Elaine Benardout

I am available Monday - Thursday offering in person daytime and some evening appointments in Finchley N12 and N3. My consulting rooms are warm, comfortable and private and dedicated to therapy.

I also work online (using Teams/Google Meet). Some clients choose a hybrid of both virtual and in person sessions, as convenient to them.

I also offer home visits (for clients with ill health or physical disabilities) within reach of North London.

I am also registered and accredited to work with major health insurance company's and organisation's offering corporate counselling to employees.

If you would like to walk and talk, these sessions can be organised at a mutually convenient location.

Deciding to go for therapy requires courage and a real desire to address our issues and maybe seek change. Looking at beliefs and feelings about ourselves can be challenging and helpful.

The relationship between the therapist and client can be a key healing agent.

In developing a good working relationship with my clients, I will use my range of skills to help you to facilitate the changes you are looking to make.

Whilst counselling is reparative, coaching can be complimentary to counselling as we translate understanding into action - to help you to identify goals, look at your personal strengths and to make changes happen. In this way you can move positively and actively towards solutions.

What kind of counselling will suit me?

All types of therapy have useful elements and I will select the appropriate ones from my toolkit to ensure that your needs are met.

Humanistic Therapy - encourages self reflection and taking responsibility for your own thoughts and actions. I believe that the individual has the capability to reach their potential, given the right conditions.

Psychodynamic Therapy - the link between our past and current un/conscious ways. We look at relevant parts of your childhood and past relationships and how they are projected into our present day life. To understand and accept the current, we sometimes need to address the past.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - helps you to explore ways you think, feel and behave, with the aim of identifying unhelpful patterns which can hold us back. Changing negative patterns can help you to cope and manage your problems better.

"Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you'll always find despair" Irvin Yalom Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist.

We all have a unique story and may experience feelings you would like to explore, including; despair, shame, guilt, anxiety, sadness, lack of purpose or fulfillment. For example assuming things that happen to us are our fault.

Blame and guilt can feel familiar and comfortable to us, even when they are holding us back. Our sessions can explore the causes and alternative ways of being. Maybe you are stuck with unhelpful beliefs (e.g. not feeling good/worthy enough) that are no longer serving you and can be explored in a balanced environment.

Perhaps you want to understand your inner feelings and accept yourself more. You may not know what is going on but want to explore this uncertainty with a therapist who understands and can help you in an unbiased way without judgement.

It may be that you want to be more open to new experiences - rather than expecting the same, but feel held back and would like to look at your expectations.

Feeling or suspecting you may have neuro-diverse traits or just ‘feeling different’. You may like to explore your experiences and make sense of what is going on. We can navigate some practical strategies to cope with your situation more easily. I have extensive experience with neurodiversity including ADHD and autism and adapt my therapy approach accordingly.

An initial telephone conversation with me enables us to discuss you issues, answer any questions and explain how I work. There is no obligation to proceed to therapy from this phone call. We can book our first session, if it feels right for you.

The opportunity for you to focus on yourself in our calm environment is our starting point. Our sessions can be enjoyable, challenging, supportive and offer a release from what you are experiencing.

In our first session together we will complete an introductory assessment together .

This will be a good opportunity to discuss you and relevant history/information that will help us to understand your presenting issues.

We will look at what's comfortable for you in terms of the therapy approach. For example; Would the focus be past or present or both? Would you like to take the lead or prefer me to?

The initial session will be more structured so that we can uncover relevant information to ensure our sessions together are productive and effective.

Our sessions are between 50-60 minutes long and I offer these on a weekly ( and in some cases fortnightly) basis. 

I am available Monday - Thursday offering in person daytime and some evening appointments in Finchley N12 and N3. My consulting rooms are warm, comfortable, private and dedicated to therapy.

I also work online (using Teams/Google Meet). Some clients choose a hybrid of both virtual and in person sessions.

I offer home visits (for clients with ill health or physical disabilities) within reach of North London.

If you would like to walk and talk, these sessions can be organised at a mutually convenient location.

I'm registered and accredited to work with major health insurance company's including Bupa, Axa and Vitality.  Additionally I am recognised as a therapist within many corporate companies, offering coaching and counselling to employees.

Deciding to go for therapy requires courage and a real desire to address our issues and maybe seek change. Looking at beliefs and feelings about ourselves can be challenging and helpful.

The relationship between the therapist and client can be a key healing agent. In adapting my style and approach to suit your needs, we are able to develop a strong working relationship.  I will use a range of techniques to help you to facilitate the changes you are looking to make.

Whilst counselling is reparative, coaching can be complimentary to counselling as we translate understanding into action - to help you to identify goals, look at your personal strengths and to make changes happen. In this way you can move positively and actively towards solutions.  If this is appropriate to your situation, we can combine support and healing with implementing the changes you would like.

What kind of counselling will suit me?

All types of therapy have useful elements and I will select the appropriate ones from my toolkit to ensure that your needs are met.

Humanistic Therapy - encourages self reflection and taking responsibility for your own thoughts and actions. I believe that the individual has the capability to reach their potential, given the right conditions.

Psychodynamic Therapy - the link between our past and current un/conscious ways. We look at relevant parts of your childhood and past relationships and how they are projected into our present day life. To understand and accept the current, we sometimes need to address the past.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - helps you to explore ways you think, feel and behave, with the aim of identifying unhelpful patterns which can hold us back. Changing negative patterns can help you to cope and manage your problems better.

"Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness.  Look deeply into life, and you'll always find despair"  Irvin Yalom Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist.

We all have a unique story and may experience feelings you would like to explore, including; despair, shame, guilt, anxiety, sadness, lack of purpose or fulfillment.  For example feeling guilt and assuming situations are our fault.  Maybe feeling that things are not making sense.

Blame and guilt can feel familiar and comfortable to us, even when they are holding us back.  Our sessions can explore the causes and alternative ways of being.  Maybe you are stuck with unhelpful beliefs that are no longer serving you and can be explored in a balanced environment (for example not feeling good/worthy enough).

Perhaps you want to understand your inner feelings and accept yourself more. You may not know what is going on but want to explore this uncertainty with a therapist who understands and can help you in an unbiased way without judgement.

It may be that you want to be more open to new experiences - rather than expecting the same, but feel held back and would like to look at your expectations.

Feeling or suspecting you may have neuro-diverse traits or just ‘feeling different’.  You may like to explore your experiences and make sense of what is going on.  We can navigate some practical strategies to cope with your situation more easily. I have extensive experience with neurodiversity including ADHD and autism and  adapt my therapy approach accordingly.  

In our initial telephone conversation we can discuss your issues, answer any questions and explain how I work.   There is no obligation to proceed to therapy from this phone call.  We can book our first session, if it feels right for you.

The opportunity for you to focus on yourself in our calm environment is our starting point.  Our sessions can be enjoyable, challenging, supportive and offer a release from what you are experiencing.

In our first session we will complete an introductory assessment together . We can uncover relevant information to ensure our sessions together are productive and effective.

This will be a good opportunity to discuss you and relevant history/information that will help us to understand your presenting issues.

We will look at what's comfortable for you in terms of the therapy approach and structure. For example; Would you like the focus to be on your past or your present or both? Would you like to take the lead or prefer me to?

Our sessions are between 50-60 minutes long and I offer these on a weekly (and in some cases fortnightly) basis. 

I am available Monday - Thursday offering in person daytime and some evening appointments in Finchley N12 and N3. My consulting rooms are warm, comfortable, private and dedicated to therapy.

I also work online (using Teams/Google Meet). Some clients choose a hybrid of both virtual and in person sessions.

I offer home visits (for clients with ill health or physical disabilities) within reach of North London.

If you would like to walk and talk, these sessions can be organised at a mutually convenient location.

I'm registered and accredited to work with major health insurance company's including Bupa, Axa and Vitality.  Additionally I am recognised as a therapist within many corporate companies, offering coaching and counselling to employees.

Deciding to go for therapy requires courage and a real desire to address our issues and maybe seek change. Looking at beliefs and feelings about ourselves can be challenging and helpful.

The relationship between the therapist and client can be a key healing agent. In adapting my style and approach to suit your needs, we are able to develop a strong working relationship.  I will use a range of techniques to help you to facilitate the changes you are looking to make.

Whilst counselling is reparative, coaching can be complimentary to counselling as we translate understanding into action - to help you to identify goals, look at your personal strengths and to make changes happen. In this way you can move positively and actively towards solutions.  If this is appropriate to your situation, we can combine support and healing with implementing the changes you would like.

What kind of counselling will suit me?

All types of therapy have useful elements and I will select the appropriate ones from my toolkit to ensure that your needs are met.

Humanistic Therapy - encourages self reflection and taking responsibility for your own thoughts and actions. I believe that the individual has the capability to reach their potential, given the right conditions.

Psychodynamic Therapy - the link between our past and current un/conscious ways. We look at relevant parts of your childhood and past relationships and how they are projected into our present day life. To understand and accept the current, we sometimes need to address the past.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - helps you to explore ways you think, feel and behave, with the aim of identifying unhelpful patterns which can hold us back. Changing negative patterns can help you to cope and manage your problems better.

"Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness.  Look deeply into life, and you'll always find despair"  Irvin Yalom Psychotherapist and Psychiatrist.

We all have a unique story and may experience feelings you would like to explore, including; despair, shame, guilt, anxiety, sadness, lack of purpose or fulfillment.  For example feeling guilt and assuming situations are our fault.  Maybe feeling that things are not making sense.

Blame and guilt can feel familiar and comfortable to us, even when they are holding us back.  Our sessions can explore the causes and alternative ways of being.  Maybe you are stuck with unhelpful beliefs that are no longer serving you and can be explored in a balanced environment (for example not feeling good/worthy enough).

Perhaps you want to understand your inner feelings and accept yourself more. You may not know what is going on but want to explore this uncertainty with a therapist who understands and can help you in an unbiased way without judgement.

It may be that you want to be more open to new experiences - rather than expecting the same, but feel held back and would like to look at your expectations.

Feeling or suspecting you may have neuro-diverse traits or just ‘feeling different’.  You may like to explore your experiences and make sense of what is going on.  We can navigate some practical strategies to cope with your situation more easily. I have extensive experience with neurodiversity including ADHD and autism and  adapt my therapy approach accordingly.  

In our initial telephone conversation we can discuss your issues, answer any questions and explain how I work.   There is no obligation to proceed to therapy from this phone call.  We can book our first session, if it feels right for you.

The opportunity for you to focus on yourself in our calm environment is our starting point.  Our sessions can be enjoyable, challenging, supportive and offer a release from what you are experiencing.

In our first session we will complete an introductory assessment together . We can uncover relevant information to ensure our sessions together are productive and effective.

This will be a good opportunity to discuss you and relevant history/information that will help us to understand your presenting issues.

We will look at what's comfortable for you in terms of the therapy approach and structure. For example; Would you like the focus to be on your past or your present or both? Would you like to take the lead or prefer me to?

Our sessions are between 50-60 minutes long and I offer these on a weekly (and in some cases fortnightly) basis.