Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
& Dramatherapy

A space for reflection, insight and change

Reviews

"I’ve been working with Andrew for a couple of years now, and I have found our work to be very insightful.Andrew is incredibly knowledgeable and has supported me through some very challenging times and has been helping me to make sense of things by gaining a wider and different perspective.I couldn’t recommend Andrew as a therapist more, working with him is a journey worthwhile experiencing."- individual therapy patient

"Andrew has a healing ability to be able to hear and validate two completely charged and opposing view points.This skill of his has enabled our relationship to grow, to accept, to soften and to deepen. I've always left the session feeling so much better however challenging the time has been.I've learnt a lot and I thought I was emotionally pretty savvy before!! Thank you Andrew. Deep respect."- couple's therapy patient

Approach

How I work and how it helps

Specialisms | Inclusive Practice | Reviews

What is my approach to therapy?

The therapy I provide draws from both psychoanalytic psychotherapy and dramatherapy. Both are concerned and utilise the unconscious, that is our drives, desires, childhood/early experiences and social factors, which, though we may not be conscious of, can often determine our thoughts, feelings and behaviour and contribute to problems and difficulties we may be experiencing today.It can be helpful to consider your past experiences, primarily through talking (often aided by the couch) but also through other means, such as dreams, free association, images, bodily movements and art. We may also consider the influence of social factors, identity and relationships too, such as one's relationship to gender, race and sexuality.Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy is also concerned with the relationship between patient and therapist too, which can often provide insights into the patient's difficulties in a more direct 'in the present' sense.

How does it help?

Through talking and expressing, patients embark on a process - a move into new territory.Patterns that may seem unchangeable and fixed can become more fluid, one can loosen up, creating space for new understandings and ways of being to emerge. This is not often a quick or an easy journey. There are often unconscious (and conscious) motivations for remaining where we are, with the difficulties and ways of thinking that brought us into therapy in the first place.Over time, you may find more room to self-authorise, to think and act differently, with more fluidity move towards new or different possibilities.

Specialisms

I believe it's important to hear what each person brings to therapy and how they bring it. For me, a person's experience is often more significant than their diagnosis. I have worked extensively in the following areas - but my work is not reduced to their categories or types:Relationship difficulties, feelings of fear, stress and anxiety, mental health worries (unsatisfactory experiences in the NHS) major life changes, trauma, bereavement, separation/divorce, senses of self and identity, low mood/lack of motivation or purpose, feelings of existential anguish, social isolation, suicidal thoughts. thoughts of mortality, sexual worries and difficulties, eating disorders, feelings and experiences of loss, neurodivergence, exclusion from work/school, adoption and fostering, mental health crisis work and the ageing process
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Expertise

Qualifications, training and experience

Qualifications | Experience | Influences

Background

I trained as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist at the Philadelphia Association, London (2020-2025), a pioneering institution founded in 1965 by psychiatrist and psychoanalyst RD Laing. The Philadelphia Association has remained critical of manualised treatments and interventions for those that experience mental distress. It seeks to look beyond a person's symptoms to consider wider societal factors in understanding difficulties and suffering. I am the Honorary Secretary of the Philadelphia Association and sit on the Council of Management.Before training as a psychotherapist, I trained as a dramatherapist at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London (2006-8) and have had many years experience of working with young people, families and groups. I worked extensively in the fields of bereavement, eating disorders, abuse, exclusion from school, neurodiversity, adoption and. I have many years of experience working as a Specialist Mental Health Practitioner in the NHS both in a CAMHS Mental Health Crisis Team and an Eating Disorders Service.

Qualifications & Professional Affiliations

Experience

Influences

I work in a philosophical way and I am influenced by:

Location & fees

Getting here

Location

I work in person in Hampstead, North West London and online.My Hampstead practice is based at the Philadelphia Association, 4 Marty's Yard, Hampstead High Street, London, NW3 1QW. It's less than 5 minutes' walk from Hampstead Underground Station and 15 minutes from Hampstead Heath Overground.I work during the day Monday - Friday (some evenings and Saturday mornings too).

Fees

Initial Consultations (50 mins): £501:1 adults or adolescents (50 mins) £65
Couples (50mins) £95
Families/Small Groups (up to 4 persons) (1 hour) £150
Families/Small Groups (up to 4 persons) (1.5 hours) £195Larger groups costs are available on request.

Contact

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