Dr Anthony Leyland
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This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
About me
I am a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist with over 15 years of clinical experience.
Why might you work with me? My focus is on offering in-depth psychotherapy for complex relational and trauma-related difficulties, including chronic and repetitive problems with self-worth and identity, emotional states and interpersonal relationships, as well as the internal mechanisms of protection that arise in the wake of trauma and neglect, but – paradoxically – block growth, connection and recovery. This means that therapy with me isn’t just talking about problems. It’s about understanding the deeper internal structures that drive them, and slowly making more fundamental changes in how you see yourself and your world.
What is relational and developmental trauma? Not all pain comes from one big event. Single-incident trauma, like an accident or assault, often responds well to approaches such as EMDR. Relational trauma is different; it is trauma that “shaped” your personality, not just trauma that “happened to” your personality when it was already largely formed. It comes from what happened over time in important relationships, usually starting early on. It can look like chronic shame, difficulty trusting, feeling emotionally alone, or repeating painful and self-defeating dynamics despite knowing better. If your struggles feel diffuse, relational, and longstanding, this is the kind of work that can begin to shift them.
The slow work of rebuilding. Many people come to me with lives that look fully-functional on the outside. Underneath, however, it can feel very different: exhaustion, emptiness, performing, or a sense that there are parts of yourself that you cannot access. When the self has been damaged over time, rebuilding it cannot be rushed. We work to recover and integrate parts of you that had to go into hiding to survive. Progress is often quiet and cumulative rather than dramatic and spectacular, but it can often change the very foundation you live on.
How this differs from branded therapies and representations of therapy on social media. Branded approaches like CBT, DBT, and EMDR are valuable. They are designed for specific targets and can bring relief quickly. I have a long and rigorous training in an approach that is slower and less structured. It is aimed at addressing the underlying patterns that often remain after specific problems are handled. Information about therapy on social media often raises awareness, and provides clarity and certainty. However, it also flattens human experience into simple categories. Real emotional life is messier and more contradictory. Real therapy slows down and stays with that complexity. It is not as fast or neat, but it is grounded in the realities of being a complicated human being, and that is where lasting change happens.
What to expect. This is committed, careful work. It asks for time, consistency, and a willingness to stay with difficult feelings. Therapy here is relational. We pay attention to what happens between us. If you find yourself worrying about being judged, feeling the need to be the “good client,” or shutting down when things feel close, we get curious about it. Those moments are the work. It is not designed to make you feel better in the moment. It is designed to help you live differently over time, with more honesty, more connection, and more of yourself available to you.
How long does therapy take? As a guide: work on mild problems of recent onset is likely to be concluded more quickly than diffuse, severe or longstanding difficulties. In practice, I would say that in this form of therapy, patients usually come once or twice-weekly, for months rather than weeks, and often on a longer-term basis (i.e. a year, sometimes two, often more).
Who do I work with? I work with adults (18 years and over) who have a wide range of emotional, relationship and mental health problems. Within the limitations of my own frame of reference, I am open to working with people irrespective of age, race, class, culture, gender identity, marital status, physical ability, neurotype, religion or sexual orientation.
Where do I work? My practice is located in private, comfortable therapy rooms in central Salisbury, and Rownhams, Southampton.
Training, qualifications & experience
Training and Model of Practice
I am registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC), one of the principal national psychotherapy training and registering bodies. This means that you can be confident that I have had a long and rigorous training (four years of study and assessed clinical skills, plus many years of supervised practice and personal psychotherapy), and that I am committed to working within a robust code of ethics. I am a qualified clinical supervisor, and I have a longstanding involvement with teaching and training in counselling and psychotherapy education.
Experience
My previous clinical experience – in addition to private practice:
- Senior Counsellor in NHS primary care
- Honorary Psychotherapist in NHS secondary care
- Counsellor and Supervisor in Higher Education
- Counsellor and Supervisor in the Charity Sector
Work in Counselling and Psychotherapy Education:
• I have worked for many years as a Seminar Leader, Curriculum Development Consultant and External Examiner.
Qualifications
- BPC-Accredited Diploma in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
- Certificate in Psychodynamic Supervision
- BACP-Accredited Diploma in Psychodynamic Counselling
- BA, MA, PhD in English Literature
I am always learning and evolving as a practitioner, and as part of this I access clinical supervision, and regular and appropriate CPD.
Additional Clinical Training
I have a special interest in Transference-Focused Psychotherapy (TFP), and have recently completed a training programme in this approach with South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
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 British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) is a professional association, representing the profession of psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
The organisation is itself made up of fourteen member organisations and BPC accredits the trainings of its member organisations. An individual who qualifies from one of these trainings is then eligible for entry into the BPC's register.
BPC registrants are governed by a code of ethics, a policy of continuing professional development, a statement on confidentiality and a complaints procedure. The BPC is a Member Society of the European Federation for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the Public Sector (EFPP). 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
£75.00 per session
Additional information
My standard fee is £75 per (50-minute) session.
Further information
I currently have very limited availability, but please do get in touch if you are interested.
Please indicate whether you would like to be seen in Southampton or Salisbury.
Please note that all sessions are on weekdays, within office hours.
I respond to messages as soon as possible. This is usually within 24 hours (on week days) but occasionally may be longer if I am out of town, or during holiday periods.
