Dr Elise Gourbin-Riley

I work weekdays including evenings.

Based in Bloomsbury in central London, I am a ACP-registered Child and Adolescent psychotherapist with years of experience in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) in the NHS and a Couple psychotherapist trained at Tavistock Relationships. 

I work with children and young people up to the age of 25, and carers/parents, including parents-to-be. I have particular interest and experience in working with under 5s and parents, and adolescent/young people with depression and anxiety who act out and suffer suicidal ideation.

I also provide consultation and psychotherapy to couples from a wide range of backgrounds. Couples I see come for many reasons including difficulty in intimacy, trust and communication.

Alongside my private practice, I teach on M7 (Master) at the Tavistock, and supervise mental health practitioners/counselors. 

My approach is psychoanalytic, compassionate and respectful of the young person/child's, parents' and couple's pace. It might be hard to speak at the beginning or feel uncomfortable to meet with a new person, and things can take time. I meet you where you are. I provide a safe and non-judgmental space to allow being reflective and curious. Being psychoanalytic does not mean that I am silent, it means that I carefully observe the conscious and unconscious communication in the room and use it to shed some light on what brings you to therapy. 

The use of the title Dr in this directory listing relates to the member’s doctorate qualification. However, this does not imply a general medical qualification.

Once you get in touch, we can arrange a brief free-of-charge call (up to 15 minutes) to discuss your enquiry and establish how I can help you.

If appropriate, we meet to discuss your concerns further, and to see if I could be a good match for your child, family or couple. In this appointment, we address any questions you may have and often discuss your family history.

From there, I will make recommendations, which, if for a child/ado, can be an assessment -usually 3 sessions with the child/ado to get a better sense of the difficulties, establish if psychotherapy is the most suitable intervention, and if they are happy to work with me. After these sessions, we make a treatment plan which is reviewed at least termly if open-ended psychotherapy is indicated. 

For young people and couples, one or a few consultations help us to get to know each other and assess if we are happy to work together, and if so, we make a plan together as to how.   

I am an ACP-registered Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with years of experience in CAMHS (Child and adolescent Mental Health Services) in the NHS.

I work with children and young people up to the age of 25, and carers/parents, including parents-to-be. I have particular interest and experience in working with under 5s and parents, and adolescent/young people with depression and anxiety who act out and suffer suicidal ideation.

I also provide consultation and psychotherapy to couples as part of an advanced training undertaken at the Tavistock Relationships, a charity providing a range of fees to make therapy accessible to all.

Alongside my private practice, I teach infant observation and work discussion on M7 (master) at the Tavistock, and supervise mental health practitioners / counselors. 

I have conducted research and published papers particularly around parent and parent work in child psychotherapy. 

The use of the title Dr in this directory listing relates to the member’s doctorate qualification. However, this does not imply a general medical qualification.