Samantha Cozens

No matter what may be troubling you, I endeavour to create a safe space where no subject is off-limits, where you can share whatever is on your mind, knowing that you will be met with warmth and acceptance.

I am experienced working with a wide array of presenting issues including: anxiety; depression; loss; isolation; relationship difficulties; feelings of stuckness; loss of purpose; low self-esteem; trauma; abuse and domestic violence.

I am experienced working on both a short-term and long-term basis.

My way of working is gentle but challenging.

Believing that only you can be the expert on you, I do not diagnose, pathologise or categorise.

My initial training was in Integrative psychotherapy (combining existential, psychodynamic and humanistic schools of thought) and my advanced training was in the existential approach.

The existential approach is grounded in a philosophy that focuses on human experience and, through open-enquiry, seeks to illuminate your ways of engaging with the world, and with others. This way of working presents an opportunity for us to reflect on, and clarify, your situation. It offers the space to remind yourself of your values and what matters most to you so that you can move forward with a life that feels meaningful to you.

If appropriate, I will draw on my training in the psychodynamic approach. This way of working looks to early relationships and how they may be impacting your present ways of relating. Through increased insight and personal awareness, this can help you to free yourself from patterns of relating, and living, that are no longer helpful to you.

In addition to my private practice, I have experience working with clients in an NHS service as an honorary counsellor. I also volunteered as a psychotherapist for several years at a charitable counselling service in North West London. 

As a former lawyer in a big City law firm, I am acutely aware of the stresses and strains that can go with that sort of career. In addition to working with anxiety and stress related issues, I am also experienced working with depression; loss; isolation; relationship difficulties; feelings of stuckness; loss of purpose; infertility (including those undergoing fertility treatment); low self-esteem; trauma; abuse and domestic violence. I also work with those considering becoming an SMBC/SPBC (solo mother/parent by choice).

No matter what may be troubling you, I provide a safe space where no subject is off-limits, where you can share whatever is on your mind, assured in the knowledge that you will be met with warmth and acceptance.

I endeavour to offer you my full presence, to listen deeply and respectfully, asking the kind of questions that give you a chance to express more of your own truth, whatever that may be. 

Whilst I don't offer advice, my role is to facilitate your self-learning, asking questions that shine a light on what it may be that is really holding you back,  bothering you, or why you may be feeling or behaving in a certain way. I often find that, once a client gains this self-knowledge, a shift occurs - that might be a shift in feelings or perspective, or a practical decision becoming possible.

In addition to my private practice, I previously worked in an NHS service. I have also worked as a psychotherapist for several years at a counselling service in North West London.

I am experienced working on both a short-term and long-term basis.

My way of working is gentle but challenging.

Believing that only you can be the expert on you, I do not diagnose, pathologise or categorise.

For more information on how I work, please visit my website at: https://www.therapy-london.co