Anxiety: A feeling of worry over something which might happen, has happened or a general feeling of dread which permiates our lives.
Depression: A low mood, lack of motivation, sometimes a feeling of worthlessness.
Trauma: Experiencing frightening, upsetting and distressing events which are difficult to process or move on from.
Anger Management: Unwanted feelings of anger directed towards those around us. Often the source of the anger is unknown to us.
Self Harm: Hurting ourselves, sometimes as an expression of difficult feelings, memories or feeling overwhelmed.
Support for a range of other issues including:
Support for an existing diagnosis of a personality disorder (such as Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder), an eating disorder, bipolar disorder, PTSD or another diagnosis.
I am an experienced Psychodynamic Counsellor and Psychotherapist and a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
I undertook my core training at Highgate Counselling Centre in London where I worked following my qualification. I have since established my private practice in Maidstone, working from my office in the town centre, seeing my clients both face to face and online.
As a member of the BACP I adhere to their ethical framework and believe in providing safe, ethical and positive support for those who wish to address the challenges they are currently facing.
For more information please see my other website: www.jonathansmiththerapy.com
£55 → £75
I work on a sliding scale between £55 and £75 based on what feels affordable, sustainable and appropriate for you.
I work by having an initial session, which is an opportunity for us to meet and discuss you, your past, your present and what has brought you into therapy. Within this session we will discuss fees, the therapeutic frame and the practicalities of our work. We will then have further sessions at an agreed fee, time and place. I tailor my work to the individual so these sessions have no set agenda, they form an opportunity for me to hear from you about your life and you can get a feel for how I work.
I offer long term, open ended therapy on a weekly basis. This means that we do not agree an end date for the therapy, we will continue until a point when you feel you wish to bring our work to a close. I also offer short term therapy over 12 weekly sessions which will have a set and agreed end date. Short term therapy is normally most helpful for a particular issue which you wish to address and tends to be focussed on or around the issue for the duration of the 12 sessions. If you're unsure which type of therapy is going to be most helpful then this is something which we can discuss and agree in our initial sessions.
Normally our sessions will be at the same time on the same day each week, they will last 50 minutes and I charge £55 for an initial session. I only work with my clients on a weekly basis, I do not offer fortnightly or monthly sessions, this is because when the space between the sessions becomes too large then the effect of our work is dramatically reduced. Our sessions will be confidential and will be held in a private space, if we are working remotely via video call you will need to ensure you have access to a private space where you will be undisturbed.
The content of our sessions is within your control, what we speak about will be decided by you, I am there to explore, reflect and be with your emotions.
Psychodynamic therapy is one of the oldest forms talking therapies and is supported by decades of theoretical and clinical research. Recent research has observed the restructuring and strengthening or neural pathways of those engaged in psychodynamic therapy, meaning we not only know it is working because people feel better and live happier lives after therapy, we can also see the changes at a biological level.
Anxiety, depression and emotional disruption can arise when we do not fully understand or process our experiences and relationships, we often protect ourselves by hiding our true feelings towards individuals, events and even ourselves. Ignoring our emotions does not mean they go away, unwanted emotions are like lightning: they will ground themselves somewhere, often expressing themselves in undesirable ways. The better we understand our emotions, and what they are truly a reaction to, the better we can become at regulating and challenging them. Through therapy we aim to gain an honest understanding of our lives and our genuine feelings towards our past and present, when we become aware of our hidden feelings we can process them and release ourselves from their impact.