Couples Counselling Practice
My Work
Working as a Couples Counsellor for the past twenty years has given me an insight into the importance of helping couples sustain a more stable, fulfilling relationship that works for them and grows strong over time. Counselling offers the time and space to reflect and explore how to do this by communicating more effectively.
My work with both same sex and heterosexual individuals and couples helps them to understand how to manage the challenges and struggles that we all face, whilst maintaining trust and respect for each other. I focus on their relationship difficulties and support my clients to make sense of their issues, so that they can become more of a team and move towards growth and change.
I am an accredited BACP Couples Counsellor having trained as a psychodynamic therapist and worked as a volunteer with London Marriage Guidance (now the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships) and as a Relate Licensed practitioner for many years.
Although I also trained in CBT to help with depression and general health anxiety, my particular interest is working with Emotionally Focused Therapy. Dr Sue Johnson is the primary developer of Emotionally Focused Couples and Family Therapy (EFT), which has demonstrated its effectiveness in over 30 years of peer-reviewed clinical research. This approach helps partners understand their stuck negative patterns of interactions. It enables them to move towards a feeling of connection and safety, being able to recognise and understand their fighting patterns, so they can step back from them and talk about it, instead of getting caught up in it.
Dr Susan Johnson - Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) - Short Introduction
When I'm working face-to-face, my private Couples Counselling Practice is based in West Hampstead I work with both same sex and heterosexual individuals and couples. I am also part of Coupleworks, a specialised London based Relationship Counselling network who have been meeting up regularly twice a month for the past twenty years.
I have always offered online counselling and, during the pandemic, this became (and remains) my primary way of working. Appointments are held during daytimes, evenings and Sunday mornings and I try to offer appointments as quickly as possible.
Continuing Professional Development
My continuing professional development is an integral part of my work as a therapist. My commitment to ongoing training and development is essential to me as an individual and to my practice. This ensures I am in a position to offer my clients the support they deserve. I also place a lot of importance on making sure I spend time doing things that are important to me and that help inform my work and practice.
This Can Happen Conference
An example of this is that in the last few years I have been engaged with the 'This Can Happen' Conference, where companies address Mental Health in the Work Place. After the inaugural Conference, that was attended by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, I worried whether the atmosphere and content of the Conference could be replicated. I needn’t have been concerned. In 2019 1000 delegates from 180 companies and 90 speakers gathered at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre to address the growing need for change in attitudes towards mental health in the work place and what companies have already put in place since last year. This year, the Conference took place online and was as well supported as ever.
The annual Conference focuses on the huge gap that employers have to fill if they want a successful work place. It needs to start with leadership: Chief Executives being able to stand up and talk about their own struggles with mental health issues to bring about a cultural change.
Here is a short video that provides an insight into the work of the latest Conference from November 2021
Work/Life Balance
I have been working with a company, that delivers webinars to enlightened companies and organisations to help employees manage their work life balance. I worked with Barclays in how we navigate major changes in our relationships when a first baby arrives and when children leave home. With Deloitte we explored why we need relationships and how to keep them alive and growing with all the challenges that confront our lives.
Supporting Jewish Students in former Yugoslavia
I work with a charity that raises money to support Jewish students in former Yugoslavia (Serbia, Bosnia and Poland) through their university studies and beyond. Some have experienced lasting effects of war and unemployment in their families.
A highlight of my year is my annual working trip to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Krakow and Warsaw in Poland to meet the students individually. I offer help with any difficulties and concerns they may be experiencing. I keep in contact with every student via zoom through the year.