John Hills

For many people, therapy begins at a turning point — the end of one chapter or the beginning of another. As the existential psychotherapist Martin Adams put it, People come to therapy when the story they’ve been telling about their lives has become too small.

A little bit about me. I'm a psychotherapist (in practice since 2011), have a PhD researching change in psychotherapy, and am a teacher and trainer at a sector-leading psychotherapy institute. As you may get a sense from in exploring my site, I have a specialist interest in the existential challenges that we will grapple with at turning points in our lives. These might include:

• Feeling like life has become too small, too limiting.
• Or questioning choices made.
• A feeling of just coasting, being on autopilot, or of having to pretend.
• Addictive behaviours that feel like a distraction.
• Self-sabotage.
• Feeling fated to play out the same patterns over and over.
• A feeling of not knowing oneself.
• Aloneness and loneliness.
• Unhappiness at work or considering a career change.
• Bereavement and loss.
• Spiritual concerns.
• Fear of death and the search for meaning.

Sometimes we find ourselves pulled in different directions, caught in a familiar pattern, or turning something over in our minds without getting any further. Therapy is a place to stay with these experiences long enough to understand more of what is at work within them. Together, we can bring into clearer view the feelings, meanings and motivations that shape your life, including those that are difficult to acknowledge or put into words. Through this exploration, new possibilities for choice, connection and participation in life may begin to emerge.

I am a senior accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I am a senior teacher and trainer at a UK higher education institution and contribute to national and international developments in practice and research around psychotherapy.

I work within an integrative framework that is informed particularly by existential, systemic, psychodynamic, and cognitive behavioural modalities.

I will strive to be a person you can trust, and as such create a space where you can speak in complete confidence. There should also be a sense that the therapy has purpose – let’s work together and get to the heart of the matter.

​You're welcome to contact me at any point with questions or queries. We have the option of meeting either in person at the Pure Treatment Rooms, Wetherby, online over Zoom, or over the phone.