From birth we are faced with the complex task of learning about ourselves, others, and how to successfully navigate the ever-changing world around us. On this quest of life, we bring interpersonal differences from our ethnic, cultural, family, and socio-economic backgrounds. Despite these interpersonal differences, we are all faced with conflicts arising from the same developmental trajectories across our lives: we all transition from childhood to adolescence and then into adulthood and older age. These stages of development are characterised with milestones that have to be reached, negotiated and mastered. The way one manages these would be dependent on their individual resilience, learned ways of coping, social support and perceived environmental stability and adjustment. At times, due to internal or external factors such as illness, losses of significant figures or stability in one’s life, or trauma, developmental stages might be interrupted, delayed or brought on earlier. So, what is therapy about then? It has been observed both clinically and within the community that at times of big changes, unexpected events, loss and trauma, people find themselves overwhelmed with conflicting emotions that can affect the way they function in their daily lives. Therapy provides a safe space, where one has the opportunity to explore such emotions in order to gain a better understanding of themselves and their behaviour in relation to others and the world.

This will depend on a number of factors, such as the nature of your difficulty, how it has developed over time, the way it is impacting on your life, your previous experiences with psychological therapy, and your hopes about what you would like to achieve from therapy. The general rule of thumb is that if you want to focus on symptom management, structured approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy models would be more suitable. On the other hand, if you want to focus on understanding more about the nature of your symptoms and how they impact your life and relationships, explorative approaches such psychodynamic models are recommended. One of the aims of the initial consultation is to help the psychologists and the patient collaboratively agree on the type of therapy that would be suitable, and appropriate.

The length of treatment would be dependent on the nature of the difficulty and the type of therapy recommended. Progress would be defined by the goals an individual sets out to achieve from therapy and the work that they put into the treatment, not only during the therapy sessions, but also in between sessions. Shorter treatments tend to be more focused on a specific difficulty. For people, who have had therapy in the past, a 4-session consultation might be enough to help them get unstuck. For others an open-ended treatment over a longer period of time might be more suitable. Generally, starting with a 16 sessions treatment episode would be a reasonable amount of time to allow for some development to happen. The number of therapy sessions suitable for you will be agreed as part of the therapy contract following the initial consultation, and it will always be reviewed as appropriate.

All fees are non-refundable. For cancellation policy, please see the Tems and Conditions section above. It is acknowledged that is some cases, a flexibility of the cancellation policy might be needed to enable consistent engagement with the therapeutic process. Any such flexibility is considered on case by case basis.

Clinical Psychologists are not simply “therapists”; they are highly specialist professionals, who spend a minimum of 6 years of clinical and academic training before they can qualify as clinicians (More often than not, a Clinical Psychologists would have completed 9 years of training before they qualify). The nature and length of training means that they are able to provide highly specialist assessments and interventions, tailored to the individual’s needs and their context, and work with wide range of difficulties across the spectrum of severity and clinical risk.

I do not accept referrals on behalf of friends or family members for individuals who are aged 18 and over. I do work with adolescents and young people under the age of 18 and in these cases I would consider a referral on behalf of their parent(s), but only if the young person themselves has requested or expressed an interest to seek a space to talk and think about their difficulties.

Covid-19 pandemic sent us all in a turmoil of unprecedented changes, anxiety and loss, but also offered new opportunities for development. I mange my practice in line with government guidelines and advice. I do offer face-to-face sessions in my consulting rooms within physical distancing measures.

Consultation and therapy sessions via video link, when deemed suitable, is also available to patients, but is limited and based on an appropriate risk assessment and management.