Bill Critchley
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am a Gestalt Psychotherapist, and also practice as an Organisation Consultant and Coach, running my own business, Bill Critchley Consulting Ltd.
I have been working as a psychotherapist since 1990, and I am registered with UKCP and GPTI (Gestalt Psychotherapy and Training Institute)
My main orientation is Gestalt because I like the emphasis it places on what is going on in the present. This does not mean that I am not interested in your past; on the contrary, we know, beyond reasonable doubt, how much our early experiences shapes us. The focus of Gestalt therapy is how these early experiences are influencing how you show up in our ordinary every day life, now.
I draw on John Bowlby's ideas, whose pioneering research revealed the importance of the early years of a child’s experience and the relationship between a child and his/her primary caregiver. John Bowlby highlighted the importance of loss, separation and traumatic events in shaping who we are and the struggles we may have in later life.
So, my aim is awareness over analysis, and through heightened awareness, more choice in your life. Gestalt also believes in incremental change through a series of low-risk experiments, aimed at becoming more of who you are, rather than someone you are not!
Gestalt pays a lot of attention to relationship, and as we are shaped in relationship, so we change in relationship, and I aim to provide one that is a supportive base from within which I can, from time to time, provoke you to look anew at the story you tell yourself about who you are and what you are capable of.
I have also trained in Transactional Analysis and have a good understanding of most other methods of psychotherapy, some of which I integrate into my practice as a 'relational' psychotherapist. My base is in Highbury, North London, and I like working face to face, but I am also willing to work virtually.
Training, qualifications & experience
I trained at Metanoia, and have a Diploma and a Masters In Gestalt Psychotherapy. I have a diploma in 'Gestalt in Organisations' (examined by Ed Nevis), and also have an MBA from Cranfield Business School.
I see therapy as a particular form of conversation which enables my clients to become more aware of their limiting beliefs, and of the 'stories' they tell themselves.
My experience is mainly with people who are, in one way or another, unhappy with how they are coping with their lives, in particular people who have problems with their intimate relationships, people who feel stressed or anxious, or people with career difficulties.
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
Other areas of counselling I deal with
As I said in the section on experience, the majority of my clients seem to suffer an underlying sense of low self-worth, and a strong tendency towards self-criticism and shame, usually brought about by parents who are emotionally unavailable, volatile, unpredictable, absent or abusive, leading to what I think of as chronic trauma.
I think this early 'story' becomes sedimented as a recursive brain pattern, sometimes referred to as the 'default mode network'.
Therapies offered
Fees
£75.00 - £95.00
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I also offer psychotherapy supervision for £120 per session, and supervision to business coaches for between £250-450 per hour. I coach business executives for a similar price range.
When I work
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My approach is flexible. I can offer regular weekly sessions at a fixed time; some of my clients prefer fortnightly, and I am willing to adapt to availability from session to session.
Further information
I spent 20 years working for Ashridge Consulting where I founded and directed a Masters in Organisation Consulting, largely founded in Gestalt and Complexity principles and informed by Appreciative Inquiry. I also went on to found a 'relational' coaching programme.
