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Oliver Hamilton, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Oliver Hamilton


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Oliver Hamilton, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Oliver Hamilton

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My Approach

My approach is relational and integrative, combining depth psychotherapy with practical ways of working with the difficulties you’re facing. I’m interested in understanding you as a person, not just the symptoms you’re experiencing, and in exploring how your experiences and relationships have shaped the way you think, feel and relate to others.

I believe therapy can involve both psychological depth and practical change. Sometimes it is important to take time to understand the deeper patterns behind what you’re experiencing, bringing together your history, relationships, thoughts, feelings and behaviour to develop a clearer picture of what is happening and why. Where appropriate, I also incorporate evidence-based approaches such as ERP and ACT to help you make meaningful changes in the present. I don’t see these as competing approaches; understanding yourself and making meaningful change can be complementary parts of the same process.

My style is active, engaged and curious. I’ll ask questions, offer observations and sometimes gently challenge patterns or assumptions that may be keeping you stuck. I also think therapy should feel like a genuine relationship between two people, where you can bring things that feel difficult, confusing or uncomfortable to talk about, and we can explore them openly.

The first step is an initial conversation, which is free of charge. It gives us an opportunity to talk about what has brought you to therapy and whether I might be the right therapist for you.

About Me

I’m a UKCP-registered psychotherapist and clinical supervisor, working online in private practice with adults experiencing anxiety, intrusive thoughts, OCD or obsessional thinking, relationship difficulties and the effects of traumatic experiences.

My core training was in Transactional Analysis, an approach that explores how our experiences shape the way we understand ourselves, relate to others and develop recurring patterns. My practice has since developed into a broader relational and integrative approach, also informed by attachment theory and contemporary approaches to psychological change. I draw on these perspectives to understand difficulties in context, rather than viewing them in isolation.

I have also undertaken additional training in working with OCD and anxiety, including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mental OCD (“Pure O”) and intrusive thoughts, and trauma. Alongside my psychotherapy work, I supervise other therapists, supporting them in reflecting on their clinical work and professional development.

I offer sessions online from my Brighton-based practice, to clients throughout the UK and, where local regulations permit, internationally.

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.

Anxiety isn’t always experienced as obvious fear or panic. It can show up as persistent worry, constantly anticipating what could go wrong, overthinking, replaying conversations, seeking reassurance, perfectionism, difficulty making decisions, fear of uncertainty, health anxiety, or avoiding situations that feel difficult. You might also notice it physically, through tension, restlessness, a racing heart or difficulty sleeping, and those sensations can become a source of further worry. Anxiety can also turn thinking into a loop, where you spend a lot of time analysing possibilities or searching for an answer that feels certain enough, and find it hard to recognise when thinking has stopped being helpful. I work with a range of anxiety difficulties, helping you understand the patterns behind them while developing more flexible ways of responding to anxious thoughts, feelings and situations. That involves looking at both what may contribute to your anxiety, including past experiences, relationships and learned patterns, and what keeps it going in the present. Where appropriate, I incorporate practical approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) into a relational, depth-oriented approach. Anxiety doesn’t always need to disappear before you can move forward, so the work is often about responding to it differently, rather than organising your life around avoiding it.
OCD can take many forms. It might begin with a thought, image or doubt that feels disturbing or difficult to leave alone, or you may become caught up in the experience of thinking itself, monitoring your thoughts, paying close attention to how you feel, or becoming preoccupied with whether your mind is working as it should. You might find yourself analysing why a thought appeared, checking whether a feeling is genuine, seeking reassurance, or trying to reach a certainty that never quite arrives. The more you try to work it out or get control, the more entangled you can become. I work with intrusive thoughts and OCD, including predominantly mental forms sometimes referred to as “Pure O”, and hyperawareness or Sensorimotor OCD. Where appropriate, I draw on evidence-based approaches such as Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which help change the patterns that keep the cycle going and develop a different relationship with uncertainty. I also work within a broader relational and depth-oriented approach. Alongside the practical work, therapy can make room to explore why particular thoughts have become so significant, and how your history, relationships and sense of yourself shape the way you respond to uncertainty. You don’t need to arrive with a diagnosis or a clear understanding of what is happening.
Relationships often bring out our most established ways of thinking, feeling and responding. You might find yourself repeating the same dynamics with different people, struggling with trust or boundaries, feeling anxious when someone becomes distant, or going over conversations trying to work out what they meant. You may understand these patterns quite clearly and still find it difficult to respond differently. I work with recurring difficulties in relationships, combining relational, depth-oriented psychotherapy with a focus on practical change. Therapy can help you explore how earlier experiences have shaped the way you relate to others, and how those patterns play out in your life now. Many patterns began as ways of coping with the situations we found ourselves in, which is partly why they persist after those situations have changed. That doesn’t mean everything goes back to childhood. Present relationships matter too, and part of the work is telling the difference between an old pattern being activated and a genuine difficulty in the relationship you’re in. Understanding a pattern and being able to change it are two different things. What therapy can offer is the chance to notice a pattern as it happens, in your current relationships and sometimes in the relationship we develop in therapy, and to explore what it might be like to respond differently. The aim is to give you more choice in how you respond.
Trauma can affect how you experience yourself, other people and the world around you. Sometimes this follows a clearly identifiable event or period in your life; at other times, it can be connected to experiences that were difficult to make sense of at the time, particularly when they happened within important relationships. You might find yourself feeling constantly on edge, struggling to trust others, becoming easily overwhelmed, or finding that certain situations bring up feelings that seem disproportionate to what is happening in the present. You may also notice patterns of avoidance, emotional disconnection, shame or difficulties in relationships that are hard to understand or change. I work with people who are living with the effects of trauma, including experiences of childhood adversity, relational trauma and difficult or overwhelming life events. I recognise that trauma is not simply about what happened, but also about how those experiences have shaped the ways you relate to yourself and others, and the patterns you may have developed to cope. My approach is relational and depth-oriented, creating space to explore these experiences and understand how they continue to influence your life. Alongside this, I draw on practical approaches where appropriate to help with things such as managing anxiety, working with difficult emotions and developing a greater sense of safety and stability. Therapy moves at a pace that feels manageable, with an emphasis on building a relationship in which difficult experiences can gradually be understood and worked through. You don't need to have a clear understanding of your experiences or consider them traumatic to begin exploring how they might be affecting you.

Types of Therapies Offered

  • Transactional Analysis Psychotherapist

What I can help with

  • Abuse
  • Addiction
  • Anxiety
  • Couple Issues
  • Depression
  • Mental Health Issues
  • Obsessions
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
  • Online Counselling
  • Relationships
  • Stress
  • Supervision
  • Trauma

Types of sessions

  • Online Therapy

UKCP College

  • Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College (HIPC)
Oliver Hamilton

Oliver Hamilton

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020 7014 9955

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