My Approach

I know from personal experience how powerful the therapeutic space can be. I also know that coming to therapy can feel like a big step. I welcome people of all identities, cultures, sexualities and faiths, and am committed to holding a confidential and non-judgmental space for you to:
- make sense of your life experiences, discovering new perspectives and meanings that allow you to feel more comfortable in your own skin
- process painful thoughts and feelings, explore ways in which you feel stuck, and release emotions that have been blocked
- find new ways to cope with the challenges that life brings, and to relate with those around you
- reconnect with parts of yourself that you’ve lost touch with, to help you recognise your values and needs, and live your life accordingly.

Everyone is different and I tailor my approach to you as an individual or couple, but attunement to your experience of the world is at the heart of how I work. I believe that, alongside difficult and challenging events in the present, our early experiences and relationships can have a profound influence on how we feel and behave, what we believe about ourselves and how we relate to others around us.

Therapy can bring about deep and lasting change, through exploring these beliefs and patterns together, and opening up space for new possibilities to emerge.

Outdoor work:
I am now offering outdoor therapy as an alternative to my indoor practice.

The potential physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors are well researched: it can help to regulate us emotionally, perhaps soothing or re-energising us, and I see this as a valuable part of outdoor therapy. I’ve also experienced how therapy in an outside space can, for some people, open things up in a different way from talking face-to-face in a room.

I have trained in an ecological practice that can include exploration of our relationship with the environment we are in, moment to moment, as well as reflecting on what might be happening inside us, or between therapist and client, as we might in a more ‘traditional’ setting.

Ecotherapy can enliven and deepen our understanding of ourselves, of how we connect to others (including but not exclusively people!), and of our relationship with the world we are moving among. It can feel vital, and vital-ising, to spend time tending to any or all of these relationships.

I work in a woodland area local to me, in which during a session we might walk and talk, but also allow space for pauses and quiet reflection, sitting or standing: how we spend the time is something we can shape together, in contact with what might arise as we go.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the where/how/when etc, please feel free to contact me via email.


Accessibility (indoors):
Please note - there are a small number of steps (up and down) on the way into my therapy space.

My indoor work is in a garden office. There are a small number of steps up and down on the way in, and there is no access to a toilet at these premises. I am near a high street with several cafes and am happy to advise on alternative local facilities if necessary.

Please let me know if you have any other access needs - I am open to discussing ways in which I can reasonably accommodate these.

Please feel free to email me on chris[dot]elcombe[@]outlook[dot]com if you would like to discuss the possibility of working together.

About Me

I am a fully qualified psychotherapist and counsellor, offering short- and long-term therapy to individuals, both indoors and outdoors (see below for more on this). My practice is based in south-east London, in Sydenham (SE26).

I work with

• Individuals

Types of Therapies Offered

• Transactional Analysis Psychotherapist

What I can help with

• Abuse
• Addiction
• ADHD
• Age-related Issues
• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Bereavement
• Chronic Illness
• Couple Issues
• Cultural Issues
• Depression
• Divorce
• Gender
• Health-related Issues
• Identity Problems
• Infertility
• Mental Health Issues
• Obsessions
• Parents
• Phobias
• Race Issues
• Relationships
• Separation
• Sexuality
• Spirituality
• Stress
• Transgender
• Trauma