Angela Brassett-Harknett

Monday 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Tuesday 11 a.m.–8 p.m.

Wednesday 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

Thursday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

Friday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

I practice as an integrative psychotherapist, and I specialise at working with people with eating and body-image disorders, and with traumatic stress.

I work with individuals, couples and groups.  I practice from consulting rooms in central London (near Bond Street and Oxford Circus tube stations), as well as from my home consulting room near East Croydon.  My preference is to see all clients face-to-face, however, where this is not possible, I am happy to offer online videotherapy or telephone therapy sessions.

My work draws on the theories and techniques of a number of different areas in which I have been trained.  The emphasis depends upon the client, his/her/their particular problem and/or the stage of therapy; I also take into consideration research evidence, such as that recommended by the ‘National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’ (published as NICE Guidelines), as well as that produced by the institutions in which I have been employed.

I am also experienced at working with people with depression, anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, low self-esteem, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), mood disorders, pre/post-partum issues, personality disorders, anger management problems, addictions, deliberate self-harm, bereavement issues, relationship problems, life transition issues, identity issues, employment-related issues, autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD).  This list is not exhaustive, and I welcome whatever issues my clients choose to bring to therapy.

I have been working in private practice since 2004, and I have been supervising the work of other psychotherapists since 2007. Since 2020 I have also been working collaboratively with: The Nightingale Private Hospital in Marylebone, London; The Priory Private Hospital in Glasgow; South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland; and the Health Services Executive in Ireland.

I have been trained in the use of: existential psychotherapy; cognitive behavioural therapy; humanistic and person-centred therapy; motivational enhancement therapy; experiential therapies (e.g. Gestalt); hypnotherapy; psychodynamic psychotherapy; mentalisation-based therapy; emotion-focused therapy; compassion-based therapy; internal family systems therapy; and lifespan integration.  

I also use two therapeutic models that I helped to develop when I was employed part-time (from 2002 to 2018) at the Maudsley Hospital’s adult eating disorder unit, part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, namely: (1) the Maudsley model of anorexia nervosa treatment for adults (MANTRA); and (2) the Maudsley’s emotional and social mind model for bulimia and binge-eating (ESM).

Whilst working at the Maudsley Hospital I received direct training and supervision from both Professor Janet Treasure and Professor Ulrike Schmidt, world experts in the treatment of eating disorders. During this employment my team was named ‘Best Mental Health Team 2017’ by the British Medical Journal; and I was also proud to be given the Trust’s 2017 award for ‘Transforming Lives’, for which I was nominated by my patients.  Also, whilst working at the Maudsley Hospital I developed expertise at working with patients who had an eating disorder as well as complex trauma, for which I received extra supervision from the Maudsley Hospital’s traumatic stress clinic.

In addition to the BACP, I am bound by the codes of conduct and ethics of the British Psychological Society.  I am also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

In advance of offering a contract of therapy, I first conduct an assessment (usually a 'double session' lasting one hour 40 minutes).  This gives me an opportunity to ascertain the full details of a prospective client’s situation, explore all background factors, and gather a full personal history, all with a view to determining if and how these problems can be tackled, what therapeutic models would best achieve the desired outcomes, and estimate roughly how long that would take.

If the presenting issues are deemed amenable to psychotherapeutic input, the assessment also enables me to determine whether I am the right person to do the job; and it gives a prospective client the opportunity to ask questions about the process, and decide whether he/she/they want to work with me.

Following this appointment, I send the prospective client a letter summarising the conclusions of the assessment, and where relevant, make an offer of a contract of therapy with a start date and time.