No Two People Are The Same

I began my career thirty years ago working with the penal reformer Lord Longford who gave me the opportunity to develop a service to help young offenders in prison. This experience inspired me to subsequently work as a social worker and helped me to appreciate first hand the importance of the social and cultural forces that shape who we become. However these experiences also taught me that the same external forces do not impact equally on us: two people can be exposed to the same situation and react to it differently. It was the need to understand such individual differences that motivated me to train as a clinical and counselling psychologist and later as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and then as a psychoanalyst.

Psychological Problems Are Common

My experience of working in the National Health Service for 25 years, alongside my interest and direct involvement in research, have shaped how I approach mental health problems in my own practice. Psychological problems are common and may affect any one of us at any point in our lives. Some are short-lived and respond well to brief, focussed psychotherapies; others are more chronic and may require not only a range of interventions (including medication) but are also likely to respond better to longer term psychotherapies.

Our Past Exerts A Powerful Effect On The Present

There are increasingly strong indications that adult mental health problems are developmental in nature; three quarters can be traced back to mental health difficulties in childhood, and 50% arise before age 14 years. I therefore believe that to understand a person it is important to understand the relationship between early experience and current mental health problems. This does not mean that the treatment has to be necessarily long term and/or intensive or that all we talk about is the past. It does mean, however, that unless we understand how the past continues to exert an effect on the present we cannot identify what needs to change now.

My Experience Brings An Open Mind, Not A “One-Size-Fits-All” Approach

A bewildering range of therapies is available and I cannot claim to be knowledgeable about all of them. However I have trained in a broad range of psychological therapies: Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Psychoanalysis, Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT), Mentalisation Based Therapy (MBT). This experience helps me to approach assessments with an open mind rather than being committed to a single approach.

The First Thing We Do Is Make Sure We Understand What Type of Therapy You Need

It is unhelpful to commit to any form of therapy without a general assessment first. My work therefore always begins with a thorough assessment to determine the nature of the problem, the most appropriate intervention and whether I would be the right person to help with this problem. The experience of the assessment should give you an idea of how I work, what is expected of you and what you can expect of me. If I am not the right person I will ensure that I connect you with someone who can help you from within the Queen Anne Street Practice or beyond.

Fees

Fees are assessed on an individual basis depending on the type of therapy.

Payment via insurance is accepted (e.g. WPA, AVIVA, BUPA International and most US insurance policies). BUPA UK & AXA unfortunately cannot be not accepted as they will not cover the therapists’ fees.