Counselling and Psychotherapy in London Bridge, SE1

How might therapy help?
 

At different points in our lives, we may struggle to understand why we think, feel or behave in certain ways. This can become particularly noticeable during periods of stress, loss or change, or when life begins to feel overwhelming.
 

Therapy offers a confidential and thoughtful space in which to think about what may be troubling you. Together, we can begin to understand your experiences, feelings and recurring patterns that shape how you relate to yourself, to other people and to the world around you.

People come to therapy for many different reasons, including:

• Anxiety, low mood or a sense of emptiness

• Difficulties with loss, separation or life changes

• Low self-confidence or self-esteem

• Difficulties forming or sustaining relationships

• Repeated or unsatisfying relationship patterns

• A sense of feeling stuck or lacking direction

• Past experiences that continue to affect the present

• Questions relating to identity, gender or sexuality

• Compulsive, harmful or difficult-to-control behaviours

• Experiences of migration, cultural displacement, racism or discrimination
   

Whatever your reason, you do not need to have a clear explanation for what you are experiencing before beginning therapy. Sometimes there is simply a sense that something does not feel right, or that familiar ways of coping are no longer working.

Counselling or Psychotherapy?
 

Many people wonder about the difference between counselling and psychotherapy. I generally distinguish them by their duration and focus.

 

Counselling is usually shorter term and may be helpful when you are facing a particular difficulty, recent change or period of crisis. We might agree to meet for a set number of sessions, often between 6 and 20, with the work focused primarily on the concerns that have brought you to therapy.

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Psychotherapy is usually longer term and open-ended. It offers more time to explore different areas of your life, including recurring emotional and relationship patterns that may have developed over time. Through the therapeutic relationship, it can become possible to develop a deeper understanding of yourself.
 

Both counselling and psychotherapy can help you make sense of difficult experiences, express feelings that may be hard to put into words, and understand what may be contributing to distress in your present life and relationships.
 

My approach to therapy is relational and informed by psychoanalytic thinking. This means that I pay attention not only to what is happening in your life now, but also to how past experiences may continue to shape your feelings, relationships and ways of coping. I work collaboratively and adapt the work according to your individual needs, what you hope to gain from therapy and the arrangement we agree together.
 

You do not need to decide in advance whether counselling or psychotherapy would be more suitable. We can think about this together during an initial consultation.

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