I offer weekday appointments, plus Saturday mornings, with some availability during early mornings and evenings. Where appropriate (particularly with older teenagers and parents) I am happy to work online.
Sessions last fifty minutes and take place weekly. My rooms are in Putney (near Putney Bridge tube station) and Hampton Hill (High Street).
I undertake work with children of all ages, using play, art and observation as a way of gently understanding what might be going on for them in their life.
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Most families will contact me when they are concerned about their child’s emotions or behaviour, or about a particular event that has happened in their child’s world, for example family breakdown, divorce, problems at school or bereavement. Or there may simply be a growing feeling or worry about their child that they would like to think about further.
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I understand that your child starting therapy is a big step, and I offer initial parent session/s to help you feel at ease with me and the work I do. Should you want these sessions to be ongoing alongside my sessions with your child – and this can be particularly helpful with younger children – then that is also possible, as is doing stand-alone parent work. It means that you are working with someone to support you while you support your child.
I work with young people up to the age of nineteen. These years can be challenging – and lonely – for adolescents, and seeing a therapist can provide stability at a time of great emotional and physical change.
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Psychotherapy is a steady space occurring at the same time every week that is purely for and about the individual. This can be unusual for an adolescent immersed in school, friends, family and social media. How I work with adolescents depends on their age and situation; with the younger age group we may continue to play games and work with art. Older teens tend to be able to slowly start to think and talk about what is going on for them, and enjoy the sense of getting to know and understand themselves, becoming more curious about their emotions and relationships.
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I work with adolescents going through a variety of challenges which can include anxiety, anger, social isolation, family problems and breakdown, issues connected with school and bullying, friendships and relationships, ongoing medical conditions, staying safe and healthy and disordered eating.
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I find it helpful to meet regularly with parent/s throughout the therapy, or – if your teenager does not feel it is the right time for them to see a therapist – I offer stand-alone parent work.
Being a parent can feel complicated, especially if your child or adolescent is struggling and the situation feels uncertain, even hopeless. Parent work isn’t psychotherapy for you, but rather thinking about your own experience of parenting alongside a child psychotherapist.
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Being able to speak openly and honestly, without being judged, can be a relief and bring a new sense of freedom to parenting, allowing space for a little more hope to develop. You may be thinking of contacting a therapist because of a specific event – for example family breakdown or bereavement, problems at school or a recent diagnosis of your child or teenager – or you may just feel the need for extra support.
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For parents of older children, just as being an adolescent can be lonely, so can parenting one be. There may be a new distance between parent/s and teenagers as conversations and shared interests start to falter. Where confiding in your own friends and family may once have been helpful, things can now start to feel more private. Parent work can give you the opportunity to reflect on this and other issues, in the context of your shifting role as a parent.