Maxine Altman

My availability is weekdays from 9.30am to 8pm.

As each person is unique, I work entirely individually. Sometimes we will focus on a current problem to find a specific solution, and other times we might use a waking dream technique to look for insights from your unconscious.

If you find yourself repeating patterns that stop you from living well, together we can look for the source, make sense of the compulsion and recondition the thinking that kept you trapped in a vicious cycle.

Drawing images or placing miniature objects in a sand tray is often helpful when words cannot explain complex emotional states. Through a discussion of the images, we explore the richness of their meaning. They may give you answers to lifelong questions or help you to discover an alternative experience.

Your physical pain may be a symptom of an emotional disturbance, and we can explore this through deep breathing and body techniques. Your body remembers traumatic experiences, and these can be transmuted into sound which, when expressed, is liberated from your body and so too from the mind. Through releasing the sound, you expel the tension held in the traumatic memory.

These are examples of transpersonal techniques used in psychotherapy and coaching. The transpersonal takes the conversation ‘beyond the person’, where answers are found through engaging with your deeper self. Working in this way can help you to make profound decisions which set you on the path to express your true nature.

For specific behaviours that may interfere with a healthy lifestyle – compulsive disorders, addictions or phobias – we can use CBT, a successful treatment for many people. By challenging negative thoughts and behaviours, CBT helps you to discover more constructive ways of thinking and behaving. With time, the old self-sabotaging habits are replaced by new positive thoughts and actions.

My training is in integrative therapy, which regards human experience as a holistic encounter between mind, body and spirit. This type of therapy employs techniques which focus on the unique world of each person – past, present and future.

In discovering the healing possibilities of psychotherapy and its impact on my own life, my work is to help others understand themselves better and become who they’re clearly meant to be. I believe that life is a process of personal growth in which we become more conscious and realise our unique potential.

I studied music and education and taught in secondary school for 12 years. Moving into the corporate world, I worked in marketing and sales in the online technology industry. Having decided to pursue my lifelong curiosity in psychology, I took a Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy and completed a Masters degree.

I am an accredited member of the UKCP (United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapists) and a member of the BACP (British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) and I abide by their code of conduct.

My approach to supervision is encouraging and challenging, whilst embracing a range of orientations. So although my training is integrative, transpersonal with NLP, I work with students and graduates trained in psychodynamic and person-centred schools.

In a relaxed and reflective environment, I encourage you to talk about your client challenges and successes, help you manage boundaries and gain confidence in your work. We might reflect on parallel processes, transference and counter-transference, work with the bodily sense and use visualisation, meditation, drawing or a sand tray.

By looking at the client relationship through the lens of the supervisory relationship, we can learn more about your clients and how best to serve them.

Coaches and therapists often work in isolation, and therefore supervision is a place where you can openly reflect on your work and learn how to develop a successful practice as part of a professional community.

Courses and Workshops

I facilitate integrative trainings for coaches and therapists looking to learn techniques from each others’ approaches. Workshops are attended by eclectic groups of experienced professionals from executive coaching, business strategy to psychoanalytical and integrative psychotherapy and spiritual practice.

Here are some testimonials from recent events:

“The workshop was life-changing personally and professionally. Your passion and enthusiasm was contagious and your knowledge incredible. I learned so much, I feel a lot more confident”. MS

“I took away a reminder of the power of art, imagery and bodywork”. RC

“A very special workshop, competently and warmly delivered. A wonderful blend of ideas and experiences”. SC

“I’m taking away a real curiosity and interest in combining coaching in my (therapy) practice”. EH

If you’re a therapist looking to expand into the corporate world or a coach whose clients require deeper psychological support, my workshops offer eclectic professionals a grounding in integrated psychotherapy and coaching through practical training.

Practical exercises and demonstrations teach how to:

help clients to ‘let go’ of a fixed mindset

generate self-belief in clients struggling with self-doubt

work therapeutically with dreams

access the innate wisdom of the body

use objects to represent and heal relationships

harness anger and prepare clients for the ‘big avoided conversation’

Looking from both reflective and directive positions, we learn how to journey alongside our clients as they gain insight, confidence, healing, and whatever else they need from us.