LOCATION: Wilbury Road
AVAILABILITY: Monday evenings
PRICE: £50-£65 per session
SPECIALISMS:
Eating disorders
Personality disorders
Chronic pain
Depression
Grief
Personal loss
Family bereavement
Divorce
Family estrangement
Deep anxiety
Panic attacks
Coping with neurodiversity (dyslexia, autism, bi-polar)
PTSD
Sexual trauma
Severe long-term illness
Work stress
Work/life balance
Coping with anger and childhood abuse

Training

Phil is an experienced psychodynamic counsellor and psychotherapist with additional training and capabilities for individuals who have experienced different types of in trauma.

He trained at Birkbeck, University of London, completing an M.Sc. in Counselling & Psychotherapy, whilst also working for four, varied, counselling organisations, including an NHS placement.

Approach

Each of us has a unique story and Phil's approach is to help each client uncover their own story whilst working to achieve the change that will help. He aims to connect with, listen to, then deeply understand the client.

Building a strong client/counsellor relationship ensures he establishes a safe space for the client to be able to securely understand and change. Phil uses different approaches depending upon the client's need. Sometimes, experiential techniques may help to bring out the emotional insight within the client and that helps create change. In other situations, the client may need support towards improved self understanding to adjust living patterns or support on how to maximise their own resources and aspirations.

Eating disorders

When we are emotionally disturbed, then we may change our relationship with food and drink to manage our distress. Although these can be emotionally supportive eating patterns, they are risky behaviours that can have a lasting impact on health and immunity.  These eating behaviours may become deeply embedded and hard to change.

Up to 70% of eating/drinking conditions are non-specific and often never diagnosed meaning people may then not get the understanding and help needed. Therapy may be valuable for such embedded conditions in order to help change the core emotional aspects underlying eating disorders.

The therapy process includes working with each client so that they become skilled at understanding themselves and how they react with others as well as with the different parts of their own personality. This self understanding then becomes the heart of the next stage where the client is then supported and guided to better manage their different emotional patterns so that can ultimately lead to improvements in emotional states and in the daily life of the client.

Personality disorders

There are many different mood and personality disorders and conditions, some of which get supported well by our healthcare system, however some conditions may not be diagnosed at all nor understood.

In some situations, people do not exhibit all the conditions for a diagnosis of personality disorders yet still need support. 

Personality conditions generate extreme feelings and behaviours that require support so that client is better able to live and work effectively.

Our work together combines understanding from the past with the ability to understand and manage feelings and behaviours in the present.

Phil combines this with a highly supportive and containing counselling approach that helps each client build more confidence and trust that they can manage their life more positively and effectively.

Working with chronic pain

Chronic long-term pain can have an immensely draining emotional impact that affects both your life and those around you. Pain is often only viewed as a physical thing to be treated by medication or surgery however there is an increased understanding around chronic pain which has led to more holistic ways of managing pain. This includes an understanding of the emotional impacts of the pain itself as well as the relationship of chronic pain to past trauma or emotional deprivation.

The Body Keeps the Score is the mantra of leading pain researcher and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk and his work shows how emotional stress often refers back into the body if we do not adequately process our feelings. Phil can help you with this holistic approach that can ease and better manage your chronic pain as well as understanding the different sources.

Other information

Phil has an analytical yet warm approach to therapy. He is trauma informed in his work and is experienced in supporting people with complex life experiences and family backgrounds. He aims to help people gain a deeper understanding of their issues and provide skills to help clients move forward.

Phil’s articles in expertise and resources