Max Chainey

I am a BACP registered therapist working in Walthamstow (E17). My practice is a 5-minute walk from Walthamstow Central station (Overground/Victoria Line), and well-connected to cycle and bus routes.

I provide psychotherapy for adults and young people, from a broad range of socioeconomic, ethnic and cultural groups, including experience working with LGBTQ+.

Knowing where to start

It’s difficult, isn’t it? To know where to start. To know that something may be weighing you down but be unable to identify exactly what that thing is.

To find meaning in life. To find passion. To shrug off a feeling of emptiness in life. Or to know where your sadness is rooted but be unable to overcome it.

Crisis, long-term distress, grief, a struggle to communicate feelings and thoughts, a desire to be seen, questions of identity, relationship problems and patterns/behaviours that repeat themselves again and again.

Reading this list you may feel that all, some, or none of this resonates with you. You may just want to make changes in your life, to feel more fulfilled and balanced, with a richer and more rewarding relationship with yourself and with the people around you.

Whatever the reason that brought you to think about therapy, we can work together to make sense of your experience and identify what you struggle with.

I’m passionate about this work and about helping you

I feel very strongly about the power therapy has to make a change in a person's life. It is a shared space between us both with the potential for so much to be said and felt. There is a privilege for me in hearing your story and who you are – the story that you’ve shared countless times with others and the one that you’ve never shared before because it feels too shameful or difficult to say.

It is those stories, that narrative of your life, with all the nuances, the emotion, the inner monologue, the perception of your world and how you believe others perceive you, that creates the richness of our work together.

I make no assumptions about our relationship and understand that trust, real trust, is earned and never to be taken for granted. Trust and vulnerability may feel like very difficult concepts, and I will offer you the space and time to allow that to develop. Where it feels important to do so, I will also offer challenge to ways of your thinking and being, and ask you to consider things that you may never have considered before.

My commitment to the work and to you

I make a commitment to be an active therapist – to evolve, to learn, to adapt and to study. To be open to your feedback and explore that feedback in earnest. Self-scrutiny and reflection, regular supervision, peer engagement, enhancing my knowledge base through relevant literature and academic engagement, creative pursuits and self-care.

This is how I structure my world to prevent myself from stagnating as a therapist. It is how I do my utmost to provide you with a meaningful and transformative therapeutic experience.

I won’t always get it right. No therapist will. The power of failure, and sometimes rupture, in therapy is often some of the most facilitative parts of a change for a client. It can become a platform for the exploration of how you engage, tolerate and perceive others. A means of testing and normalising feelings in the moment.

A bit about me

Before becoming a therapist, I worked in the media and communications sector on domestic and international behaviour change campaigns, as well as in economic international development with government agencies. I have also worked with the Samaritans to provide support to those in emotional distress and at risk of suicide. My experience has afforded me the opportunity to meet and work with people from all walks of life.

Types of issues I work with

I am able to work with many different types of presenting  issues, however there are certain areas in which I do have particular experience and/or training. These focus areas include:

• If you are someone who experiences anxiety: Feeling nervous or uneasy, generalised anxiety disorder, overcome by worries or fears, social anxiety, panic attacks, difficulties with control.
• If you are someone who experiences depression: Feeling sad, hopeless, empty or lacking motivation, apathy, loss of interest in activities, loss of sexual desire, changes in sleep and appetite.
• If you are someone who holds themselves in low regard: low self-esteem, low self-confidence, low self-worth, a sense that you don't matter or aren't important, that your opinions/views are not of interest to other people
• If you are someone struggling with issues around parenthood: Soon-to-be parent, recent birth of child, change of relationship with partner, identity loss, IVF/struggling to conceive.
• If you are someone who experiences relationship problems: Difficulty communicating what you are thinking and/or feeling, family issues, experiencing conflict or tension, feeling unfulfilled in the relationship,  disconnected, wanting to repeatedly withdraw/end relationships, lack of intimacy.
• If you are someone who has experienced trauma: Experiencing a distressing event or series of events, flashbacks or nightmares, avoidance of certain situations or people, bereavement.
• If you are someone who struggles with substance abuse or addiction: Using drugs or alcohol in a way that causes problems in daily life, difficulty quitting or reducing use.
• If you are someone who struggles with your body image: Holding a negative perception of either the whole or part of your physical self.
• If you are someone who experiences intrusive thoughts: Obsessive thoughts, false memories, paranoia, thoughts you find disturbing or shameful, a fear of acting out certain thoughts.

I have helped numerous people find a way to understand themselves better, feel less despair, have more fulfilling relationships and feel more secure in themselves. Below are testimonies of previous clients

"You have really supported me over the months we have worked together. It has been very helpful in allowing me to better understand myself and my behaviour, and I feel much more confident about my future" (Male client, 35)

I want to express my gratitude for the enlightening therapy that I received from you. Your insightful questions and reflections have helped me heal many aspects of myself." (Female client, 29)

"I just wanted to thank you for all the work you have done with our son. He is in a very good place now and we think he has developed a lot over the last 9 months. A lot of it is a credit to you. I hope if we ever should need it we can contact you again for support." (Male client, 16)

If you would like to work with me but have a low income, please do still get in touch. I reserve a limited number of spaces for low income clients and would be happy to discuss and agree on a suitable session fee for you.