Harriet Parker

I practice from welcoming and comfortable rooms in the City of London and W1. I also work online via Zoom, which can be particularly useful if you travel frequently or have an unpredictable working life.

Sessions normally take place weekly at a mutually agreed time. This is usually on the same day and time each week unless we agree otherwise.

Each session is 50 minutes. How many sessions you have is entirely up to you. When we first meet, we can discuss whether you’d prefer short-term therapy, or an open-ended approach, but we will also review this during our work together.

I’m a warm, empathetic psychotherapist with 15 years’ experience in banking and financial services. I work in particular with professionals who appear capable and successful, while privately struggling with anxiety, self-doubt or feeling unfulfilled.

You may be living a life that looks great from the outside, while finding that it doesn’t always feel quite as good on the inside. Perhaps you’ve achieved many of your goals, yet life does not feel quite as satisfying or fulfilling as you expected. You may be accustomed to managing a great dealn, while finding it harder to acknowledge your own needs or feeling that you should be coping better.

I work with people coming to therapy for the first time as well as those who have had therapy before. My aim is to offer a supportive and approachable space where you can feel safe enough to be fully yourself, perhaps in ways that don’t always feel possible elsewhere. I am comfortable talking openly about the full range of human experience, including thoughts or parts of your life that may feel complicated or uncomfortable to share. You do not need to censor yourself, protect me from what you are feeling or worry about being judged.

I have an MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling from Regent’s University London and am a registered member of the BACP. My previous career in financial services has given me a first-hand understanding of demanding professional environments and some of the expectations and workplace dynamics that can accompany them.

I have extensive experience supporting people experiencing severe emotional distress, including through my work at Maytree Suicide Respite House and with Samaritans. At Samaritans, I have supported people both by telephone and through its work in prisons, and I currently hold a senior leadership role.

I work integratively, with a strong person-centred foundation. At the heart of this is a genuine, accepting and non-judgemental relationship in which you can feel heard and understood. I try to understand you: your experiences, relationships and history, the world you live in, and the particular ways you have learned to manage it.

My work also has an existential dimension. This means making space to explore your sense of who you are, what gives your life meaning and purpose, and how you want to live. These questions can become especially important when life looks successful from the outside but does not feel as fulfilling as you expected.

Different ideas and therapeutic approaches can then be useful at different times, but the relationship we build together remains at the heart of the work.

Our work will be collaborative. I will listen carefully and give you room to explore at your own pace, but I will also be actively engaged. I may offer observations, ask questions or gently draw attention to patterns that seem important. We can think together about what is happening and what might help.

You are welcome to talk about whatever feels important, including experiences or parts of yourself that may feel difficult or uncomfortable to share elsewhere. You do not need to tidy your life up before bringing it into the room.

Therapy may be short-term and focused on a particular difficulty, or longer-term and more exploratory. 

The first session is an opportunity for us to meet and begin exploring what has brought you to therapy. You do not need to prepare anything. 

I may ask about what is happening in your life now, what you would like help with and any relevant experiences from your past. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions about therapy and how I work.

It is important that you feel comfortable with your therapist, so the first session also gives us a chance to see how it feels to talk together. There is no pressure to make an immediate or long-term commitment. If we decide to continue, we can agree a regular weekly time and begin thinking together about what you would find most helpful.