Nick Blackburn
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and counsellor specialising in anxiety, depression and a loss of purpose and meaning, helping people to make changes.
The goal of depth psychotherapy is to help you know yourself more fully, and in so doing discover which choices are right for you going forward, in order to live a freer life. What this means will differ from person to person, and is not about the therapist’s own projects or priorities.
Though I'll start by asking you about your symptoms, we will also think about the deeper issues which may have caused them: we could think of this as a journey from management to change. Often people decide to come once or twice a week; for some it may be more often. Psychotherapy isn’t for everyone, and a detailed first meeting is a helpful way for us to decide what you might need and what way of working might suit you best.
I particularly enjoy offering men an effective confidential space to be able to speak about anxiety and emotional issues which are starting to press into daily life and relationships.
I am used to seeing couples at a critical point in the relationship, sometimes where the decision is whether to press on or begin a new stage of life after separation, where there may also be the needs of children to consider. Therapy can be a valuable commitment to talking and thinking in a less heated way than is possible as two people, working towards a point where real communication is possible again, or even for the first time. Often one or more partners have lost faith in the idea that negotiation is possible, and there may not yet be a language for discussing what’s really wanted. Whatever the outcome, couples therapy can be away of holding a couple state of mind and understanding the — inevitably — different ways our loved ones encounter the world and our place in it.
My work often requires me to make links between people's life histories and the ways we might think about attention, addiction and neurodiversity (for example ADHD and autism-spectrum diagnoses). I am also used to dealing with patients who are carrying serious traumatic experiences.
Now that remote working has become a part of many people’s lives, I have been seeing more clients online or over the phone: I am experienced in working in this way and some people find it allows them to combine therapy with a busy work or travel schedule. For others, in-person is really the thing, face-to-face or lying down, and I have a busy in-person practice in Notting Hill.
I believe there are many possibilities for your way forward through life and that therapy offers a space where you will find you can speak openly about yourself and what you want, sometimes for the first time.
The way I work is informed by the psychoanalysis of Freud, Lacan, Bion and others, but adapted to the modern world. I came to therapy through literature and the arts and hold a Ph.D. from Trinity College, Cambridge where I taught English Literature for several years. I am currently Chair of The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis where I teach part of their Introduction to Psychoanalysis and I am a member of The College of Psychoanalysts (UK).
I am very much at home working with gay, lesbian, bi, trans and non-binary people as well as with issues around anxiety, psychosis, addiction, trauma and sex, and I enjoy working with couples and other similar units.
I am registered with several private health insurance companies including AXA and WPA.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have been seeing patients in London since 2015.
I am Chair of The Site for Contemporary Psychoanalysis where I completed my training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy and a member of The College of Psychoanalysts-UK. I am a Full Clinical Member of the UKCP, who require their members be fully insured, abide by a code of ethics and participate in regular, confidential supervision.
I have also worked as a therapist in third sector organisations Mind and Single Homeless Project and I have run training groups for staff members working in a mental health setting.
I have been consulted as an expert in anxiety and self-confidence by Huffington Post and Men's Health, and for Channel 4.
I have a Ph.D. from Cambridge University where I taught for several years.
I also have a strong background in theatre and the arts.
Member organisations
school Registered / Accredited
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) is a leading professional body for the education, training and regulation of psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors. Its register is accredited by the government's Professional Standards Authority.
As part of its commitment to protect the public, it works to improve access to psychotherapy, to support and disseminate research, to improve standards and to respond effectively to complaints against its members.
UKCP standards cover the range of different psychotherapies. Registration is obtained by training or accrediting with one of its member organisations, or by holding a European Certificate in Psychotherapy. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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
BDSM
Photos & videos
Fees
£90.00 per session
Free initial in-person, telephone or online session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
The initial session is free.
Ongoing sessions are £90.
Sessions for couples are £160 based on a 90min session.
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | |||||||
| Afternoon | |||||||
| Evening | |||||||
| Night |
Sessions outside these hours become available from time to time.
