Matthew Campling

I am available in London on Friday's and Saturday's only.  My home is 5 minutes from Highbury and Islington (Victoria line), 15 min from Angel (Northern line) and 18 minutes from King's Cross (several lines).

For the rest of the week (Monday to Thursday) I am available on line, or at my home in Broadstairs, Kent.

I have a Masters degree in psychotherapy plus BA Hons in client-centred work.  Also a qualification in CBT for depression and anxiety.  I have 30 years experience of effective therapy practice.  I've noticed that sometimes, after a couple of sessions, clients say 'I don't know why it's changed, but I'm aware that I have more choice over how I am, and my depression/anxiety is more manageable'.  I put it down to my uncritical listening and understanding and my having a deep belief in the possibility of lasting change.  For 10 years I wrote advice columns for magazines (as an Agony Uncle) and I find it very easy to come up with suggestions and solutions.  However these are only offered, only put in front of the client for them to decide what is useful and what not.  I am very interested in patterns of behaviour and relationships and I worked for 2 years as a Volunteer Counsellor for Relate - the couples organisation.  So I have training and experience in individual and couple therapy.  I am a Registered Member of the BACP.

Sometimes it's difficult to even begin, and I have patience and empathy, to help clients begin to unravel their tangle.  We work together to look into the issues the client brings.  It's not about my judging or commenting critically.  My passion for being a therapist has grown over years of seeing how the right input encourages the client to let go of their depression and anxiety, and start to have a more enjoyable day.  Each client is unique so as well as working in a way that I have seen is effective, I am ready and interested in understanding how the world and their life has been for each client as an individual.  

I use a client-centred approach - empathy, unconditional positive regard - AND therapist congruence.  This has been my most fascinating study.  Sometimes saying the right thing at the right moment unlocks a great deal for the client.  My congruence helps me understand how life is for the client, so when I speak it's as though I'm inside their life.  The comments I make,  though, are only if they are helpful to the client.  I always focus on 'is this going to be helpful for the client'.

Face to face, the client is offered tea, coffee or water and sits opposite me at a comfortable distance.  There are no interruptions.  I usually say something like 'where would you like to start' - this is an open question, rather than specific questions before the client has had time to get used to the process that's about to happen.  The client may have a question about me which I answer simply.  But of course the focus is them.  I have a piece of paper with their address and other simple details to be filled in which the client takes away with them.  They have a clock specifically for them, to see the time.  I explain that we will explore what they bring to the room, and then five minutes before time is up they will have an opportunity to say how they have experienced it, and I will answer any questions or observations that have emerged.  At the beginning the usual practice is for weekly sessions, although when the client starts to feel more empowered these can drop down as suits them.