Mark Anderson
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am a clinically trained psychodynamic psychotherapist, qualified to Master of Science (MSc) level through a constituent training body of the University of London. Also, I am studying for a Doctor of Clinical Practice (Res) doctorate at University of Exeter.
Previously, I worked in NHS primary care, through a London-based GP practice, for several years, where I have helped patients from many backgrounds, nationalities, ethnicities, religions, genders, and sexual orientations with the internal and often unconscious conflicts that have negatively impacted their emotional and mental well-being and that prevented them from living their everyday life to the fullest.
I now run a private practice near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. I work with adults in person (when COVID restrictions allow) and online across Buckinghamshire and Berkshire, although I am open to working remotely with those who live further afield.
I have an up-to-date enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service certificate, which I am happy to provide if you wish. I have regular clinical supervision with a BAPPS-certified psychotherapist and attend continuing professional development (CPD) courses to the required level.
Availability
I am available from Monday to Wednesday between 8 am and 8 pm. If you need an earlier appointment because of work or other commitments, please don't hesitate to ask, as I may be able to accommodate you. I have limited availability on a Friday, but do speak with me if this is the only day free for you since I may be able to accommodate your needs.
Training, qualifications & experience
- MSc Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy (Birkbeck, University of London)
- Cert HE Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and Organisational Dynamics (Birkbeck, University of London)
- Certificate in Clinical Assessment Skills (WPF)
I am currently teaching first-year clinical trainees at MSc level in psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy at a London university.
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
£60.00 per session
Additional information
The first two sessions act as an extended assessment, in which we explore the issues of concern, your current situation, and when comfortable to do so, your past. If we agree to proceed beyond these sessions, the therapy will continue on a weekly basis, at the same time and in the same place.
When I work
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Further information
An overview of how I work
Psychodynamic psychotherapy explores the capacity for a person’s unconscious to negatively impact conscious, everyday thoughts, emotions, and behaviour. What is understood, however, is that they don’t quite feel themselves, out of control, or that something indescribable is worrying them.
Together, we’ll focus on the inner conflict preventing you from functioning. Sometimes, conflictive thoughts and feelings are connected to the present; often, they have their origin in our childhood experiences, our attachments, and the things we have come to believe about ourselves.
For example, if you’ve ever severely procrastinated to the point that you get nothing done, you would be forgiven for thinking that you’re lazy, or unmotivated, or simply incapable of the task at hand. However, psychotherapists have long understood that procrastination can be a coping strategy against such things as the fear of failure, of rejection, and between the present self and the future self*. To break such punitive thinking, the psychodynamic approach is to explore the past and discover where such beliefs began.
By gently exploring and bringing repressed emotions, avoided thoughts and ideas, and repeated patterns of behaviour into the conscious, we can hopefully identify the ‘interference’ in your feeling and thinking. And then, what you would like to do about it, if anything. As a modality, psychodynamic psychotherapy is non-directive, so my role is not to tell you what to do, but instead, I can help you feel more focused and in control of your emotional and mental well-being, understand how you relate to others and they to you, and so, allow you to make better choices.
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* Reference: Pychyl, T. & Sirois, F. M. (2016). Chapter 8. Procrastination, Emotion Regulation and Well-Being, pp.163-188. United Kingdom: Academic Press (Elsevier)
