision awarded by The Guild of Psychotherapists.
Member organisations
school 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.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£65.00 - £85.00
Free initial telephone or online session
Health Insurance/EAP
When I work
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