Dr Suha Al-Mahawi

Not available on Mondays  and Fridays 

I am a qualified psychotherapist with 23 years’ experience of working in the NHS primary care service & NHS CAMHS, with people from different cultural background. I have worked with individuals, couples, and families. I trained as an individual psychotherapist with the Minster Centre London and as a family therapist with the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.
My method of therapy is an integrative approach, meaning the use of several approaches tailored mainly to best meet my client’s needs. My focus is to create safety in sessions to enable the client to feel comfortable when they share their accounts. I believe in the ability and resources of my client. My approach to counselling is not based on opinionated answers, but rather listening and validating.  I do not give advice, I do not force change, nor do I have a magic formula to initiate transformations. I do believe that change comes from within. I see myself as a facilitator, holding a mirror for the client to allow them to see what is holding them back and bring their attention to things they were not aware of before so they can change their life. I aim to build a trusting alliance in therapy in a pace of time, to explore challenging traumatic events which would allow clients to feel relived, empowered and grow in 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.

I personally feel each model has its own value and can work for all types of different problems. My counselling approach is based upon an integrative counselling approach.  The counsellor combines different models of therapy. My integrative approach is primarily being non-judgmental non-directive. An integrative approach stems back to humanistic psychology which studies the whole person and  the uniqueness of each individual. 

 I believe counselling enables individuals to reflect upon themselves and how they act in the outside world. In a safe environment, client can choose which issues they wish to work on and take the lead in exploring the problems. 

Through this approach, they are able to examine different points of views leading them to finding their own solutions. 

During a counselling relationship, the client has the freedom to be 'themselves' and maintain their true inner self. 

My role is to empower clients to trust their own wisdom and make  judgment rather than seek advice or answers from the counsellor.

There are different reasons why people seek counselling. Whatever you are dealing with, therapy can help.  I usually offer a fifteen minutes initial assessment  which I discuss the client's need and the plan of counselling.

I usually see couples in the afternoon to give couple the opportunity to have quiet time in the evening. There are some times I see couples early in the morning if the couple wishes to be seen in the morning depending on their choice and cirumstances.

Our attachment relationship history plays out at our couple relations. Bowlby (1960) believed that early childhood experiences of bonding have a lasting influence on our pattern of relationship and behaviour in later life. During my couple work, couples will learn how their attachment style can have an impact on the dynamics and patterns of interaction in their relationship. I am integrative family therapist worked with couples and families for over 23 years.I use integrative approach where I combine Emotionally focused (EFT) therapy, Strategic family therapy and Gottman Methods.

EFT therapy focuses on improving the attachment and bonding between partners. I can help partner to look and reflect upon your communication with each other that enables you to understand and change patterns that lead to feelings of disconnection.

Strategic therapy method involves addressing area of conflicts and equipping the couple with problem solving skills. This improves the quality of friendship and the level of intimacy between the couple.

Gottman’s methods helps the couple to listen to each other. I helps to learn about the partner’s mental and emotional world  mapping the partner’s  fears, worries, stresses, happiness, hopes an histor It helps to strengthen affectionate relationship by expressin respect and appreciation of each other. It permits couples to talk and stress  their needs. It stresses on conflict management rather than conflict resloution.

Relationships are an inclusive part of our lives. It is where we learn about ourselves as well as others. A satisfying intimate relationship is beneficial to our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. Couple work can address a wide range of relationship issues, including recurring conflicts, feelings of disconnections, an affair, issues related to sex, or difficulties due to internal distress.

Therapy helps us to understand how and why we behave in a particular way. Through this process, there is a real opportunity to improve, develop, and benefit from the most important relationship we experience. Couple therapy can help  couple at any stage of  their relationship regardless of marital status, stage, age, race, faith, or sexual orientation. 

I am currently working  with supervisee online via zoom.

I have availability on  Tuesdays and  Thursdays.

I am qualified supervisor. My model of supervision is integrative. I consider supervision as a learning partnership between both parties. I believe the more effort I put into building the alliance, the better the communication becomes. I see it as a place to meet the supervisee with empathy, congruence, and mutual respect. It is a journey for both of us - it is important to make supervision a safe environment for both. I  also work with therapists who wanted to develop the use of integrative model when working with individuals, couples and families.

 I consider supervision is an educational intervention process. The importance of supervision lies in creating the learning environment that matches the needs of the supervisee where supervisee would benefit from monitoring their work with clients and to grantee the best possible way forward to their professional as well as personal development. Based on supervisee’s needs, the focus of the discussion could include counselling skills and techniques (as conceptualization skills, including multiple perspectives of the client), application of counselling theory, multi-cultural counselling skills, supervisee’s self-awareness, and self-care skills.  

It is always crucial to have a structure in the first session that provides direction to the purpose of the work undertaken. Hence, supervision contracts should be done collaboratively.  It is always essential to have a clear specific contract that sets the agenda, reduce fear by helping to make a difficult conversation clearer and easier to understand what will occur and lay down the ground rules. 

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.