Back to Search Results
Chris Ambrose, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Chris Ambrose

EN1
Shortlist Share
Email Therapist
Chris Ambrose, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Chris Ambrose

EN1
Email Therapist
Shortlist Share

My Approach

I work from a Psychosynthesis perspective, which is a holistic and transpersonal approach to therapy. This means I’m interested in the full range of your experience—your struggles, but also your values, inner strengths, and the parts of you that may be waiting to emerge.
People often come to therapy carrying deep pain. They may have experienced trauma, loss, relationship breakdowns, or found themselves simply surviving—disconnected from meaning, using whatever they can to numb what feels unbearable.

I offer a space where we can gently explore these experiences at your pace, with care and without judgement.
Psychosynthesis sees each person as more than just what’s gone wrong. I believe in our innate capacity to heal, grow, and reconnect with who we truly are.

Therapy, as I see it, is a collaborative process—supporting you to move towards greater self-awareness, self-acceptance and choice.
Together, we can begin to uncover what really matters to you, and move towards a fuller, more authentic way of being in the world.

About Me

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I worked for many years as a professional musician and educator. My early career was rooted in creativity and self-expression—first as a classical and jazz guitarist, then as a teacher, producer and songwriter.

Over time, life’s challenges—including a serious health crisis—led me on a deeper journey of self-discovery and healing. That journey eventually brought me to Psychosynthesis, and to the work I now do with others.
I have worked with a range of clients across private practice and charitable organisations, including supporting autistic and disadvantaged young people.

I bring warmth, intuition and real-life experience to my work, and aim to meet each person with care, honesty and respect.
I hold Diplomas in Psychosynthesis Counselling, Psychotherapeutic Counselling and Psychotherapy, and am an Accredited member of the UKCP.

I have also trained in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP at practitioner and master level), Imago, Hypnotherapy, and Mindfulness. I hold Diplomas in both Life and Leadership Coaching.


I offer a free 30-minute consultation, either on Zoom or by phone. This is a gentle starting point—a space for you to share a little about what’s going on, what’s brought you here now, and to begin to explore how we might work together.
It’s also a chance for you to get a feel for me and how I work, and to see whether this feels like a safe and supportive space for you. You’re welcome to ask any questions, and there’s no pressure to decide anything straight away.
If we choose to continue, ongoing sessions can take place in person at my home practice, or remotely by Zoom or phone—whatever feels right for you.

I work with

  • Individuals

Special Interests

Like all UKCP registered psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors I can work with a wide range of issues, but here are some areas in which I have a special interest or additional experience.

Addiction comes in many forms — from phones and shopping, to sex, drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, even work. These are ways we soothe ourselves, ways we try to regulate what feels unmanageable inside. For many, addiction is not about the substance or behaviour itself — it’s about trying to survive pain, anxiety, loss, and deep emotional discomfort. There’s often shame around addiction. But the truth is, we've just found ways to cope, often without realising it. The thing that once helped starts to hurt — and then we get caught in a loop, stuck in a cycle we don’t know how to break. We try to feel better, but the relief is short-lived, and the pain returns. Then the shame grows, and we hide it. In our work together, I offer a space that’s compassionate and non-judgmental. I want to help you face what’s underneath the addiction — the self-abandonment, the fear, the original pain — and to understand how it came to be. Sometimes we’ve taken on guilt, shame, or messages of worthlessness that were never ours to begin with. I want to help you come home to yourself. Through the lens of psychosynthesis, we ask: How is this addiction serving you? and What is the deeper part of you calling for through this behaviour? Because even in our most destructive habits, there is a longing — for peace, connection, meaning. Addiction is often learned. We watched others cope this way — parents, caregivers, family members — and inherited the patterns. There may have been no one there to listen to our pain, to teach us how to be with our feelings. So we pushed it down and found ways to escape. Addiction is a relational wound, and recovery can be a relational healing. Together, we’ll explore not just the pain but also your strength — the survival strategies you’ve developed and how we can gently begin to soften them, not from force, but through understanding and care. I also bring in psychoeducation, where appropriate, so you can begin to make sense of your experiences. Sometimes learning why we feel and react the way we do is the first step toward feeling empowered. Ultimately, I want to help you reconnect — to your emotions, to your body, to your inner world. To use your feelings not destructively, but creatively. To move from numbing to noticing. To begin building a new relationship with yourself — one grounded in compassion, not shame. There is another way — one where healing becomes possible, and where choice slowly returns.
Anxiety often develops as a way of coping with fear, overwhelm, or the experience of not feeling safe — sometimes reaching back to childhood, where it may not have been possible to express emotion without fear of being judged, dismissed, or shamed. Over time, anxiety can become a familiar state: a form of protection, but also a source of distress. Whether it shows up in social situations, through panic attacks, or as a constant sense of dread, the body and mind respond as though danger is present — even when it's not. Through a psychosynthesis lens, I work with clients to explore what lies beneath the anxiety: often unmet needs, survival strategies, or old identities shaped by fear, rejection, or abandonment. Together we begin to recognise the anxious part without being overwhelmed by it — holding it with curiosity and care. I offer psychoeducation to help clients understand their responses, regulate the nervous system, and learn practical tools for self-soothing and emotional resilience. In time, clients can begin to relate to their anxiety differently — not as something wrong with them, but as something that makes sense. And from that understanding, new possibilities for connection, confidence, and calm begin to emerge.
Depression, from a Psychosynthesis perspective, can feel like hopelessness—a repression of the sublime, where the heart closes and the joy seems to disappear. It can trap us in the survival personality, or appear as a midlife crisis, leaving us feeling lost, empty, or as if the light at the end of the tunnel has vanished. We may lack energy, motivation, or the ability to connect with others, feeling cut off from life itself. Depression is often a psychospiritual condition, deeply connected to how we relate to ourselves and the world. Sometimes it stems from loss, bereavement, or difficult relationships. For others, it may be influenced by childhood experiences, including growing up with parents who struggled with depression. Medication may provide relief for some, but the deeper work lies in understanding what depression is trying to protect us from. In therapy, we explore what depression stops you from experiencing or expressing. We ask, What would life be like if you were not depressed? Depression can act as a defence, a way to shield parts of ourselves that felt unsafe or rejected when we were young. Together, we gently examine how showing your true self was met by those around you—and how you can begin to rewrite that narrative. Moving beyond depression can be frightening. It means stepping into the unknown, letting go of old beliefs about who you are, and facing the possibility of change. Yet even a small crack in the darkness can allow light to enter. I hold a warm, safe space for you to express what you’re going through, to explore your feelings and how depression impacts your life. We build a relationship with the depression itself, seeking to understand what it needs and what message it carries. This work is unique for each person—whether rooted in life events, physical health, or deep-seated patterns from childhood. With compassion, support, and psychosynthesis tools, we can uncover your authentic self beneath the shadow of depression. Together, we work towards a life that feels purposeful, meaningful, and connected.
Much of my work centres around relationship—our relationships with others, with ourselves, even with the world around us. Often, the struggles people bring to therapy—whether it’s depression, anxiety, addiction, self-harm, or deep feelings of shame—can be traced back to early relational experiences that shaped how they see themselves and how they move through the world. Many of us grow up in environments where love was conditional, inconsistent, or unsafe. Perhaps we were parented by those who were themselves wounded—parents who couldn’t regulate their emotions, who were caught in addiction, or who placed their unmet needs onto us. In these early dynamics, we learned to survive, but often at the cost of our authentic selves. We might have turned to coping mechanisms that once helped us manage pain but now leave us feeling stuck or disconnected—trapped in patterns that no longer serve us. I work with people who are navigating the impact of these early wounds. This may include experiences of abuse, neglect, abandonment, unmet emotional needs, or growing up in a chaotic or unsafe home. These experiences can lead to difficulty in relationships, chronic stress, emotional numbness, and a deep sense of unworthiness. Together, we begin to explore these patterns—not to blame, but to understand. In doing so, there's a chance to return to parts of yourself that had to be left behind in order to survive. As we build a safe, compassionate space together, therapy becomes a place where you can begin to feel again, to regulate, and to slowly rebuild your relationship with yourself—with empathy, care, and honesty. This kind of healing work is deeply relational. It involves recognising the survival strategies that once protected you, and gently beginning to loosen their hold. It’s about learning to feel safe again in your body, to connect with emotion, and to rediscover the possibility of living from a place of authenticity and wholeness.

Types of Therapies Offered

  • Psychosynthesis Psychotherapist

What I can help with

  • Abuse
  • Addiction
  • Age-related Issues
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Bereavement
  • Bullying
  • Depression
  • Divorce
  • Online Counselling
  • Parents
  • Physical Abuse
  • Post-Traumatic Stress
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Spirituality
  • Stress
  • Telephone Counselling
  • Training
  • Trauma

Types of sessions

  • Face to Face - Long Term
  • Face to Face - Short Term
  • Online Therapy
  • Telephone Therapy

Office


EN1 4TW
United Kingdom (UK)

View Map

Cost:

£80. Some concessions available

UKCP College

  • Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College (HIPC)
Chris Ambrose

Chris Ambrose

EN1
Share

Bookmarks My Shortlist

All shortlisted profiles

Find a therapist near you

Search

Contact us

UK Council for Psychotherapy
York House, 221 Pentonville Road,
London N1 9UZ

020 7014 9955

Links

Connect with us

Privacy | Accessibility | Sitemap | © 2025 UK Council for Psychotherapy. All rights reserved | Registered charity no. 1058545 | Company no. 3258939 - Registered in England 

Find a therapist
Our register UKCP Members