Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy
ISTDP London
I am an experienced HCPC registered Counselling Psychologist and BPS Chartered Psychologist offering private counselling & relationship counselling, face to face and online at Earls Court, Kensington. I specialise in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP). Before founding the Relationship Trauma Psychologist in 2014, I had already been working in the NHS for a number of years with the full spectrum of needs in primary, secondary and tertiary care settings with both outpatients and inpatients, individuals, groups, and families.
I have always wanted to create a safe space where individuals and couples could have the time to think about themselves in depth and create more mindful connections. I am committed to offering therapy which is accessible to people who have experienced trauma and members of the LGBTQA+ community.
In addition to my doctoral training in counselling psychology, I hold a number of postgraduate qualifications:
– I am an advanced trainee in Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)
– a certificate in the psychoanalytic understanding and treatment of trauma (the Tavistock & Portman NHS Trust)
– a masters in the theory of psychoanalysis (University College London)
– a masters in work psychology (University of East London)
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)
+ ISTDP is based on what I call the Power of Precise Attention. We learn to pay attention to ourselves with ‘love, care, and precision’. When we know ourselves we are in a position of strength to deal with our relationships, manage difficulties, and live fulfilling lives.
+ ISTDP is derived from psychoanalysis which provides the most sophisticated view of the human mind, but it could not be more practical in its delivery.
+ ISTDP is informed by neurobiology with its emphasis on emotions and the body.
+ I practice Attachment Based ISTDP which uses the “graded format approach”. This makes it very safe for patients because it prioritises a high degree of collaboration, explanation of its methods, eliciting consent, and minute attention to patient’s conscious and unconscious feedback, moment to moment.
+ ISTDP therapist and their patient aim to be very precise about what the problem is and what is getting in the way of solving it. Like any form of dynamic therapy it assumes that people are able to function well; if they knew what was getting in the way of solving their problems they would have addressed it. So the blocks must be unconscious and this is what dynamic psychotherapies focus on.
+ Emotions are integral in decision making, but they operate in the background. If you want to be a CEO you need to bring them to the foreground. ISTDP aims to help you feel your emotions fully and deeply as soon as possible.
Professional registrations
I am registered as a Counselling Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), the organisation that regulates psychology in the UK. I am also chartered with the British Psychological Society (BPS), which is the gold standard of practice for British psychologists. I abide by the code of ethics and standards of practice of both organisations. You can locate my registration details by clicking on the above links.
