Jessica Pons

Online Monday 10am - 7pm

Online Tuesday 10am - 7pm

Online Wednesday 10am - 7pm

Online Thursdays 10am - 7pm

Online Fridays 10am - 6pm

Hi, I’m Jessica, a psychotherapist who has worked in mental health since 2013.

My background:

After my Psychology degree, I began working in mental health crisis support at a community crisis house. Due to family lived experience around psychosis, I became interested in the Hearing Voices ethos (a non pathologising approach to working with people who have extra-sensory experiences, some diagnosed with psychosis).

I progressed to manage the London Hearing Voices Project (including Voice Collective, a brilliant project for children and young people who hear voices and have other extra-sensory experiences; and Voices Unlocked, using the ethos in prisons and immigration removal centres). I developed and facilitated groups with voice-hearers, vision seers, and those with paranoia. I also wrote and delivered training nationally on these topics, plus themes of alternative ways of working with self-harm and suicidal ideation. I supported staff in prisons and inpatient services around vicarious trauma, burnout and relational practice.

I moved on to work at the intersection of racial justice and alternatives to mainstream mental ill health approaches at Synergi, hosted by NSUN. This project focussed on shifting power to grassroots activists and collective care organisers, building alternatives to mainstream care systems using a non-medical abolitionist framework.

In 2019, I completed a Masters in Integrative Psychotherapy & Counselling and set up an online practice specialising working with people most marginalised by society, though everyone is welcome, regardless of background.

Qualifications:

MA in Integrative Psychotherapy & Counselling. The University of Roehampton

MA (Hons) in Psychology. The University of Edinburgh

Affiliations:

Trustee for the International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis UK (ISPS UK)

Registered member of BACP, working in compliance with their ethical framework.

I facilitate relational therapy in a down to earth, trauma-informed way that values honesty, compassion & collaboration.

How do I work in an 'integrative' way?:

I tailor therapy to individual specifications, together we decide what will benefit you most. An example: I begin with how you are feeling now (Person-Centred). We then unpack childhood experiences, thinking about repeating patterns (Psychodynamic), & implementing Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques. I bring in psychoeducation around trauma, & focus on sensations in the body (Somatics). All of this is with the foundation of working relationally, paying attention to our therapeutic relationship and your history of relating to others.

I take a systemic view, meaning we take a wider standpoint exploring the impact of oppression & adversity (for example patriarchy for all genders, ableism, & racism).

I also see the value of ‘lived experience’, this means that I view you as the expert of your own distress and story and I don’t only utilise academic psychological theory developed by academics, but also theory developed by those who have lived through difficulty. I may also share some of my own journey, if appropriate.

Who I work with:

I sometimes work with those with a sense of unease, perhaps searching for meaning & wanting to feel more satisfied with their relationships.

I also work with those who have used psychiatric services, e.g. those who want to understand and make meaning of an experience of psychosis, a spiritual awakening, or mood changes. I am experienced working with people wanting to come off psychiatric medication.

I have extensive experience supporting people navigating workplace dynamics, extending to those working in the NHS, activists in social justice spaces, & those doing peer support type roles.

Finally, I am experienced working with racial identity, long-term illness & with the trans community.

I offer a free 20 minute chat prior to our first 50 minute session either on the phone or a video call online.

This is a space for us to begin to get to know each other. I find out a bit more about what’s brought you to therapy, and you can ask me any questions or raise any concerns you have about our work together.

Alternatively, I offer a 50 minute first session, priced at £30.

Once started, I invite regular feedback about how the therapy is working for you. Together I want to build a space that allows for a healing, helpful experience.