About psychoanalytic psychotherapy

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What is psychoanalytic child and adolescent psychotherapy?

Psychoanalytic child psychotherapy, often called child psychotherapy for short, is a highly specialist NHS and NICE Guideline approved therapeutic approach. It is rooted in psychoanalysis, combined with observational skills and a broad understanding of child development research. It is a very different approach to CBT or more common, structured models of therapy. All child and adolescent psychotherapists are registered with the Association of Child Psychotherapy.

Child psychotherapy is a child led approach – we follow whatever a child, young person, family or network bring to their appointment, and we can work with patients who can’t or don’t use words to communicate. Child psychotherapists are trained to work with highly distressing and disturbing states of mind, and through the use of getting alongside the patient, either in play, talking, art-making or non-verbal communication, we use our observational skills to put the feelings being shared into words, to assist the people we work with to build self-understanding, and their own choice and agency in how to move forward with the aim of gradually reducing their distress. Child psychotherapists often work closely with parents, carers, staff-teams and networks to support their understanding, to bring alive the voice of the child, and to ensure a holistic support plan is in place.

What is your training and experience?

Child psychotherapists take a minimum of six years to qualify, working through a pre-clinical Masters, and then a four year doctoral level clinical training within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the NHS. We are trained to work with children and young people aged 0-25, and their families, carers, and networks. I spent seven years training, opting for an additional dissertation year.

It is a highly rigorous and demanding training – during my training I specialised in working with care experienced children, particularly those in residential settings, and in working with children with co-occurring diagnoses of severe mental ill health, trauma, attachment difficulties and neurodiversity and/or learning disabilities.

My prior experience includes working as: a senior mental health practitioner in CAMHS, lead therapist in a crisis service for children and young people, a parent-infant therapist, and as senior child and family counsellor within the charitable and private sector. I have over a decade of experience in working in child and adolescent mental health with all sorts of presenting difficulties. I am also trained to post-graduate group-work practitioner level by the Institute of Group Analysis.

Where are you based?

I am based in North Staffordshire but I can cover most of the county, and some of Cheshire, dependent on need. I can visit schools and homes as required. My consulting room is located within 15 minutes of Crewe and Newcastle-under-Lyme, and whilst it is served by a bus from the train stations, it is easier to access by car. I can also offer online work in some instances such as supervision, parent/carer work, network work and some work with older teens.

What sorts of difficulties can you help with?

I am trained to offer support with a wide range of difficulties from separation anxiety, school and social anxiety, challenges arising through neurodiversity, all the way to severe anxiety and depression, eating disorders, emerging personality disorders, and high levels of dysregulation, chronic distress or confusing behaviour. I will work alongside psychiatry/medical colleagues and crisis teams as needed in instances where there are concerns around risk of harm, or medical need and I can support in assessing where additional professional help may be required. Please email me if you have questions around the sorts of struggles I can support with.

What do you offer?

Please click the links below for further information:

What are your fees?

My standard fee is £60 per therapeutic session, and £60 per hour of supervision.

I have some concessionary rates available and my day rates for working with organisations are available on request; please drop me an email.