Michael Opoku-Forfieh

Hello my name is Michael, I am an experienced integrative therapist that is able to provide counselling.

I have been working with people for over 21 years in a variety of roles including professional counsellor, student mentor, community sports coach, mentor and youth worker. In addition to working with private clients, I have provided counselling in a range of settings including a doctor’s surgery, prisons, probation offices and schools.

I have worked with a wide range of clients from all backgrounds to support overcoming a number of personal difficulties including; anxiety, stress, depression, addictions, bereavements and other negative emotions that they may be experiencing.

As an Integrative therapist, I draw on a range of therapeutic traditions including; EMDR, CBT, Person Centred, Solution Focused and Psychodynamic approaches. I provide a warm, non-judgemental space for people to talk and reflect on their experiences and explore new ways of thinking/being.

I am of the firm belief that good work can be done in a short number of sessions. My aim would be to help you to achieve some insight into difficulties that you may be experiencing in 4-8 sessions.

• Black masculinity
• Black family relationships
• Forming a healthy racial identity
• Managing racism
• Adolescent development

Initial 50 minute counselling assessments are £70 -£120

Each 50 minute counselling session thereafter costs £70 - £120

I am able to offer concessions for students and those on limited incomes.

Contact me for further details.

I am also a walking therapist, believing that movement in nature can be therapeutic.

Walk and Talk therapy aims to provide an alternate experience for you, whereby you can physically interact with the material you bring to a session.

How does it work?

Our initial meeting would be at a local outside space mutually agreed for an assessment interview. The initial assessment gives us both an opportunity to see if we can work together in this way and outline the key themes you would like to address.

The following meetings would be held in a park or quiet area near to my counselling space or at a mutually agreed point in S.E. or Central London. We would then have 50 minutes to walk and talk, looking at the concerns you would like to work on.

The route would be largely unplanned, we would collaboratively agree; the pace, where to go and when to take a break to stop, sit or stand to reflect on points brought up in the walk and talk session. The route would be circuitous or toward a mutually agreed end point.

The cost of a walk and talk session is dependent on the time of the engagement and distance from my counselling space. A local Lee walk and talk therapy session would cost from £80 -£120

The length of a walk and talk therapy session is 50 mins. I contract appointments in 4 week blocks including assessment.

My hours of work are reasonably flexible, but I prefer meeting during the daytime or early evening to maximise the experience of walking in nature in a park setting.

I’ve been drawn to this way of working as a therapist through a number of important experiences I’ve had in my working life. For 4 years I supported young people in taking up the challenge of the Duke of Edinburgh’s award. Walking in the hills of mid Wales, the South Downs, The Lake and Peak Districts often had me feeling creative hopeful and happy.

I like to work creatively whenever possible and believe that Walk and Talk therapy offers clients both physical and emotional benefits.

'But the Beauty is in the walking -- we are betrayed by destinations' Gwyn Thomas