“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards” – Soren Klerkegaard
I welcome you
Welcome – I have 23 years experience of working with clients from diverse backgrounds. I am a Senior Accredited trauma informed psychotherapeutic counsellor/therapist and Accredited EMDR Europe Practitioner. Much of my work with trauma is with blue light first responders as well as the wider public. My practice is culturally sensitive, diverse and inclusive.
I specialise in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy informed by an Internal Family Systems (IFS) perspective and (AF) Attached Focussed EMDR perspective. The combination of these approaches allows you to process traumatic and distressing experiences often from our early years that can often keep individuals trapped in embodied beliefs such as, “I’m not good enough,” “I’m not safe,” or “I don’t matter.”
Those that seek me out usually have a tale to tell and I imagine you’re the same. I’d like to invite you to tell me about your ups and downs and all your in-betweens and all the things you’ve lost and gained. I imagine some of it might be challenging to tell and parts of it you’ve never shared with anyone else and somewhere in there; I know there is an aspect of you that just cannot find a way to move forward. I imagine you’d like to get this moving again; this is I guess is why you’re reading this and this is where I help.
I’ve learnt that if I really listen to you and in the most accepting way, your own deep insights will emerge and you’ll start to see solutions to problems and begin to experience change in your life and in a satisfying way.
I can imagine you’ve felt the way you do for some time, and hope you can begin to feel hopeful or even excited now about the possibility of change; of freeing yourself from unhelpful thoughts about yourself and the world and getting back on track. Now you know where I am all you have to do is get in touch. So lets begin….
I will work collaboratively with you, respecting your culture and background and will draw from all of my experience and the tools available to me so that we together can find the necessary approach that will enable you to move forward in positive ways giving you a more fulfilling experience of life.
What I hope to offer you as individual therapy is an approach which I want to be warm and refreshing and can quickly get to the heart of your issues. I hope to support you by providing you a range of ways to accurately match your need, in the most effective and time efficient way and in the spirit of openness and acceptance.
I want your experience of therapy to be refreshingly brief and, as far as possible, an enjoyable/rewarding experience, particularly when long standing issues might be resolved.
Years of training and experience as both an Integrative and Person-Centred Counsellor/Therapist and more recently as an EMDR Practitioner have given me a mixture of established ways of working with you to achieve personal growth and balance.
I practice from a discreet and private studio at my home address in Forest Gate, East London and you can be assured of a comfortable safe and private environment to explore the issues you bring to the counselling process.
Whilst it is quite possible to begin to notice the positive effects of therapy quickly, you need to keep in mind that generally speaking, the longer you have been dealing with an issue, the longer it will take to make significant changes. If you have been suffering from depression for the past 20 years, it’s not realistic to expect that three months of work will amount to major changes.
This is not to say, you might not feel better quickly, but lasting changes take time. We realize we are in a society that is always looking for the quick fix and the shortcut. Unfortunately, this isn’t always a helpful attitude when it comes to mental health. Many of our issues are very deeply rooted in our character and changing this can sometimes take time.
Your concerns are as unique as you are and some of the areas people approach me for help with are:
- couples counselling with heterosexual and same sex couples
- relating to others in close relationships and social situations
- breaking unwanted patterns of behaviour that are destructive or keep us stuck
- developing greater self-esteem and confidence in expressing ourselves
- working with feelings of loneliness and isolation
- working with the LGBTQI+ community
- Using EMDR to assist with smoking cessation
- Issues relating to “othering” and bullying
Also: EMDR and Counselling for Depression – EMDR and Counselling for Stress and Anxiety – EMDR and Counselling for Anger – EMDR and Counselling for Work issues EMDR and Counselling for Childhood issues – EMDR and Counselling for Parenting issues – EMDR and Counselling for Personal Growth and Development – EMDR and Counselling for Personal Loss and Bereavement – EMDR and Counselling for Eating Disorders – EMDR and Counselling for Infertility Issues – Couples Counselling – Relationship Counselling – EMDR and Counselling for Sexual Compulsivity.
My practice in Forest Gate is within easy reach of: Leytonstone, Stratford, Leyton, Walthamstow, East Ham, West Ham, Ilford, Wanstead, Mile End, Bow, Whitechapel, Woodford, South Woodford, Buckhurst Hill, Loughton
“”…the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”
Carl Jung
Counselling and EMDR to help you with...
I’d like to help you by inviting you to talk through a wide range of issues that might be arising in your life right now in the hope of helping you finding a way forward with clarity and vision. Some of these areas might be:-
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Eating Disorders
- Anxiety
- EMDR for Childhood Trauma
- LGBTQI+ Issues
- Issues of Race and Diversity
- Grief and Loss
- Relationships
- Couples Coaching
- Grief & Loss
- Single Incident Trauma
- Sexuality
- EMDR for Single Incident Trauma
- Harrassment Othering and Bullying
- Anger Issues
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking that we used to create them” – Albert Einstein
Working with me
For Individuals
Often we’re so accustomed to carrying toxic thoughts and feelings we only become fully aware of how much they have weighed us down when we discard them.
The process of offloading can relieve a lot of stress and help you see your situation with more clarity.
There is often confusion between the terms "Counselling" and "Therapy" and those terms are used interchangeably to describe a similar process. It could be said that Counselling tends to be shorter term and will generally focus on a specific issue and Therapy is more general and often goes deeper to examine childhood issues. I use both both "Counselling" and "Therapy" in the way I will work with you.
Sometimes allowing strong feelings to be expressed can be an uncomfortable experience, however I will be there to listen in a warm and respectful manner and without judgement or evaluation. This forms the basis of the work that we do in therapy and while we explore the issues you bring to the sessions we also organically find a way of working that best suits you.
I want to create an environment which is unconditionally accepting so you feel enabled to talk freely about any aspect of your life. In this way solutions arising from your own deep wisdom can begin to surface and offer new perspective on your life and ways of moving forward.
It all starts with the initial session where we can use the counselling process to explore the possibility of working together, although we may use several sessions before agreeing to continue. If you ultimately decide to work with me; then you'll be agreeing to attend to attend weekly 50 minute sessions until we agree to end.
For Couples
Like any form of relationship counselling, couples counselling is not about being told what to do. I will take an impartial affirmative and balanced perspective on your relationship and how we can take it forward.
I’ll be encouraging you to participate in a process where you both are enabled to take the most appropriate steps and will assist you with exercises to take your relationship in a better and positive direction.
If your relationship has been in conflict for some time, you may feel resentful and apportion blame to the other person. By supporting positive communication and learning ways to listen to each other and find more caring ways to be with each other, counselling can help you and your partner come to your own decisions about how to progress.
This might also involve changing how you interact with each other; the ways you spend time together or how you deal with specific issues as a couple.
In some cases, this process might require ‘homework’ to be completed outside your counselling sessions. This is unique to everyone I work with, it can take the form of listening exercises, topics to discuss and alternative ways of dealing with certain situations or completing a specific task together.
Often it is thought that couples coaching is only suitable for couples in conflict. I also see couples in the early stages of their relationship who are noticing problems arising. Often, we notice that these problems are patterns that have surfaced in other relationships and coming to couples coaching at this time in your relationship creates the possibility of breaking previous patterns so that the relationship is less likely to get into conflict further down the line.
Like individual counselling it will all begin with the initial session. This will give you a chance to work out whether I am the best fit for you both as a counsellor/therapist.
Sessions are 75 minutes duration and can be weekly or sometimes fortnightly.
EMDR
“The curious things is that when I accept myself just I am, I can change”
Carl Rogers
Cost
I charge:- £80.00 per 50 minute session for individuals and £120.00 per 75 minutes for couples. All session are to be paid for by cash or cheque and payment is to be made at the session.
For Insurance Companies and Employee Assistance Programmes, Please contact me for separate pricing structure
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou
FAQS
- Advanced Certificate in Internal Family Systems EMDR (IFS-EMDR)
- Advanced Certificate in Attachment-Focussed EMDR (AF-EMDR) – 2019
- Standard EMDR Europe Accreditated Training – 2019
- Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling (EdExcel) – 2009
- Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Gold Counselling – 2000
- Diploma in Clinical Hypnosis and Psychotherapy (Dip-THP) – 2000
I am a BUPA Accredited therapist and take referrals from self-referring members and BUPA direct
I also am registered with:
- AXA
- AVIVA
- CIGMA
- Vitality Health
- Nuffield Health
and all major UK medical insurance providers
For Individuals you would attending weekly sessions and eventually (if appropriate) moving to fortnightly. The duration can be short term (6 – 12) sessions, medium term 12 – 16 sessions, or longer term which could be 20 sessions of more depending on the issues you bring. I tend to work medium term with most people.
For couples sessions are fortnightly and I ask couples to commit to 6 – 12 fortnightly sessions in order for this to be effective.
Everything we discuss is confidential. My professional requires that I undertake supervision to ensure I’m working ethically. Your identity will not be revealed at any time should I discuss you in supervision.
Monday 5.00pm – 9.00pm
Tuesday – Thursday – 7.30am – 9.00pm
I operate a one-week notice cancellation policy. This means for instance that if your weekly session occurs on a Wednesday, then you would need to let me know on that day if you were not able to attend the following week. All cancelled sessions outside the notice period are payable in full.
I tend to work medium term with individuals 16-20 sessions and longer, but counselling can be short 6-12 sessions for an individual issue, or longer where are a a number of issues to deal with. For couples 6-12 sessions maximum is normal.
I practice from a comfortable studio on the front of my discreet terraced house in Forest Gate, East London
Our first step is to meet for an initial session. This is for us to explore the possibility of us working together and for you to get a feel for me and decide whether I’m a good fit for you
I’m a senior accredited member of the NCPS (formerly NCS and abide by their code of professional conduct and an EMDR Europe accredited practitioner.
Working with children and adolescents requires special children and I don’t currently offer this.
“There is hope, even when your brain keeps telling you there isn’t.”
John Green
Instruction for trained EMDR Therapists - The Integrated EMDR and IFS Model
I am the UK organiser of Dr Kendhal Hart’s in-person workshop events in the UK. Dr Hart is a leading international instructor of the EMDR and IFS Integration currently based in San Diego and author of the book of the same name.
Our next live workshop will be held at the University of Greenwich in the Old Royal Naval College site on May 2, 3, 4, 2025.
Please see the link below for details of this event
https://www.kendhalhart.com/events/p/emdrifslondon052025
For details of her other live and virtual workshops please visit
Please reach out by sending me an e-mail using the link below, or alternatively you can reach me by phone.
T: 07826 818567
1 Huddlestone Road, London E7 0AW
Tuesday to Thursday:
8:00am-9:00pm