DO I NEED THERAPY?

For more than a century, the transformational approaches of psychotherapy have been helping people to deal better with many of life’s problems.

The target list includes everything from anxiety, stress and depression, relationship breakdown and bereavement, lack of self-esteem, or problems at work, through to addictions, phobias and compulsive behaviour.

Almost anyone can benefit. The process is safe and confidential, and  is aimed at exploring the basic principles which lead to happiness and the better handling of stress. We take courses on how to operate a computer or drive a car – so why not in how to understand with greater insight how we think and function as human beings?

APPROACH

As I have outlined above, I trained in psychodynamic and existential therapy in my post-graduate diploma, and then in CBT, Schema Therapy and EMDR.  This gives me access to a variety of therapeutic approaches, an extensive ‘toolbox’.  My way of working is always tailored to my clients’ needs.

Sessions are usually 50 minutes and take place weekly, usually in a regular time slot. I can also work on  a more flexible basis. Psychotherapy can also be via Skype if work schedules do not permit attendance.

Underpinning everything is my understanding of attachment, the science of human development, which in the last decade has undergone revolutionary advances in explaining our basic needs and behaviour.

Attachment science shows that we are shaped considerably by the care we receive in the early years of our life. If children receive good enough care they usually grow up to be happy and contented adults capable of dealing with stress and other life problems. If they do not, that is often the basis of subsequent feelings of anxiety, lack of self-esteem and dissatisfaction.

How we are today is based on our childhood experiences. Reaching an understanding of the issues involved through gentle, careful exploration helps to re-write our outlook so that we are happier, more flexible and able to handle stress.

ABOUT ME

I was born in West Yorkshire, and grew up with mum, dad, two sisters and a brother. I went to the local grammar school and then to Cambridge University.

My career has spanned journalism, public relations and business development at boardroom level. I have set up and run a wide variety of enterprises in the media sector. I thus have extensive ‘real world’ experience.

I studied to become a psychotherapist at Regents University in London, where I gained a Post-graduate Diploma in Counselling Psychotherapy, and since 2012 have been in practice primarily at The Rock Clinic in Brighton.

As well as being an accredited member of BACP, I am also a member of the International Society of Schema Therapists, qualification for which is the successful completion of the approved training courses, including one covering working with couples.

Schema Therapy is an exciting and fast-expanding approach to psychotherapy developed over the past 25 years. It has been found through research to be effective in dealing with even the knottiest of psychological problems.   

I place great weight on continuing professional development so that I can help clients as effectively as possible. My other qualifications include:

• CBT: In 2014-15, I undertook a year-long training in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy based at the University of Sussex Counselling Centre;
• Supervision: I have learned to become a supervisor of other psychotherapists through a course approved by the British Association of Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Counsellors (BAPPS) in 2017-2019;
• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing): I have now qualified as an EMDR practioner after taking an intensive course approved by EMDR Europe (the professional body regulating standards in this modality). Evidence shows that EMDR can be particularly effective in dealing with trauma, but has general importance as part of the treatment 'toolbox'.

I am also currently Chairman of the Rock Clinic Association, the charitable body which runs the two low-cost therapy clinics in Brighton where I work as a therapist. It is an association of 120 psychotherapists seeing around 800 patients per week.

Through my personal journey, I thus have an expert understanding of human problems and dilemmas. I am now working, using latest academic knowledge and insights to help facilitate change for the better in other people’s lives.

THE THERAPY

This is not based on me telling you what to do.

Coming to therapy can seem daunting. But it is about exploring and finding out about yourself. I aim to make that process as illuminating, rewarding and stimulating as possible.

I will generally start with gently probing questions about what is on your mind as you embark on the therapy and we will gradually explore the factors that have led to what you are today: about your family, your parents, your friendships, your work, your education, and your concerns.

There is no set formula, it is about gradually building a picture and a relationship with me which allows us to look at your life and what has shaped you in new ways so that new insight and understanding can be created.

Every client has different needs and every approach is different.

ENDORSEMENTS

“David is both a sensitive and gentle psychotherapist with a wide range of therapeutic trainings and a 'real life' experience of working in the Courts and in the media. The latter enables him to empathise with what his clients have to face in their lives whilst his different therapeutic skills provide him with a variety of approaches in guiding them through their therapeutic journey.

“As someone who has worked with David in studying the importance of attachment and trauma in understanding his clients' difficulties and suffering, I have come to admire him for his real dedication to their well being: he is a therapist who has the gift of making his clients feel safe and understood.”

Dr Felicity de Zulueta, Emeritus Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy at the SLaM NHS Foundation Trust and Hon. Senior Lecturer in Traumatic Studies at KCL

"I have known David as first a colleague and then a close friend for over 25 years. He is a man of huge intelligence which he wears lightly. He has also has a broad experience of life - as a journalist, senior executive, magistrate and carer. He has a deep capacity for empathy. He is able to bring all these aspects of a very rounded background into his practice.

He is a man whose judgement I would trust and someone I would turn to in a crisis. He also has an engaging ability to identify what is truly important in life and look past immediate crises to what lies beyond."

Paul Vickers, former Secretary and Group Legal Director, Trinity Mirror PLC, and now company lawyer, Daily Telegraph.