Our Services
Therapy Services Counselling deals with issues through discussion and exploration. It is often short-term and counsellors may use person-centred and cognitive-behavioural techniques.
Psychotherapy is similar though it explores issues in greater depth and may be long-term. Psychotherapists often make use of psychodynamic, existential and psychoanalytic principles.
Consultant Psychiatrists can help with a medical diagnosis of any mental health issue. They are also able to prescribe medication.
Therapeutic Approaches
Over the years we have built up an unrivalled reputation in therapeutic services.
Our therapists are qualified in a number of approaches and will tailor treatment to your needs. We can offer you a general assessment to discuss your main issues and to establish a suitable therapeutic approach. We are also able to accommodate your request for a specific counselling model.
Therapists practice from different theoretical standpoints. Commonly known approaches include cognitive behavioural therapy, humanistic (person-centred) counselling, existential, psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapy.
Some counselling research studies have shown that the most important variable in a successful course of therapy is the quality of the relationship between the client and therapist. It is important that you feel that you can connect with your therapist, regardless of their theoretical approach.
Our Philosophy
We provide you with a safe, confidential space to talk, explore, heal and grow. We're here to help you to understand your areas of difficulty, gain relief from present symptoms and develop resources to cope in the future.
We believe in a mind-body connection so that improvements in psychological well-being translate into physical vitality. The benefits of our psychotherapy and counselling work include self-insight, inner fulfillment, raised self-esteem, a positive outlook and improved relationships.
Accessible to all
Empathy offers its services to all Kurdish, Turkish and Turkish Cypriot people in UK irrespective of their political, ethnic and religious backgrounds.Empathy services are all completely non-denominational and politically unaligned.
Confidentiality
All those employed at Empathy perform their duties within a framework of confidentiality. Personal information given to GPs, other professionals and staff by users will not be passed on to anyone outside of the service except where there is a legal requirement to do so i.e. where there are child protection issues or where there is threat of self-harm or harm to another individual.
Committed to Quality
Empathy's staff members are committed and highly educated people who come from the communities it seeks to serve. All our staff members are police checked. We have been highly successful in developing and running services to meet the needs of our communities. We advise professionals to ensure services are developed to meet the needs of our communities, and that already existing services are appropriate to their needs, culture and sensitivities.
We have a complaints procedure which is widely publicised. Our staffs are not allowed to accept gifts from our service users.
We are proud to offer a range of therapies to help with any psychological issue.
Counselling Approaches
Humanistic/Person-Centered - Person-Centred / Humanistic Counselling is a supportive form of therapy where you are given the space and safety to share your concerns. Person-Centred / Humanistic Counselling is based on the philosophy that individuals are full of potential for growth. Given the right conditions, people are all capable of being loving, creative and knowledgeable. Humanistic therapy evolved in the 1950s and 1960s in the USA as part of a ‘human potential movement’.
What does Person-Centred / Humanistic Counselling look like in practice?
A Person-Centred Counsellor will ask questions which lead you to deep discoveries about your feelings, your blind spots, your needs and your hopes. Person-centred Counselling forms the backdrop to all our counselling work. Your therapist will be empathic, understanding, supportive and non-judgemental.
Further reading on Person-Centred / Humanistic Therapy
Mearns, David & Thorne, Brian (1999) Person-Centred Counselling in Action. Sage Publications.
Psychodynamic Counselling - What is Psychodynamic Psychotherapy & Counselling?
Psychotherapy based on psychodynamic principles makes use of the idea that how you behave now is determined by past experiences. Psychodynamic practice aims to help you make sense of your existing situation and of the feelings and thoughts and associated memories that are brought about by this situation. In psychodynamic counselling, these feelings, thoughts, images and even dreams can be analysed to gain deeper understanding of how you relate to yourself and to others.
What does Psychodynamic Therapy/Counselling look like in practice?
Psychodynamic counselling employs strict boundaries with regards to session time-keeping, setting a therapeutic contract, breaks and endings. Such boundaries help to contain and hold the client. A psychodynamic counsellor usually keeps to the rule of abstinence and anonymity, so that the client knows little about the therapist. This can help show up transference reactions which can highlight important information about the client’s past experiences.
Psychodynamic counsellors work with ‘transference’ which is the process that occurs in therapy when the client responds to the counsellor as if to a significant other person from the client’s past. Transference allows the counsellor to learn more about the client’s developmental course from child to adult. Transference in the therapeutic relationship can be positive or negative. Positive transference may including feelings of care or concern for the other. Negative transference may involve feelings of dislike, loathing or mistrust. Psycho-dynamic therapists may also work with ‘counter transference’ which is the counsellor’s reactions towards the client.
What issues are suited for Psychodynamic Therapy & Counselling?
Psychodynamic psychotherapy and counselling has wide application. It can help with anxiety, stress in the work place, work-life imbalances, relationship issues (break-up, divorce, affairs, choosing inappropriate partners, loneliness, life adjustments, marital problems, arguments, jealousy, wedding & premarital counselling), trauma, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating problems and negative body image, depression (including suicidal thoughts, low mood, social withdrawal), phobias & fears, addiction, low-self esteem & confidence, abuse (including verbal and sexual abuse), bereavement, grief and loss.
Further reading on Psychodynamic Counsellin
Existential Counselling - Existential psychotherapy and counselling draws its frame of reference from a philosophical tradition rather than medical or diagnostic principles. Unlike other, more prescriptive approaches, existential therapy acknowledges that within all our lives we may face times when our own particular/unique struggles can feel overwhelming. ‘Existential – Phenomenology’ takes the human condition as the focus of investigation and therapy focuses on the uniqueness of each individuals, particular experience.
Through the therapeutic relationship, existential practice creates an opportunity for clients to develop new awareness of the challenges they feel confronted with, and therefore uncover new choices and paths in overcoming life’s emotional difficulties. By building self-knowledge and self-awareness clients are able to grow and conquer issues which may at times feel all consuming or overwhelming. Suffering from severe anxiety or panic attacks, for example, can be addressed through an understanding that anxiety is not similar to a virus, which can be caught (in the same manner as a cold or flu), but is the outcome of choices we have made in the past, and can make in the future, in life and the context we find ourselves in.
By exploring your context or ‘worldview’ in therapy, it becomes possible to understand these choices and create new opportunities to develop and see a way out of your personal suffering/situation. In exploring our relationships we also explore the way that everything we do is dependent on the context of our lives. The fluid and relational nature of existential psychotherapy makes it a relevant and useful approach for the hugely varied and individual challenges life presents to each one of us, in a unique way.
Existential therapy essentially helps deal with the problems of everyday living, such as relationship difficulties (both with Individuals & with Couple Therapy), anxiety/fear, food/body-image issues, addictions, mood disorders, social anxiety, panic, trauma, low self-esteem, unresolved childhood issues, sexual issues and others. It is a clear, direct and honest approach helping clients work on their particular, unique, experiences, problems, dilemmas and issues. It is appropriate for both short and long term therapy.
Cognitive Behavioural CBT - Issues for CBT
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Depression
- Relationships
- Work/career
- Self-esteem
- Anger
- Eating disorders
- Trauma
- Bereavement
- Phobias
- Addictions
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Sexual Problems
- Self-Development
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy / CBT at Harley Therapy London
Our psychologists have many years of training and clinical experience as specialised Cognitive Behavioural Therapists. They have studied in the top UK institutions and offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for all conditions including: depression, stress, anxiety, trauma, eating issues, low self-esteem, anger management, relationship difficulties, sexual problems, work/career issues and phobias/obsessive compulsive disorder.
What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is an evidence-based treatment based on the idea that thoughts, feelings and behaviours are interconnected. The essence of cognitive work is to examine underlying thoughts behind the emotional problems and to generate alternative, more balanced thoughts. Cognitive therapists aim to work on your thoughts and behaviours to help improve how you feel.
How many Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions do I need?
The number of Cognitive Therapy sessions depends on your presenting issues. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy tends to be short term. A first consultation will establish how many Cognitive Behavioural Therapy sessions may be indicated.
What evidence is there for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy?
The Government-produced NICE guidelines recommend Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) as a treatment of choice for a number of mental health issues. This is based on numerous studies showing the effectiveness of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy at Empathy in London
Please call us to book an initial consultation with one of our Cognitive Behavioural Therapists at our Central London Practice.
Psychoanalytic Therapy - Psychoanalytic theory offers very useful principles which are adopted in our longer-term Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy. A Psychoanalyst aims to uncover the unconscious factors that may underlie your problems.
The presence of unconscious factors means that the advice of others or self-help books can fail to provide relief. Psychoanalysis sheds light on these factors, showing how they affect your current ways of living and how you can deal better with the demands of adult life.
Psychoanalysis relies on the method of 'Free Association' (developed by Sigmund Freud). The process entails saying whatever comes into your head without giving any conscious direction to those thoughts. Alongside dream interpretation and analytic transference, free association is helpful in collecting valuable unconscious material to be worked with in sessions.
What issues are suited for Psychoanalysis / Psychoanalytical Therapy?
Psychoanalysis has a wide application. It can help with anxiety, stress in the work place, work-life imbalances, relationship issues (break-up, divorce, affairs, choosing inappropriate partners, loneliness, life adjustments, marital problems, arguments, jealousy, wedding & premarital counselling), trauma, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating problems and negative body image, depression (including suicidal thoughts, low mood, social withdrawal), phobias & fears, addiction, low-self esteem & confidence, abuse (including verbal and sexual abuse), bereavement, grief and loss.
- Psychoanalytic
- Gestalt
- Cognitive Analytical
- Dialectical Behavioural
