Tom Keely

Hello, thank you for taking a moment to read my profile. I'm an experienced psychotherapist who works compassionately, honestly and confidentially with each of my clients to help bring about the change they seek.

Perhaps you're struggling with anxiety, depression, fatigue or unhelpful thoughts. Maybe you’ve lost confidence, feel alone or struggling in an important relationship. Or perhaps you suffer because of performance anxiety, insomnia, alcohol misuse or how you express your anger. Whatever your reason, and however difficult things might be right now, making the decision to work together could be the starting point which helps bring about the change you want.

How can therapy help me?

All too often we take our mental health for granted until the day when we notice things aren’t quite right .... maybe in the form of panic attacks, low mood or routinely waking up in the middle of the night, anxiously thinking about the future or reliving past regrets or upsets. What many people don't realise is given the right conditions we're all susceptible to our thoughts and feelings affecting our well-being .... but the opposite is also true, and as they change so our mental health can as well.

What happens if I work with you?

If you choose to work with me then I will help you to be more in touch with your needs and feelings so that you're better equipped to manage the inevitable ups and downs life brings. How we achieve this will depend on the problem you would like my help with, what a successful outcome looks like and what's standing in your way of achieving this.

Can you tell me more about how you work? My private practice is based on a clinically supported and powerful model of therapy which draws from a number of different approaches including psychoanalysis , cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) has been shown to help with a wide range of difficulties including, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, fatigue, interpersonal relationship issues, performance anxiety (ie. public speaking, sexual, sport, performing arts) and symptoms without a medically identifiable cause.

Feelings / emotions are central to ISTDP’s understanding of problem causality because in life we inevitably experience conflicts with others and when they occur, we naturally start to feel our emotions. However, when our emotions become too hard or painful to bear, we can easily find ways of unconsciously and automatically avoiding them. These temporary strategies can be helpful in the short-term, helping us to survive difficult points in our lives. However, with time these coping strategies tend to be damaging and often leads to emotional and/or physical suffering. Most importantly they prevent us from reaching our potential and living life to the full.

To summarise how I work. I understand a person wants my help because they're struggling somewhere in their life. As we explore this and examples of when it arises together, it's likely they'll unintentionally avoid expressing their true feelings. My role is to make this process be known so they can see its effect and how it links to the issue that led them to see me (ie anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties). These unconscious and self-defeating processes then become the heart of our work, because once my clients realise the cost of how they're treating themselves, then their healthy longings, feelings and memories are likely to rapidly rise to the surface. And as this happens their presenting issue start to shift, they're likely to become more honest about their needs, and new possibilities often appear. Many clients describe this phase of the work as liberating because it involves the creation of a new more caring, compassionate and honest relationship with themselves and others.

Clients who've worked with a therapist before quickly come to realise I take an active, yet supportive, role in helping them change rather than that of a neutral observer. This includes encouragement to feel, challenge to take responsibility to change, and confrontation of when I sense they're resisting change. Fundamental to working successfully together is the building of a safe talking space in which my clients feel able to explore healthier ways to deal with life's challenges. Their needs are at the heart of how I work, and rather than giving advice, I’m here to help them find their way. Ultimately, what happens is done together but the work is always decided by them.

I appreciate entering therapy for some may bring with it a sense of trepidation as well as anxiety, because of this I always suggest any potential first meeting be a trial session to explore if how I work could benefit them.

If you'd like to explore working together then please email, text or message me to set up a free 20-minute telephone consultation. I look forward to hearing from you.

Please note, I am on holiday now until my return on the 16th February 2023. You can still email me during this time and I will contact you on my return. Thank you.

Sessions cost £80 and last for 1 hour. I offer a reduced rate for those on low income.

One of the best ways to find out if therapy may be helpful to you is to arrange an initial consultation. This way you can explore whether it is a way of working which feels beneficial. I offer an initial free and confidential 20 minute telephone consultation to see if we could work together.

Your personal details are treated with the strictest confidence.

If you'd like to explore working together then please email, text or message me to set up a free 20-minute telephone consultation. I look forward to hearing from you.