Dr Maura Abdelall

Please note: Due to COVID sessions are conducted via Skype and telephone only.

Hello and Welcome.
I am qualified Psychologist and work with young adults (age 16-18), adults and older adults. I have a deep interest in human development, particularly in attachment and how our early relational experiences influence  how we relate to ourselves and others in the world.

How I work
In my work, establishing a nurturing and trusting relationship with clients is important, as I believe that it is fundamental to the effectiveness of therapy. My therapeutic work is aimed at providing a safe and trusting therapeutic space in which one can feel able to explore and process deep hidden emotions.

I use a combination of Humanistic, Psychodynamic and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) theories to guide my clinical practice. Therapy is tailored according to each person’s difficulty. Selecting the type of therapy can be discussed at the assessment stage, as each person is individual in their presenting difficulty and how they wish to work through things.

Why Therapy?
Life can be challenging and uncertain especially in these current times, and one may find it a struggle to cope with life. Anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, panic, irritability, stress and excessive worry are some of the symptoms that can can lead to one feeling overwhelmed. One may also turn to food, alcohol, drugs, violence, sex or gambling. Overtime this can also start to impact our health negatively; like weight, sleep, digestive system, liver, memory etc. Seeing a therapist can help to talk about painful events and emotions, if you want to improve self-reflection and self-awareness, or perhaps deal with things that you feel are holding you back which you have not resolved.

Research has consistently found that counselling and psychotherapy enables individuals to change their unhelpful ways of thinking and behaving and therefore feeling better able to cope with things in life. This in turn will make it more likely that a person also cares for themselves better- not just mentally but also physically.

Types of Therapy

• Cognitive Behaviour Therapy is aimed at helping individuals learn how their thinking style and behaviour can affect how one feels (ie. anxious/depressed/angry/guilty), and to learn ways to help with this. CBT therapy is a structured therapeutic approach, involving completing tasks (e.g. diary, thought records, questionnaires), challenging unhelpful thinking styles and testing out beliefs with "small experiments". There is much research that shows that CBT therapy is particularly helpful in treating anxiety disorders (e.g. OCD, panic, phobia, health anxiety, social anxiety).
• Psychodynamic therapy/Dynamic Internal personal therapy is an explorative therapy, which focuses on how early our relational experiences can influence how one relates to oneself and others. There may be repeated unconscious patterns in relationships which cause distress and the person is not sure why this keeps happening. These repeated patterns of behaviour can be understood in terms of an attachment or relational style, often formed from our early relational experiences. This type of therapeutic approach is seen to be more helpful for difficulties including chronic depression, low-self esteem, emotional dysregulation and childhood trauma.
• Humanistic therapy focuses on each individual as having the potential and ability to know what is good for them. This approach emphasises the importance of being true to oneself to lead a most fulfilling life. It sees the individual as searching for some personal meaning in life, but who is capable of finding a deeper self-understanding, growth and healing within themselves.

Difficulties I Work With
I work with individuals experiencing a variety of difficulties, including:
-general anxiety
-depression
-panic
-worry/stress
-obsessive compulsive disorder
- relationship difficulties
-low self-esteem
-social anxiety
-sleep difficulties
- childhood difficulties, including sexual abuse

Clinic Location
My clinic is located in South West London in South Wimbledon, close to Wimbledon central and Colliers Wood. It is within 2 minutes walking distance from South Wimbledon underground station on the Northern Line. Wimbledon train and underground station are located about 5 minutes on the bus 57, 93, 131, 219. Trains from London Waterloo to Wimbledon are frequent and take approximately 20 mins.

Due to COVID-19 therapy sessions are now conducted via Skype or telephone.

Contact Details
You can contact me by telephone (07931229137) or can send me a message or by visiting website (www.macounsellingpsychology.co.uk).