John Loewenthal

I am a relational and integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor passionate about guiding people through meaningful and transformative therapy. Through an empathic and analytical approach, I can help you to deal with life’s difficulties, to come to new realisations, and to arrive at new ways of being. I am specialised in relational therapy and have experience across different therapeutic settings, helping individuals, couples, and families facing personal and relational challenges. My therapeutic work is informed by an extensive background of research and university teaching. I am attentive to how people’s lives are shaped by family, culture, psychology, and society, and to the difficulties that people face in love, work, life, and death. 

I offer therapy sessions across the week in the daytimes and evenings. My current availability is concentrated on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays (SE1/ SE15/ online). I may be able to offer alternative slots. 

My therapy training is theoretically integrative, involving psychodynamic, humanistic, and cognitive-behavioural approaches. Psychodynamic therapy explores how personalities and behaviour are influenced by experiences and attachments earlier in life and brings unconscious impulses and defences into awareness. Humanistic therapy helps people to explore their existence, from their present experiences to their sense of becoming. Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) identifies and challenges unhelpful thought patterns and beliefs that may adversely affect how we experience and perceive the world. I draw variously upon such ideas, though I am mostly interested in you and what you have to say.

Psychotherapeutically, I continually explore the existential question, as put by Amartya Sen: 'ultimately, the focus has to be on what life we lead and what we can and cannot do, can and cannot be'. I have a hopeful and optimistic approach towards human potential, even as I grapple each day with the struggles of life.

Relational therapy

Relational therapy offers a sacred space to zoom into aspects of a relationship that warrant care, consideration, attention, and work. I will facilitate deep and sometimes difficult conversations, often addressing aspects of co-existence that may be awkward or seemingly impossible to explore in ordinary life. Relational therapy can be akin to joint therapy, building on the intimacy of a relationship by further sharing inner lives and biographies in the presence of one another. By doing so, people in partnership continue to learn about themselves and each other in symbiosis.

In some instances, our work will focus on a particular issue that seems difficult to overcome. This could be a traumatic episode, such as infidelity, a grievance, or loss of identity or income. It could be a persistent dynamic like discrepant sexual desires, patterns of conflict, domestic life and child rearing, or social and cultural life, including friendships and in-laws. In other instances, there may be a more general or mysterious unhappiness, such as a treasured connection fading in its spark. In some cases, it may be better for people's long-term lives to make the difficult and painful decision to move apart. If this is on your mind, then our work together can provide a safe space to work through such questions and the prospects and processes of disentanglement.

Relational therapy often works on communication and encouraging constructive forms of sharing and active listening. Accordingly, you will grow in knowledge, empathy, and respect for each other's needs, biographies, concerns, and sensitivities. Through reflective and sometimes challenging conversations, our therapeutic work can empower all parties with greater clarity about who you are, individually and collectively, and where you are going in life. 

Working one-to-one

I also work with people one-to-one, providing a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment to hear where you are coming from, and to tune into deeper concerns that may be underlying any feelings you are experiencing. I attend to each person's unique experience of the world, including anxieties, frustrations, senses of loss and grief, isolation, being misunderstood, unhappiness, or searching for something more. I have helped people facing various challenges from inner states to family conflict to social identity (education, work, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, social class) to life transitions and changes. Issues I can help with include:

Anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues

Relationship difficulties and communication struggles

Workplace fulfilment and career aspirations

Family expectations and pressures

Pursuits of meaning, purpose, and transcendence

Existential boredom and a search for something more

Questions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, migration, identity and belonging

Intergenerational relationships and responsibilities

Ageing, loss, and life transitions

I hold a BA, MA, and PhD in the field of anthropology, the study of what it is to be a human being within society. Anthropology deeply informs my therapeutic practice, considering both the philosophical conundrums of the human condition and the sociological determinants of the conditions that people find themselves in. My doctoral research investigated what university graduates want to do with their lives, and how such questions are often caught up in relational and socio-economic influences and constraints.

Please write to me and we can arrange a brief free telephone consultation. For couples or families, this will be a call with each of you. This call is an opportunity for you to share some of what you hope to explore therapeutically. We can then arrange the first therapy session at the earliest convenience. Alternatively, we can communicate via email and directly arrange an initial paid session. 

I am a relational and integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor passionate about guiding people through meaningful and transformative therapy. Through an empathic and analytical approach, I can help you to deal with life’s difficulties, to come to new realisations, and to arrive at new ways of being. I am specialised in relational therapy and have experience across different therapeutic settings, helping individuals, couples, and families facing personal and relational challenges. My therapeutic work is informed by an extensive background of research and university teaching. I am attentive to how people’s lives are shaped by family, culture, psychology, and society, and to the difficulties that people face in love, work, life, and death. 

I offer therapy sessions across the week in the daytimes and evenings. My current availability is concentrated on Monday mornings (online), Thursday mornings and afternoons (London Bridge/online), and Friday mornings and afternoons (Peckham/online). I may be able to offer alternative slots. 

Relational therapy

Relational therapy offers a sacred space to zoom into aspects of a relationship that warrant care, consideration, attention, and work. I will facilitate deep and sometimes difficult conversations, often addressing aspects of co-existence that may be awkward or seemingly impossible to explore in ordinary life. Relational therapy can be akin to joint therapy, building on the intimacy of a relationship by further sharing inner lives and biographies in the presence of one another. By doing so, people in partnership continue to learn about themselves and each other in symbiosis.

In some instances, our work will focus on a particular issue that seems difficult to overcome. This could be a traumatic episode, such as infidelity, a grievance, or loss of identity or income. It could be a persistent dynamic like discrepant sexual desires, patterns of conflict, domestic life and child rearing, or social and cultural life, including friendships and in-laws. In other instances, there may be a more general or mysterious unhappiness, such as a treasured connection fading in its spark. In some cases, it may be better for people's long-term lives to make the difficult and painful decision to move apart. If this is on your mind, then our work together can provide a safe space to work through such questions and the prospects and processes of disentanglement.

Relational therapy often works on communication and encouraging constructive forms of sharing and active listening. Accordingly, you will grow in knowledge, empathy, and respect for each other's needs, biographies, concerns, and sensitivities. Through reflective and sometimes challenging conversations, our therapeutic work can empower all parties with greater clarity about who you are, individually and collectively, and where you are going in life. 

Working one-to-one

I also work with people one-to-one, providing a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment to hear where you are coming from, and to tune into deeper concerns that may be underlying any feelings you are experiencing. I attend to each person's unique experience of the world, including anxieties, frustrations, senses of loss and grief, isolation, being misunderstood, unhappiness, or searching for something more. I have helped people facing various challenges from inner states to family conflict to social identity (education, work, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, social class) to life transitions and changes. Issues I can help with include:

Anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues

Relationship difficulties and communication struggles

Workplace fulfilment and career aspirations

Family expectations and pressures

Pursuits of meaning, purpose, and transcendence

Existential boredom and a search for something more

Questions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, migration, identity and belonging

Intergenerational relationships and responsibilities

Ageing, loss, and life transitions

I hold a BA, MA, and PhD in the field of anthropology, the study of what it is to be a human being within society. Anthropology deeply informs my therapeutic practice, considering both the philosophical conundrums of the human condition and the sociological determinants of the conditions that people find themselves in. My doctoral research investigated what university graduates want to do with their lives, and how such questions are often caught up in relational and socio-economic influences and constraints.

I currently work at the Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action at SOAS University of London. At the University of Oxford, I teach the courses: ‘What makes life meaningful? Perspectives from anthropology' and ‘Therapy as anthropology: engagements with the human condition’: https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-john-loewenthal

Please write to me and we can arrange a free telephone consultation. For couples or families, this will be a call with each of you. This call is an opportunity for you to share some of what you hope to explore therapeutically. We can then arrange the first therapy session at the earliest convenience. Alternatively, we can communicate via email and directly arrange an initial session. 

I am a relational and integrative psychotherapeutic counsellor passionate about guiding people through meaningful and transformative therapy. Through an empathic and analytical approach, I can help you to deal with life’s difficulties, to come to new realisations, and to arrive at new ways of being. I am specialised in relational therapy and have experience across different therapeutic settings, helping individuals, couples, and families facing personal and relational challenges. My therapeutic work is informed by an extensive background of research and university teaching. I am attentive to how people’s lives are shaped by family, culture, psychology, and society, and to the difficulties that people face in love, work, life, and death. 

I am available online on Monday evenings, Thursdays (AM/PM), Fridays (PM), and Sundays (PM), and in London Bridge on Thursdays (AM/PM) and Fridays (PM).

Relational therapy

Relational therapy offers a sacred space to zoom into aspects of a relationship that warrant care, consideration, attention, and work. I will facilitate deep and sometimes difficult conversations, often addressing aspects of co-existence that may be awkward or seemingly impossible to explore in ordinary life. Relational therapy can be akin to joint therapy, building on the intimacy of a relationship by further sharing inner lives and biographies in the presence of one another. By doing so, people in partnership continue to learn about themselves and each other in symbiosis.

In some instances, our work will focus on a particular issue that seems difficult to overcome. This could be a traumatic episode, such as infidelity, a grievance, or loss of identity or income. It could be a persistent dynamic like discrepant sexual desires, patterns of conflict, domestic life and child rearing, or social and cultural life, including friendships and in-laws. In other instances, there may be a more general or mysterious unhappiness, such as a treasured connection fading in its spark. In some cases, it may be better for people's long-term lives to make the difficult and painful decision to move apart. If this is on your mind, then our work together can provide a safe space to work through such questions and the prospects and processes of disentanglement.

Relational therapy often works on communication and encouraging constructive forms of sharing and active listening. Accordingly, you will grow in knowledge, empathy, and respect for each other's needs, biographies, concerns, and sensitivities. Through reflective and sometimes challenging conversations, our therapeutic work can empower all parties with greater clarity about who you are, individually and collectively, and where you are going in life. 

Working one-to-one

I also work with people one-to-one, providing a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment to hear where you are coming from, and to tune into deeper concerns that may be underlying any feelings you are experiencing. I attend to each person's unique experience of the world, including anxieties, frustrations, senses of loss and grief, isolation, being misunderstood, unhappiness, or searching for something more. I have helped people facing various challenges from inner states to family conflict to social identity (education, work, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, social class) to life transitions and changes. Issues I can help with include:

Anxiety, depression, and self-esteem issues

Relationship difficulties and communication struggles

Workplace fulfilment and career aspirations

Family expectations and pressures

Pursuits of meaning, purpose, and transcendence

Existential boredom and a search for something more

Questions of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, migration, identity and belonging

Intergenerational relationships and responsibilities

Ageing, loss, and life transitions

I hold a BA, MA, and PhD in the field of anthropology, the study of what it is to be a human being within society. Anthropology deeply informs my therapeutic practice, considering both the philosophical conundrums of the human condition and the sociological determinants of the conditions that people find themselves in. My doctoral research investigated what university graduates want to do with their lives, and how such questions are often caught up in relational and socio-economic influences and constraints.

I currently work at the Centre for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action at SOAS University of London. At the University of Oxford, I teach the courses: ‘What makes life meaningful? Perspectives from anthropology' and ‘Therapy as anthropology: engagements with the human condition’: https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-john-loewenthal

Please write to me and we can arrange a free telephone consultation.