Paul Wadey

I have practised as a psychotherapist for over twenty years, at Paul Wadey Associates in Nayland, Suffolk, and, since 2025, with Kids Inspire, where I see post-adoption children and adolescents with complex difficulties.

My training is deliberately broad: a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling, an MRes in Psychoanalytic History from Goldsmiths, an MSc in Psychology from Essex, and postgraduate systemic family training at Bedfordshire and Birkbeck. Psychoanalysis taught me to listen for what has not yet been said; systemic practice taught me that no difficulty belongs to one person alone. I hold BACP accreditation and a Diploma in Clinical Supervision.

I work with individuals, couples, families, children, and young people, in person, online, and by phone, and my practice takes in anxiety and mood disorders, complex trauma, neurodivergence, relational breakdown, and the ordinary trouble that resists diagnostic naming. Before private practice, I managed NHS IAPT services and was lead counsellor for a charity supporting asylum seekers and survivors of torture. That period shapes what I attend to: how class, culture, race, and sexuality enter a room long before anyone speaks of them.

The same questions run through my writing. In 2026 I published three peer-reviewed papers: 'The Third Body' in the British Journal of Psychotherapy, on what long-term couples build between them, and lose; 'The Sacrifice at Aulis' in the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, on institutions that require a sacrifice; and 'The Use of the Partner' in Psychodynamic Practice, on recognition in mixed-neurotype couples. A fourth, 'The Bricoleur in the Consulting Room', is forthcoming in the European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling. I also supervise practitioners, write a blog, 'Reflections from a Therapy Room', and moderate an international psychoanalytic forum.

What I offer is a quality of attention: unhurried, curious, prepared to sit with what has no immediate answer.

I have supervised practitioners for many years, alongside a clinical practice now in its twenty-fourth year and some 25,000 hours of post-qualification work. I hold a Diploma in Clinical Supervision endorsed by BACP and a Certificate in Psychodynamic Approaches to Mentoring and Supervision from the Centre for Psychoanalytic Studies at Essex, and I am BACP accredited.

BACP defines supervision as a specialised form of mentoring for those undertaking demanding work with people: a means of maintaining standards, advancing learning, and sustaining the practitioner. I would add that it is also where a clinician can say the thing they are not yet sure of. Every part of a practitioner's work should be available to supervision, including the parts that feel least presentable.

My own training runs across relational psychodynamic theory, systemic and family practice, humanistic inquiry, and trauma-informed approaches, and I supervise from that range rather than from a single school. I am equally at ease with a supervisee working psychoanalytically and with one working systemically or integratively, and I do not require anyone to translate their practice into my vocabulary. Where a case sits awkwardly across modalities, that awkwardness is usually the interesting part.

I supervise individual and group work with adults, couples, families, children, and young people, in person at Nayland or online. Practitioners come to me at various stages: in training and needing the hours, newly qualified and finding the ground, or long established and wanting somewhere serious to think. Trauma work, complex or stuck cases, and questions of ethics and the frame are frequent territory.

What I try to offer is unhurried attention and a space where uncertainty can be spoken aloud rather than resolved prematurely. Supervision is charged at £65 per hour.

I have practised as a psychotherapist for over twenty years, at Paul Wadey Associates in Nayland, Suffolk, and, since 2025, with Kids Inspire, where I see post-adoption children and adolescents with complex difficulties.

My training is deliberately broad: a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling, an MRes in Psychoanalytic History from Goldsmiths, an MSc in Psychology from Essex, and postgraduate systemic family training at Bedfordshire and Birkbeck. Psychoanalysis taught me to listen for what has not yet been said; systemic practice taught me that no difficulty belongs to one person alone. I hold BACP accreditation and a Diploma in Clinical Supervision.

I work with individuals, couples, families, children, and young people, in person, online, and by phone, and my practice takes in anxiety and mood disorders, complex trauma, neurodivergence, relational breakdown, and the ordinary trouble that resists diagnostic naming. Before private practice, I managed NHS IAPT services and was lead counsellor for a charity supporting asylum seekers and survivors of torture. That period shapes what I attend to: how class, culture, race, and sexuality enter a room long before anyone speaks of them.

The same questions run through my writing. In 2026 I published three peer-reviewed papers: 'The Third Body' in the British Journal of Psychotherapy, on what long-term couples build between them, and lose; 'The Sacrifice at Aulis' in the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, on institutions that require a sacrifice; and 'The Use of the Partner' in Psychodynamic Practice, on recognition in mixed-neurotype couples. A fourth, 'The Bricoleur in the Consulting Room', is forthcoming in the European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling. I also supervise practitioners, write a blog, 'Reflections from a Therapy Room', and moderate an international psychoanalytic forum.

What I offer is a quality of attention: unhurried, curious, prepared to sit with what has no immediate answer.

Therapy begins with an initial assessment, usually 60 minutes, in which there is no obligation on either of us. You tell me what has brought you, in whatever order it comes out, and I listen. At the end we decide, together, whether to continue. Some people know within the hour; others want to think. Both are reasonable.

I work from a consulting room at Nags Corner in Nayland, and also online and by telephone. Sessions are weekly and last sixty minutes. We agree a time and keep it, because reliability turns out to matter more than almost anything else in this work. Some people come for twelve sessions with a particular difficulty in mind. Others stay considerably longer. I do not set a limit in advance, and I will say honestly when I think we have reached a natural end.

What I do not offer is advice. I am unlikely to tell you what to do, partly because you have almost certainly received a great deal of that already, and partly because the useful answer is rarely one I could supply. What I offer instead is attention: a place where you can say the thing you have not said elsewhere, and be met without judgement, hurry, or the need to make it presentable first.

You may find early sessions harder than expected. Speaking about difficulty tends to bring it closer before it moves further away. That is ordinary, and worth knowing in advance.

Everything you say is confidential. The exceptions are narrow and I will explain them fully at the outset. Like all accredited therapists I take my work to clinical supervision, where clients are discussed anonymously; this is a professional requirement and a protection for you.

I work with individuals, couples, families, and young people. If, after meeting, I think someone else would serve you better, I will say so and help you find them.

Fees, cancellation terms, and availability are discussed before we begin. Nothing is decided until you have the information you need.