Psychoanalytic Counselling in West London, London

There might be a time when you need a safe space to talk about your thoughts and feelings to help you try to make sense of them. You might be facing challenges in your personal life and inner conflicts, or you might be seeking a deeper understanding of yourself, your ways of relating to others, feelings of loss, emptiness, shame, lack of belonging or self-acceptance. Psychotherapy can offer a valuable environment to explore those feelings and to work through them.

Dr Ruth is a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist working between Singapore and London (UK). She holds a Clinical Doctorate in psychoanalytic psychotherapy from the University of Essex (Psychoanalysis Department) and trained at top London clinical mental health institutions including the Lincoln Centre, UCL, Tavistock Centre and the NHS. Dr Ruth has been practicing for more than 22 years and is fluent in Hebrew and English. Her on-going post doctoral clinical research is focussed on treating complex trauma using Applied Cinematherapy, a therapeutic method she pioneered, and regularly uses. She is also an experienced professional coach.

Life can be difficult at times. We can feel depressed, anxious, stressed, worried or unable to cope. This can impact on all aspects of our lives; personal and professional. Sometimes all a client needs is someone to really listen to them and to accept what they are saying in a non-judgemental way. Therapy comes in all different shapes and sizes and I believe the mode of therapy should fit the client, we are all individuals after all. I put you, the client at the centre of the work and believe that together we can work collaboratively to help you mange your life more happily and successfully.

I am Yianna Kefala, a UKCP/MBACP registered Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist offering both long and short psychotherapy and counselling for adults and couples. Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy enables people to develop a better understanding of themselves and feel more content with various aspects of themselves and their lives. It is usually seen as a journey towards self-discovery and introspection that involves patient and therapist working together. I provide individual sessions, couple counselling/psychotherapy and advice on parenting issues in English and Greek.

For the past eighteen years I’ve worked as a psychotherapist in both the public and private sector. This means not only am I experienced in working with colleagues and clients from a wide variety of social and cultural backgrounds, I have also helped clients through a range of issues including anxiety, depression, relationship/family issues, trauma, abuse, bereavement, stress and low self-esteem.

I work from a psychoanalytic perspective with an attachment-based focus, providing my clients a space to explore how their past might be influencing their life at present, as well as the ways they relate and connect to others. In the therapeutic process I help clients to gain insight into their state of mind by bringing the unconscious to a conscious level. Alongside these processes, I pay dedicated attention to the quality of the relationship between myself and the clients. This combination is a powerful vehicle for facilitating a meaningful change in the clients’ lives.

With a vast multidisciplinary background, I propose various types of therapy adapted to the pace and needs of each person, providing active, welcoming and empathic listening.A brief results-based therapy to cope with the demands of modern life, recommended to solve a wide range of problems such as unexpected events, depression,anxiety, lack of self-esteem,burnout,etc.I will assist you in discovering your inner resources for conflict resolution.I also propose a psychoanalytic therapy where we can work more deeply and generate a broad knowledge of oneself, helping to unburden feelings that have been stored, to act more consciously.

Having been in clinical practice for over 45 years, much of it within the NHS, I have experience in working with most kinds of emotional and psychological difficulties. These include trauma, relationship problems, all kinds of anxiety states, depression and low self-esteem, disorders in the sense of self, ADHD - along with the more subtle states of "feeling different" and the challenges of being a "highly sensitive person" or "indigo" being. Spirituality and working with our higher dimensional aspects are a core part of my work, along with help in identifying a person's 'soul mission' and resolving blocks to pursuing this.

As a Psychotherapist, I provide support to individuals who are seeking professional guidance in navigating processes of change in their lives. It is common for people to experience periods of anxiety or depression. You may find yourself feeling stagnant, lacking motivation, or grappling with a traumatic experience or loss that impacts your life. Work-related stress and relationship difficulties are also commonplace, as is the pursuit of self-development. Therapy provides an opportunity to explore and understand these challenges, fostering self-understanding and enhancing interpersonal relationships.

I believe that we all have a deep need to be understood; the feeling that another human being gets it. For some of us, that feeling is all too rare. Without it, our lives can become deeply unfulfilling, painful and hard, and we can feel let down by others, hurt and alone.  Sometimes we don't even understand for ourselves why things are so difficult.  Perhaps we've become trapped by events of the past, or can’t imagine a new future because the present is so intolerable. Faced with this, we can turn to ways of being that, although they helped initially perhaps, over time just made things worse.

I work as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and I have consulting rooms in Central London and North London. I have more than 30 years’ experience of working in the NHS as well as in independent practice. In my experience people seek therapy for many different reasons. They may be facing a predicament, be anxious, depressed or confused, or feel stuck in repeating patterns of thoughts and behaviour that have adverse effects on their lives. They may have relationship difficulties or questions about their sexuality; they may be finding it difficult to deal with the loss of a person, a position or an identity.

Quite often we have no adequate words to name how we feel, and we may get lost in familiar but unhelpful or hurtful patterns of relationships and behaviours. I offer people who are hurt, worried or isolated with their thoughts to jointly explore ways how to change these patterns.

I am a registered Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) Practitioner Psychologist, and am on the British Psychological Society Register of Applied Psychology Practice Supervisors (RAPPS). I have been in Private Practice in Central London for nine years. Before spending ten years in full-time study and training in London universities and NHS Trusts to qualify as a psychologist, I spent a decade travelling, mainly around Asia, studying Eastern psychology and philosophy. Thus, I have a rich lens of psychological perspectives through which I understand and work with the mind. Psychoanalytic thinking underpins my approach to therapy.

Through a safe and confidential environment one can address issues and construct meaning around intricate and challenging experiences. Taking the first step, and asking for help is a significant movement toward reflecting, understanding and thinking about one's internal world.

​Sometimes life can hurl difficulties our way and leaving us feeling conflicted, confused and depleted and at other times our thoughts and feelings may seem out of balance to the event that triggered them or do not seem to begin from anything specific at all. I work with you in a confidential space, where you can speak freely about what is troubling you, providing you with support and security, such that you no longer have to struggle on by yourself. My areas of expertise lie in treating anxiety, depression, traumata, loss and fertility concerns.

I am a psychodynamic counsellor and psychotherapist registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC). I worked for five years providing long-term psychotherapy to individuals with histories of addiction and childhood trauma. This gave me an understanding of the extent to which adverse early experiences can impact on behaviour and psychic functioning in adulthood. Since then, I have undertaken post-qualifying training in the treatment of PTSD, C-PTSD and trauma-related dissociative disorders. I have a particular clinical and theoretical interest in states of depersonalisation, derealisation and feelings of disconnection.

My academic and clinical training affiliations are with the Psychoanalysis Unit of the University College London (UCL), the WPF Therapy, and the University of Manchester. I am a member of the Association for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in the NHS. I hold an updated DBS Enhanced Certificate for work with adults and children. "See my website www.shirinbiria.com for more details"

I am a psychotherapist accredited UKCP experienced at treating emotional and psychological issues. Until 2021 I divided my time between private practice and the NHS, where I was Principal Psychotherapist for a large NHS Trust. Now in full time private practice I have extensive experience of assessing and treating people from a variety of backgrounds whose problems range from severe and complex to more easily treatable problems including: Self-esteem, personal development, depression, anxiety, addictions, self-harm, personality problems and family and relationship concerns.

Are you looking for an experienced psychotherapist? I have 23 years experience of working in NHS and private practice. I provide a safe and reliable space in which to explore and address emotional problems. I have experience of helping people who are suffering with stress, low mood, relationship problems, social anxiety, self-esteem, eating problems, trauma, feelings of loss and other issues. Once we have worked together and understood the underlying origins of your problems this can lead to feeling more resilient and to a reduction in your distressing symptoms.