About me
It’s so difficult to pick up a phone and call a stranger. No one wants to feel that they need help... but sometimes we all do.
Perhaps you’re facing a decision you can’t settle, a relationship that no longer feels right, or a sense that something is off without being able to say what. Wherever you are, you don’t need to have it all worked out before getting in touch.
I’m David, an experienced, BACP-registered existential-analytic counsellor. I see people in quiet, private rooms in Guildford, Weybridge and East Molesey, and online. Together, at your pace, we’ll explore what’s troubling you, why you make the choices you do and what your life and relationships mean to you.
My Approach
In an age of labels and diagnoses, existential-analytic psychotherapy is concerned with helping you explore and analyse your existence. What it means to be you, in the world; here, now. There is no formula, no labels. Only you know what it is like to be you.
However, finding the space to really look at how you exist in the world, what you truly feel about your experiences, and why you act and react the way that you do can be a delicate process. Because life is complicated. I offer a space and a guided relationship through which that journey of self-understanding can take place.
My job is to come alongside you, to understand your experience as you live it, and, over time, to help you notice patterns you may not have had the chance to look at before.
Getting Started
I believe we each have the ability to look into ourselves and, through greater understanding of how we relate to the world around us, make the best decisions about what to do with our precious lives. Only, sometimes, it is hard to know how to do that and where to begin.
If you feel I could help, you are more than welcome to call me for a short initial chat or, if it’s easier, text or email to get the conversation started.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a registered member of BACP and hold a PGdip in Psychotherapy and Phenomenology.
I have experience helping clients cope with anxiety, depression, interpersonal issues, low self-esteem and sexuality. I have particular experience working with a well-known national bereavement charity, counselling people dealing with complex grief and loss.
I am engaged in ongoing training in Existential-analytic psychotherapy with The Southern Association of Psychotherapy and Counselling.
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
As a general rule, I have a holistic approach. I want to hear about your experience of your life, whatever that may entail.
Therapies offered
Photos & videos
Fees
£70.00 per session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
I offer concessions based on affordability and will not judge you for raising it. Please feel free to ask.
When I work
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Further information
My Background
I have spent the majority of my working life in the creative arts. I trained as an actor in the 1990s, receiving a BA (Hons) in drama, speech and movement before spending two decades working as a writer, actor and voiceover artist.
Human emotion and experience, the creation of believable, organic characters, and the exploration of the motives behind the actions of those characters, are central to drama and literature. Perhaps it is therefore no surprise that I have always felt drawn to psychotherapy. In many ways I believe drama and therapy are two sides of the same coin. Theatre and literature, at their best, reflect human behaviour back at us, inviting us to consider where those behaviours may originate and what they might mean. Reflection is at the heart of psychotherapy, which aims to help people identify their true feelings and deeper conflicts, reflect upon the impact of these and find ways forward.
