About me
It's a scary thing, coming to see a psychotherapist. Most people arrive unsure of what they're meant to feel, say, or do, wanting things to change, while worrying about what opening up might mean. You don't need to arrive knowing what you need; part of the early work is finding that out together.
I'm Damien, an Attachment-Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist. I work with people experiencing overwhelming emotions, difficulties with relationships and intimacy, long-standing trauma, and deeply ingrained patterns that are hard to shift, including experiences sometimes diagnosed as BPD/EUPD.
Some people come to me having already tried therapy - an approach that offered useful techniques but faded once sessions ended, or counselling that felt supportive yet never quite got to the root of things. If that's you, it doesn't mean therapy can't work. It may mean the work never reached the level where your difficulties actually live. This is that deeper work: slower, relational, and focused on understanding the patterns beneath the symptoms rather than managing them.
You don't need a diagnosis or a crisis to come. Some people arrive simply because life feels flatter than it should, or the same patterns keep repeating in relationships, and they want to understand why.
Therapy with me is done with you, not to you. It begins with an initial consultation, then four preliminary sessions, then ongoing weekly work - each step decided together. I offer in-person sessions in Cavendish Square / Harley Street (Tuesdays) and Highbury Fields, Islington (Thursdays and Fridays).
Training, qualifications & experience
I first trained in psychology at Trinity College, Dublin, and completed an MSc in Clinical Psychology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Before qualifying as a psychotherapist, I spent over a decade in London mental health services as an Assistant Clinical Psychologist in secure services and as a team manager at Inspired, a specialist personality disorder service. That work showed me how often emotional pain is rooted in lived experience rather than pathology.
I went on to complete four years of UKCP-accredited training in attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the Bowlby Centre. I am a registered member of the BACP (MBACP) and a graduate member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS).
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
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
Much of my work is with experiences that don't fit neatly into categories: shame and self-criticism, emotional loneliness, feeling misunderstood or unable to be fully known, and difficulties with closeness and intimacy. Alongside my general practice, I support members of the lesbian, gay and bisexual community, and have particular experience with questions around sexuality, intimacy and shame, including people affected by or involved in the chemsex scene.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£60.00 - £90.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
The initial consultation is £60. Ongoing sessions are £80–£90, depending on financial circumstances. I keep a number of lower-fee places so that cost is less of a barrier to this work. We agree your fee at the initial consultation. Invoices are issued monthly.
When I work
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I see clients in person on Tuesdays at Cavendish Square / Harley Street (Marylebone), and on Thursdays and Fridays at Highbury Fields (Islington). Sessions are weekly, at a regular time we agree together.
Further information
My therapeutic approach
My work is grounded in attachment theory and contemporary psychoanalytic thinking: how early relationships shape our emotional life, our patterns of relating, and the ways we've learned to protect ourselves from pain.
In practice, a session is simply the two of us talking and thinking together. There are no worksheets and no homework; what matters is what you bring. The same time, the same room, the same person each week; that consistency is what allows deeper feelings and patterns to emerge and be worked with.
I'm direct and warm: clients tend to find me reliable in both. I don't give advice. I'm less interested in diagnoses than in who you are, including the parts of yourself that feel too painful or too shameful to show anyone. My work is about making it possible to bring those parts into the room, where they can be understood.
Where I work
I work from two consulting rooms. The Cavendish Square room, beside Harley Street, is a discreet, steady setting in the heart of Marylebone: I see clients there on Tuesdays. The Highbury Fields room, close to Highbury & Islington station, sits alongside the green of the Fields and has a softer, more contained feel: I'm there on Thursdays and Fridays. All sessions are in person.
Who I support
I work with adults experiencing overwhelming emotions, difficulties with relationships and intimacy, long-standing trauma, and patterns that feel deeply ingrained or hard to shift, including experiences sometimes diagnosed as BPD or EUPD. I have particular experience supporting people who have lived through childhood sexual abuse, and people navigating questions around sexuality, intimacy and shame, including those affected by the chemsex scene.
But you don't need a diagnosis or a crisis to come. Some people arrive simply because life feels flatter than it should, or the same patterns keep repeating in relationships, and they want to understand why. And some come because they've tried therapy before and it never quite got to the root of things.
What to expect in a first session
Therapy with me has a clear structure: an initial consultation, then, if we agree to continue, four preliminary sessions, then ongoing weekly work. The initial consultation is a chance to talk about what's brought you, what you're hoping for, and whether we're a good match. You decide what to share and when; moving from one stage to the next is something we decide together, and if you ever want to end, that's your call.
