Psychotherapy in West London

Psychotherapy and Counselling are professional activities that utilise an interpersonal relationship to enable people to develop self-understanding and to make changes in their lives. Professional counsellors and psychotherapists use psychology tools and techniques to work within a clearly contracted, principled relationship that enables individuals to obtain assistance in exploring and resolving issues of an interpersonal, intra-psychic and personal nature. They utilise a counselling, psychotherapeutic, and psychological theories and models, and a set of advanced interpersonal skills which emphasise facilitating clients’ change processes in the therapeutic environment. This work with client’s processes is based on an ethos of respect for a person, her own values, beliefs, uniqueness and right to self-determination.

They are intervening with current problems, immediate crises or long-term difficulties resulted from various traumatic experiences from a client’s childhood. They work short-term and/or long-term, depending on the nature of the difficulties, and psychotherapy may involve working with individuals, couples, families or groups. They work is primarily based on the client’s specific relation with a therapist. The therapist in relationship with the client uses his or her skills and knowledge to support the psychological change the client needs. This relationship goes through the prescribed method of therapeutic framework. Achieving psychic change can be a treatment for specific, diagnosed disorders, as well as a broadly understood personal development, self-knowledge, and increased emotional competence.

Although Counselling and Psychotherapy overlap considerably, there are also recognised differences. While the work of Counsellors and Psychotherapists with clients may be of considerable depth, the focus of Counselling is more likely to be on specific problems, changes in life adjustments and fostering clients’ wellbeing. Psychotherapy is more concerned with the restructuring of the personality or self and the development of insight. At advanced levels of training, Psychotherapeutic Counselling has a greater overlap with Psychotherapy than at foundation levels.

To become a psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor, you need to complete counselling or psychotherapy training which typically takes up to six years and involve many hours of practice, theory and skills, as well as personal therapy and supervision.

Psychotherapy is not homogeneous as a phenomenon. There are many schools and methods of practicing it. Each method is characterized by a different philosophy and theoretical approach by which it describes and explains the functioning of the human being, as well as the models, tools and techniques psychotherapists uses during designed treatment. Each theoretical frame of perspective acts as a roadmap to help the counsellor understand their clients and their problems and develop solutions. It is worth to bear in mind that each approach to psychotherapy it’s only a theoretical concept or a metaphor. Several researches proved that the effectiveness of psychotherapy depends only in 12% on psychotherapy school. The main thing is to know whether psychotherapist has expertise in the area you need a help with and whether you and psychotherapist can build efficient working relationship which is based on mutual acceptance, understanding and trust. Psychotherapists usually combine elements from several styles of psychotherapy. In fact, most therapists don’t tie themselves to any one approach. Instead, they blend elements from different approaches and tailor their treatment according to each client’s needs.

I believe that psychotherapy is an opportunity to create an empathic bond in the consulting room to enhance capability to recognise destructive mechanisms and challenge them relationally to achieve satisfactory change for the client. I focus in my work on inter-subjectivity, conscious and unconscious processes emerging between and within you as well as myself, which allows me to understand of your unfulfilled needs in depth. I offer a co-creative counselling, and not done to. I work within a spirit of humanistic psychology, a perspective of looking at the whole individual and I emphasize free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization.

It is always worthwhile to use psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling when you feel that life difficulties are overwhelming and that you are unable to cope with them. Our own ways and solutions become ineffective, and even themselves can be a source of problems, our immediate surroundings also cannot help us. Such situations often take place and every human being experiences them, in a sense they are an inherent part of life. Many people need the help of others to cope with such crises, and often want to take advantage of professional help. With the development of society and the psychological sciences, many stereotypes of therapy have fallen and it has become a recognized and valued form of help.

During the initial assessment or first few sessions be prepared to trust your instinct because your relationship with the therapist is at the heart of the process. If you are unsure about the therapist, seek another one. Having confidence in your therapist is very important and will enable you to get the best out of the process. Always remember it is you who is the client. If no therapist seems suitable, it may be time to consider whether you would like to proceed or not.

I provide humanistic, psychodynamic and integrative psychotherapy, which has been combined in the approach called a Relational Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy. I’m also qualified to provide sex therapy for those who struggle with intimacy.

In my therapy work I use elements of positive psychology (e.g. exploration of what makes your life most worth living), social psychology (e.g. reflection on how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by others), and cognitive psychology (e.g. inquiries about your perception, attention, language, memory, thinking, and consciousness).  

Ask about experience of your psychotherapist or psychotherapeutic counsellor as well as verify their qualifications and training to ensure they are suitably qualified. Therapists registered with one of the professional bodies such as The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) or The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) has underwent intense and adequate training and are vetted to meet the hight standards of work and ethical conduct, which includes best interests of clients, professionalism, communication and consent, records and confidentiality, professional knowledge, skills and experience, social responsibility, trust and confidence.

UKCP’s diversity and equalities statement
The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) promotes an active engagement
with difference and therefore seeks to provide a framework for the professions of
psychotherapy and psychotherapeutic counselling that allows competing and diverse ideas
and perspectives on what it means to be human to be considered, respected and valued.
UKCP is committed to addressing issues of prejudice and discrimination in relation to the
mental well being, political belief, gender and gender identity, sexual preference or
orientation, disability, marital or partnership status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, heritage
identity, religious or spiritual identity, age or socio-economic class of individuals and groups.
UKCP keeps its policies and procedures under review in order to ensure that the realities of
discrimination, exclusion, oppression and alienation that may form part of the experience of
its registrants as well as of their clients are addressed appropriately. UKCP seeks to ensure
that the practice of psychotherapy is utilised in the service of the celebration of human
difference and diversity, and that at no time is psychotherapy used as a means of coercion
or oppression of any group or individual.

The duration and timing of sessions depends upon your needs and the severity of the issues you present. We will review your progress through out your sessions; everyone’s circumstances are different so we will work together until you inform me otherwise or until you are confident to manage independently. Please remember that psychological change takes time, effort and commitment.

Psychotherapy and Psychotherapeutic Counselling can be structured and goal orientated on solving a problem, enhance self-awareness or make a change area. Whereas unstructured psychotherapy is design for the clients who has no fixed goal but still experiencing mental difficulties. Thus, instead of a clear agenda, unstructured psychotherapy focuses on release of inhibited within a client potential, which is necessary for growth of awareness and experiencing autonomy, spontaneity and intimacy in life. The relationship with the therapist is particularly important and it is expected that unconscious conflicts, beliefs, feelings will inevitably find an expression within the therapy, and within the relationship with the therapist. Understanding these provides an opportunity for learning from this experience and is an important part of the psychotherapeutic work.

I have worked with people who struggles with a wide range of issues and emotional difficulties including anxiety, depression, relationship and family problems, bereavement, stress and burn-out, addictions, post-traumatic stress and dissociation. Sometimes the issues are less specific, such as feeling stuck or facing a difficult life change. I also specialise in helping people of both gender with their sexual health problems; such as erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, lack of arousal etc. In such an intervention, I would need to obtain from you a precise information through designed questioner and refer to your General Practitioner to carry out a necessary blood tests to exclude any major physical disorders which could have impact on your sexual health.

My practice hours are from Monday to Friday, with evening appointments sometimes available.

At the initial consultation, we will explore your current issues, enquire about your history and discuss whether a period of psychotherapy might be of benefit to you. This initial appointment is also an opportunity for you to ask questions and find out more about the therapeutic process. You and myself can then decide whether to continue working together.

Once-weekly sessions are the norm, although there may be times when it is clinically appropriate to have sessions frequently.

The sessions are 50 minutes in length for individuals and 60 minutes for couples and take place at the same time on the same day each week.

After up to five sessions you will probably have a good sense of whether the therapy is likely to be of benefit. It is often helpful to have a review with me at this point to decide whether to continue.

There is no set time limit on psychotherapy or counselling. Some people feel they have gained significant benefit from therapy after a few weeks or months and decide to stop at this point, especially if they have been going through a difficult or challenging period and this period passes. Other people continue in therapy for longer such as several months or years, to work on deeper and more difficult issues that have been troubling them over a long period.

You can end your therapy with me at any time. it is helpful to discuss it fully together so you can make a decision that has been carefully considered and explored.

I follow few code of ethics which support my values at my private practice. They are ‘Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy’ of a British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), ‘Ethical Principles and Code of Professional Conduct ‘of United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and ‘Code of Ethics and Conduct’ of Metanoia Institute.

Psychotherapists and Counsellors are professionals, who’s undergo in-depth psychotherapy courses and training processes to develop understanding and knowledge about human behaviours, therapeutic capacities, and ethical and professional boundaries. Therapists considers of the cultural and socio-political context in which the clients live and how these factors affect the presenting problem. This includes awareness and assessment of social and cultural influences such as age, development, (dis)ability, religion, cultural identity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, nationality and gender. Psychotherapists and Counsellors value such differences and avoid discrimination based on these aspects of identity.