My Approach

I am an existential psychotherapist working psychoanalytically. By “existential”, I mean the nature and experience of human existence from birth to death, which is unique to every individual and cannot ultimately be fully grasped or understood formulaically or by the natural scientific method. Psychotherapy is the practice of attending to a person who is voluntarily seeking help with problems in living, by paying careful attention to their experiences, choices, and actions in life and relationships, both present and historical.
People come to see me with a range of problems, including anxiety, depression, relationship or family difficulties, loss of meaning and purpose in life, unhelpful habits or obsessions, feeling overwhelmed, difficulty managing emotions, bereavement, and unresolved life events. With my way of working and extensive experience, it is not so much the particular problem that is important, but the person’s wish to work with me - whatever level of distress or despair they are experiencing - in order to better address and overcome what is troubling them. This can enable them to live a more fulfilling and authentic life, with a greater range of possibilities and the opportunity to change their course.
The work initially entails assessing with the person the emotional difficulty or problem for which they are seeking help. This is a joint investigation and can be insightful in understanding experiences both past and present, as well as the nature of their significant relationships and the context of their problems. It is carried out in a supportive and encouraging environment that respects clients’ personal dignity and autonomy.
For those wishing to engage in this joint enterprise, psychotherapy can facilitate the conditions necessary for shedding distressing or unhelpful emotions or behaviours. It can open the way for the person, couple, or family to discover more constructive ways of coping with the complexities of living. Those seeking my assistance may themselves hold the key to resolving their problems. My task is to help them find that key and use it.
The terms of my psychotherapy work are agreed verbally between myself and the client or clients, including the timing of sessions, fees, and arrangements for holidays, sickness, and so on. I am registered with most well-known health insurers, and for those who may struggle with fees, a sliding scale is available.

About Me

I have worked as a psychotherapist in private practice for over 30 years in North London. I am both a qualified psychotherapist and a consultant psychiatrist (with over 20 years’ experience in the NHS). From 2001-2026, I worked at the charity Freedom from Torture as a consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and I continue to provide consultancy advice on a pro bono basis. From 2018-2025, I was a specialist medical psychotherapist for the organisation Community Housing & Therapy, which provided psychologically informed environments and therapeutic communities based on psychodynamic theory. Since 2024, I have worked as a family counsellor at Highgate Primary School. This is a joint project where I help families clarify what the problem is in the context of the child's and family's life so that more appropriate and effective ways of improving the child's life can be found.
Even though I am a qualified consultant psychiatrist, my therapeutic orientation is that of a psychotherapist. This is because, from many years of experience of helping people with a multitude of problems, I believe psychotherapy is more effective and appropriate than standard psychiatric treatments, which can be both demotivating and disabling as a result of medicalising problems of living and the serious side effects of medications.
My practice has been informed and enhanced by training with pioneering existential psychotherapists Dr Aaron Esterson, author of ‘Sanity, Madness and the Family’ (with R.D. Laing) and ‘The Leaves of Spring’, and Anthony Stadlen, founder of the Inner Circle Seminars - an interdisciplinary, ethical, existential-phenomenological search for truth in psychotherapy. My work has also been informed by insights from a wide range of psychotherapists, including Sigmund Freud, who highlighted how experiences in childhood and family relations, both past and present, continue to influence adult life, and C.G. Jung, who founded analytical psychology.

I work with

• Couples
• Families
• Individuals
• Private healthcare referrals

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.

Types of Therapies Offered

• Existential Psychotherapist

What I can help with

• Abuse
• Addiction
• Adoption
• Anger Management
• Bereavement
• Bullying
• Chronic Illness
• Couple Issues
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Family
• Health-related Issues
• Mental Health Issues
• Online Counselling
• Parents
• Phobias
• Separation
• Sexual Abuse
• Suicide
• Supervision