Michael Cowdry

I am accepting new patients.

Please do not contact me if you are acting for a recruitment agency. 

My way of working is influenced by the principle of accompanying; by respect for each person’s human drive to discover and live as themselves; by my own therapeutic journey; and by my experience and rigorous training to Masters level at the University of Oxford.

I aim to work collaboratively and psychodynamically with people to discover ways of understanding themselves and the aspects of their experience causing them dis-ease. The therapeutic process offers no "magic bullets" and may take some time because we will seek deliberately to work with the person’s unconscious, hidden aspects. Having said that, people do often feel able to engage more constructively with life, themselves and others quite quickly. 

Psychotherapy is effective in often unexpected ways because we are working with the unconscious, and discovering aspects of the person of which they themselves have been unaware. The work can therefore sometimes feel unsettling and I always aim to create time and space for feelings of safety to develop.

There is often a strong psycho-educative element to the way I work. The coaching side of my practice is informed by my experience as a teacher and school leader, alongside my psychodynamic training.

I work in-person and on-line, using SKYPE, WhatsApp, or FaceTime when on-line.

I work as a psychodynamic psychotherapist from a room in a private home. It is quiet, offers parking and is within easy distance of public transport. Some people bicycle to sessions; it's a 35 minute ride from Oxford town centre. Online sessions can be used to create extra flexibility so that I work with some people in person and remotely.

I typically work in an open-ended (as opposed to "unending") way, using 50-minute sessions. The freedom of having an undefined number of sessions allows the therapeutic relationship and the direction of therapy to develop organically. Progress in therapy is reviewed to ensure that the person's needs are being met.

Where people looking for coaching, we will work in a more defined goal-orientated way.

Sessions are weekly, and more frequently if necessary.

I work with female and male adults.

We will use the initial sessions as an opportunity for you to teach me about you, including your reasons for seeking therapy and your background. We will discuss what you would like to achieve in therapy. I will answer questions about the ways in which I will aim to use the psychodynamic method to help you; and we will agree the parameters of our therapeutic relationship.

Starting the therapeutic process is, in itself, a brave and useful step that reflects the person's desire to grow. However, it usually feels like a step into the unknown and people frequently come to the very first session too distressed to be able to articulate their experience and needs coherently. In that case, we will use the sessions to establish the basis for a relationship of trust where concerns, hopes and anxieties can be expressed. 

I will generally charge for the first session.