London Therapist / Counsellor Recommendations?

April 4, 2009 12:12 PM

London UK: Can anyone recommend a good counseller or therapist in The City for help with dealing with destructive behaviour patterns and well, minor alcoholism?

I have a history or rather selfish behaviour and fking things up with the people around me. Particularly issues with long term relationships. and destructive behaviour. It seems at this point a counseller or someone might be the only remedy.

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (5 comments total)

What is minor alcoholism?
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:36 PM on April 4

When you're under 21?
posted by ryanrs at 6:12 PM on April 4

I'm assuming that you know that you can get a referral to see a counselor on the NHS. You are limited to eight sessions, but you can get a re-referral if you need to. I've used an NHS counselor and she was phenomenal.

Otherwise, you could start by looking at the BACP website, where you can search for someone. Good luck.
posted by triggerfinger at 2:43 AM on April 5

Georgina Foster developed the "Drink-Less Mind" approach which is a combination of Jungian, CBT, NLP, hypnotherapy and all other flavours she's come across in her theraupeutic career.

For many mainly US Mefites you are an alcoholic if you routinely drink to excess as a coping mechanism. Read a bit about her and see if that's what you mean by "minor".

She sees people in the City for private work, or there are one-day intensive workshops. I was using drink as a coping mechanism, did a one-day workshop, I listen to the CD about once a week (recommeded once a day) and have almost come back to the odd glass of wine with dinner now after 5 months as opposed to the odd bottle of wine with dinner.

What I really liked about her is she's done it herself for weight and eating issues, she really nailed the difference between how men and women use food and drink differently (according to the men on the course), there was an autheticity about her that you don't get with smarmy Paul McKenna.

The one-day course (with books and CDs yada-yada) was £220. The woman gives you her private mobile which I found extraordinary. Don't know how much the one-to-one session would set you back. Caveat: some people are simply not good subjects for hypnotherapy, so one-to-one she's probably use different approaches.

If you're anything like me and pooh-pooh anything you can't evidence scientifically, all I can say is:
I gave it my best at the workshop, suspended my utter and total disbelief that no matter if my mind wandered during the (lying on the floor) sessions the message was being received by my subconcious. A few months on the evidence was undeniable. The first time I turned down the offer of a really good wine at a business dinner cos I wanted water was a complete eye-opener to me. (and anyone who knows me)
Good luck
posted by Wilder at 2:57 AM on April 5

When you say The City, do you literally mean the City of London (i.e. the Square Mile)? If not, then you should try CCPE, the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education. It's based between Maida Vale and St John's Wood and operates a very sensible system: your first session with CCPE is an evaluation with a trained counsellor who will then recommend you to the person they think is best suited to help you. You can say whether you want woolly-headed crystal-sniffing loveliness, hard-hearted science-based inquiry or something in between, and specify a price limit as well. I'm a former client, and don't mind admitting it.
posted by Hogshead at 1:14 PM on April 5