Phillip Birch

I have availability on Monday afternoons and evenings, Tuesday mornings and afternoons.

About me

I am a psychodynamic psychotherapist and supervisor offering open-ended psychodynamic psychotherapy, or short-term psychotherapy with a focus (Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy) over sixteen weeks. The latter is one of the therapies recommended for depression in the NHS as an alternative to CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or antidepressants. I also have some training in Trauma Informed Stabilisation Treatment and Transference-Focused Psychotherapy, for clients with more complex difficulties related to trauma or personality disorders. I have worked in the NHS and in private practice for over ten years. I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists.

Areas of work

I have particular interest in working with people who suffer from depression, anxiety, have repeated difficulties in relationships or self-destructive habits, have had an abusive past or traumatic experiences, difficulties within their family, or a general feeling of unhappiness about themselves and their lives that might be difficult to pinpoint.

About the therapy

Psychodynamic psychotherapy is a form of talking therapy where I would work with you to help you understand your unconscious mind: the feelings, ideas and actions that might be troubling you which you don't understand. I am interested in how you feel and behave in relationships, which may be connected to your experiences in early childhood as well as those throughout life. My approach is also informed by understanding the ways that people have developed to cope with trauma, and how we have different parts of our minds that sometimes want different things. Listening to, and bringing together these parts, can help us understand and manage internal conflicts.

I like to meet with clients once a week for 50 minute sessions, on the same day and time. 

I will be interested in exploring some of your significant experiences in relationships, both with your mother/father/siblings and other important care-givers; and in relationships you form later in life, with friends and partners. This will help us build up a picture of how you think about yourself and expect others to relate to you, which may have led to the development of ideas or behaviours that could be causing you problems.

If we can identity a pattern of how you think about yourself and others which appears linked to problematic behaviours or symptoms, we can try to challenge that, hopefully allowing for some space in your mind where you might have more agency to think differently about yourself and perhaps make different decisions.

The sessions would take place in my comfortable treatment room close to London Bridge. I also have availability for sessions by video call. During the treatment we would think about how long the therapy should last and which areas we needed to focus on. Any information shared with me would remain confidential unless in exceptional circumstances (involving immediate risk).

I work according to the ethical guidelines laid out in the BACP:

http://www.bacp.co.uk/ethical_framework/

I can offer a free 15 minute telephone call or video consultation, if you would like to meet before an initial assessment session, so I can explain in person how I work and we could think about if I could help.

I can offer a free 15 minute video consultation, so that I can learn a bit more about you and explain how I work. 

If we agreed to meet, the first session would involve me learning about your family background, your relationships and the problems you are seeking help with. Then we could discuss what kind of approach would suit you best - short-term work with a focus or a more open-ended exploratory therapy.