Dan Lee
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Whether it’s your first time in therapy or you’re thinking of returning, I hope I can help and support you. As a gay/queer man and as someone in long-term recovery myself, I understand that your therapy needs might be as nuanced as the human condition itself. I’ll meet you with warmth, empathy, sensitivity, and respect – regardless of your age, heritage, sexuality, gender identity or neurodiversity.
I work as an integrative therapist and specialise in working with addictions and/or substance misuse, as well as LGBTQ+ mental health. I draw on person-centred/humanistic theories, looking at what’s going on in the here and now, as well as drawing on psychodynamic theories, looking at the past and its impact on the present.
I’m a compassionate and relational therapist and I use the different facets of the relationship between myself and my clients for the therapy. From my own experience, and listening to the experiences of others, I have come to believe that happiness, connection to self and peace of mind can be achieved when we allow ourselves to heal the wounding from our past. For me, therapy is a journey to the deeper part of ourselves (that some may refer to as the “soul”) – to recover and restore our authentic selves. If we merely address the surface without looking at what lies underneath, we risk repeating the same painful life patterns over and over again.
As we start our journey, I tend to do lots of listening and some asking of questions, to begin to paint a picture of who you are and how life is for you, creating a space that feels non-judgmental and safe for you to share yourself with me. The pace is set by you, by what you bring to the sessions and how you want to use them. We will do regular reviews to see how things are going, and to see if you want to continue working on what brought you to therapy - whether that’e because you’d like to look at other things, or you feel it’s time to work towards an ending.
I’m a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP) and adhere to their ethical framework. I make use of regular supervision and personal therapy for myself.
I appreciate that:
As someone who may be lesbian/gay, bisexual, trans or queer identifying, you may prefer support with your mental health and wellbeing related to a specific LGBTQ+ aspect or issue.
As someone with an addiction, problematic substance misuse, or compulsive behaviour, it might be difficult to stop on your own, or understand recovery, or you may wish to work with a therapist who understands addiction and recovery.
As a survivor of abuse or childhood trauma, you may get stuck in unhealthy or dysfunctional relationships and patterns of behaviour.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a qualified counsellor/psychotherapist, having completed my training at a South London college.
Over the last several years I have worked in substance misuse teams in both the community and in two London prisons, as well as in a charitable (12-step) drug and alcohol rehab in South London, and have worked with a mix of LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ clients. My experience includes 1:1 work, group therapy and providing workshops on an array of topics pertinent to mental health and recovery.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£75.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I charge £75 per 50-minute session. I also offer some concessionary slots, as well as slots for those on low/no income. Please enquire to find out more.
Further information
Beyond being a therapist, I have made a living over the last 2 decades as an artist (working with different media) and was fortunate to spend 13 years living in San Francisco (I am a US/UK dual citizen), an experience that changed my life in so many ways, and have been in continuous recovery from addiction since 1997.
When I’m not working as a therapist I enjoy knitting, cooking/baking, collecting vintage toys and attending to my own recovery.
