Andrew Williams

My working days are Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

I offer appointments throughout the day and evening.

My annual leave tends to follow school holidays with more specific details on my website.

I have worked as a psychotherapist for around twenty-five years and remain passionate about the work and the profession.  It is such a privilege to be able to make true contact with people, to discover what is important to them and to create a shared endeavour or journey that we share - together.

My stance as a therapist is to be shoulder-to-shoulder with the other - so we are in this together, sharing responsibility, sharing our mutual good thinking, feelings and experiences of being together in the work.

My philosophy and values as a therapist tend to focus on ideas around emancipation and freedom.  I believe my role is to support the process of freeing up the other - so that they can be fully themselves and accept themselves.  One of my colleagues described therapy as the process of "ultimate acceptance of self".  I wonder if this might get close to what you are looking for?

I believe it is really important that therapists are well-trained, well-supervised by a clinical supervisor, remain sharp and "on-point" through excellent continuing professional development (CPD) and, to the best of their ability, live a life of integrity with a strong ethical approach.  I am very interested in the values and philosophy of the therapist, and how this is lived out all the time, and not just in the "therapy room".

My original training was as a counsellor employing the relational approach and a deep focus on the therapeutic relationship.  I have a depth of experience as a Transactional Analysis Psychotherapist, Trainer and Supervisor.  I am also trained in CBT.  A detailed list of my qualifications can be found on my website - the web address is above.

I definitely work in different ways with different clients.  Some of my work is exploratory, emergent - a journey of discovery.  At other times, the client may be very clear on what they want to change and the clinical work has a very clear focus - a journey with a very clear destination.

I set up the Horsforth Centre for Psychotherapy (in Horsforth, Leeds) approximately fifteen years ago.  The practice has a set of five comfortable, private and well-decorated therapy rooms.  The centre has a good collection of paintings and works by artists from Yorkshire, including coastal works and sea-scapes.

The centre has five car parking spaces onsite as well as free, on-street parking on the main road and spaces in the local church car park.  We ask people to park on the main road and car parks, rather than in our domestic street.

The centre has toilets both upstairs and downstairs and a mini-kitchen with hot water, a water cooler and a range of drinks and biscuits available.

My room at The Horsforth Centre is on the ground floor and several of the rooms offer access for wheelchairs.  We currently have several visually impaired clients attending the centre, with some very friendly guide dogs attending!

The Horsforth Centre for Psychotherapy is located in Horsforth, near to Leeds Bradford Airport.  We are just off the North Leeds Ring Road, very close to the Evans Halshall Vauxhall Car Dealership.  The 50A bus stop is adjacent to the practice.

Links to the Horsforth Centre can be found on my website - the web address is above. 

I would encourage us to speak by phone initially before our first session.  This free-of-charge call usually lasts around twenty minutes and allows me to understand your context and the issues you might want to discuss.  In turn, it allows you to hear my voice, ask for more information and get to know me a little bit.

Our following first session is a full therapy session at full price and involves me seeking information from you about your history, and current circumstances and a mutual discussion about your safety.