Andrea Papitsch-Clark

Hi there,

I understand that looking for a therapist can feel bit overwhelming and confusing. I hope the information below will help to answer some of your questions but if you would like to know more, please contact me in confidence via our team at Avenue Therapies by email or phone (020 7112 8834).

About me

The first thing to say is that I am a Clinical Psychologist, registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC). As a Clinical Psychologist I am trained to doctoral level to deliver researched and evidence-based therapy from a variety of therapeutic ‘models’. This allows me to tailor therapy to your individual needs by selecting aspects of therapy models that will be most helpful to you. If you want to find out more, I have written a little about how a Clinical Psychologist is different from a Counsellor, Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist below.

People look into therapy for a variety of reasons including psychological, emotional, personal or relational difficulties. I am passionate about understanding each person as an individual and tailoring therapy to their unique needs. I have trained in a breadth of psychological models which allows me to adapt therapy appropriately by selecting the aspects that will be most helpful to you. I have written more about the psychological models I work with below.

It’s important for people to have a good experience of therapy. I understand that whether you are an adult, parent, child or adolescent, coming to therapy is a big and important step, and the idea of talking to a stranger about things that you are struggling with, and you may have never spoken about before, can seem daunting. With that in mind, my first aim is to cultivate a trusting, confidential, and non-judgemental relationship that makes you feel comfortable and safe enough to share your experiences and difficulties with me. From this starting point, my aim is to help you to develop a helpful understanding of your difficulties from which we can work towards implementing change strategies to support you in your journey forward.

Each person I meet with in therapy is a unique individual who is the expert of their experience, so our work together will be collaborative throughout, so that together we can explore what your obstacles are to thriving and meeting your potential.

My Experience

I am a highly experienced Clinical Psychologist with over 10 years experience working in the NHS. Having completed my clinical psychology training in 2006, I worked with people across the lifespan, presenting with a range of both mental health and physical health difficulties, to work towards the changes and goals they have identified. People often come to therapy for support with anxiety related difficulties, low mood, depression, stress, adjustment and bereavement related problems and my aim is to support and facilitate the changes needed to reduce distress and improve quality of life. I am particularly interested in working with people in a relational way – understanding how the relationship with self and others is developed and maintained and how this affects the individual in their day-to-day interactions, their past and future.

I have worked in private practice since 2013, with individuals, couples and families, across the lifespan and with different challenges. Overall, I have experience and feel comfortable with working with a wide range of clinical, relational, physical health and emotional problems. One of my areas of specialism is in working with people with physical health problems, and helping clients adjust to and manage the impact of these conditions, physically and psychologically. This is reflected in my current role working for a charitable organisation supporting people with cancer where I have been since 2016.

I supervise a Trainee Clinical Psychologist on placement. Our trainees have a wealth of experience supporting people with mental health difficulties such as anxiety, depression, trauma, OCD, stress, and relational difficulties. They work with CBT primarily and have had extensive teaching and experience in working with this model.  If getting support from a trainee might be something you are interested in, please get in touch. 

I am also part of Avenue Therapies, a community practice of highly experienced and qualified Psychologists and Psychological Therapists. We offer clinics over a variety of locations. For more details please visit http://www.avenuetherapies.com

Many of the team have attended advanced level training and have particular specialisms so, although I may not be an expert in the area you would like support with, it is likely someone within our team is. We offer a variety of different therapeutic approaches including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Schema Therapy, Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Therapy and Systemic approaches. 

What to expect from your therapy sessions

I work to provide a safe, contained and confidential space on a weekly basis in which you can share the difficulties you want to work on, at a pace you feel comfortable, so we can work together towards understanding and change in the direction of your values.

The first session is the assessment and may be slightly longer than a normal session at 90 minutes. This is to give enough time to explore what you have come to therapy for, what you have tried in the past, what helped and what didn't help. At the end of this session, I will try and make some recommendations around what may be most helpful for you. Following our meeting, I'll summarise our conversation in a letter which I will email to you.

After the assessment session, the sessions will be 55 minutes. Each person I work with is very different so it is difficult to predict how many sessions will be needed. From a personal therapeutic perspective, my aim is only to work with a person for as long as it is helpful and to empower the person to leave therapy with the skills they need.

How is a Clinical Psychologist different?

Clinical Psychologists train to a doctoral level in a range of therapeutic models which allows them to tailor therapy. Formulation is a particular skill of Clinical Psychologists for making sense of individual difficulties and needs and tailoring therapy from different models to the person. Counsellors and Psychotherapists are also qualified therapeutic practitioners but are generally trained in one therapeutic model and not to doctoral level. Psychiatrists are also doctors but they work with people experiencing mental health difficulties using medications to help manage these difficulties rather than talking therapies.

We provide a bespoke service that is designed to meet the needs of you, the individual, our charges vary depending on the nature of the assessment and any subsequent treatment. For an hour therapy session our fees are £100 with a psychological therapist (eg CBT, CAT or EMDR therapist) and £130 with a Clinical or Counselling Psychologist.  Some of our therapist do offer concessions. We are always happy to discuss costs with you and are committed to try to make Clinical Psychology and psychological therapy as accessible as possible.

Some of our therapist do offer concessions. We are always happy to discuss costs with you and are committed to try to make Clinical Psychology and psychological therapy as accessible as possible. Please get in touch with us if you would like to find out more either by email (therapy@avenuetherapies.com) or phone (020 7112 8834) via the professional and discrete team at Avenue Therapies.

I look forward to hearing from you, Andrea

My clinic is based in Ealing, which is a short walk of 10-15 minutes from Ealing Broadway train and tube station that is served by both the central line and district line. There is also free parking on the street and in the private car park of the practice.

I have a clinic on a Friday.

As I mentioned above, I work as part of a larger practice called Avenue Therapies. This is great as we have a range of therapists to suit many different difficulties and can often be more flexible to when you want to be seen.

We also offer Asperger / Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessment, diagnosis and support (http://www.avenuetherapies.com/autism-assessment) and Occupational Therapy (http://www.avenuetherapies.com/occupational-therapy).