Joanne Harris

I am a UKCP Accredited Integrative Psychotherapist and Counsellor working from Queens Park NW6 and West Hampstead NW6. 

I work with adults experiencing a range of difficulties which may be because of current or historical life experiences such as family history. In the present there may be relationship difficulties, low mood, anxiety, stress, or a bereavement. Whatever the difficulty my role is to provide a safe space and facilitate you to think about the difficulty, to explore your feelings and work out what you want to do. We may integrate Eye Movement Desensitization  Reprocessing (EMDR) into the talking therapy work to process overwhelming feelings.

Couples: I offer couple therapy using Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples as my approach. EFTC has its theoretical roots in attachment theory but in practice explores how the couple react, feel, think and behave with each other.

There are times in life - life stages, significant change or events that happen - when a person may need some support to connect to or clarify feelings, explore thoughts, and work out what to do if action is required. Therapy gives you the space to feel and think.

You may be experiencing a relationship breakup/conflict, difficulty establishing a significant relationship, the loss of relationship/bereavement (inc. miscarriage/abortion), or stressful life changes. You might be feeling stuck, unhappy, lonely, angry or be suffering with low self-esteem. Your sleep and eating may be disturbed.

My aim is to build a comfortable working relationship that enables you to feel safe and be open to talking freely with me. 

An initial assessment/appointment allows me to see if I can help you and gives you the opportunity to see if you are comfortable with me.

The session is a conversation between us. There will be an exploration of what brings you to therapy now. I will ask some questions about your current life situation. 

For individuals I will ask about work/relationships/physical health/medication etc. There will be some exploration of your family background. The point of this exploration is for me to gain an initial 'map' to help me see what has brought you to therapy.

With a couple I will want to get a sense of what the tension/conflict/distress between you is, and how it happens. In the EFT model this is called the ‘negative cycle’. I will explain more about this and give you a diagram to take away which you will hopefully find helpful.

It is likely that whatever difficulties you are experiencing will be touched on and I hope you will feel able to share some of these with me.

I give clients a sheet of information about how I work which is also an agreement for us both to sign if we decide to work together. It has details about confidentiality/cancellations/holidays etc.  

We may decide at the end of this session to continue to meet or you may decide to take some time to consider your options.

I work Mon to Fri within the hours of 9-7pm 

Hello I'm Joanne, offering Individual or Couple Counselling/Therapy in Queens Park or West Hampstead, NW6

Are you experiencing difficulties and feel you are at a point where some professional help is needed? Do you need a space to work through something that cannot easily be shared or resolved with your partner? 

For individuals 

I will work with you in a warm and supportive way to explore whatever brings you to therapy. 

If appropriate we can agree to use the technique of Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) to resolve what can be hard to resolve through a talking therapy approach alone. 

For Couples

I will work with you both in an empathic and warm way using the Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples approach (EFTC). The focus will be on the interaction between you, what is happening and what is or isn't being said, felt, understood. My role is to help  you to share your feelings and thoughts with each other in a safe way to build more connection, openness and good feeling in the relationship. However, we start with where you are and what's going on.

Habitual ways of dealing with emotions and engaging with each other may be creating distress. Changing the negative cycle involves having new experiences in the relationship, especially being able to speak and hear your partner and their vulnerability in a context of safety which I aim to facilitate.

I offer both individual and couples a 50mins appointment which will take place on the same day/time each week. We meet in person at The Minster Centre, Lonsdale Rd, Queens Park NW6 or at 224 Iverson Rd, West Hampstead, NW6 or online.

Individual sessions cost £90.

Sometimes individual sessions involving EMDR will be 90mins. These sessions cost £140.

We can agree a number of sessions or leave the work open ended.

Couples:

The first two sessions are with you as a couple. Then you will each have an individual session. The purpose of this is to get to know you, your family and relationship history. After the individual sessions we return to sessions with you as a couple, although there may be more individual sessions if needed.

Couple therapy will involve a minimum of 8 sessions.

All couple sessions are £140, the two individual sessions are £90 each.

Therapy Agreement

At the initial appointment I will give you my Therapy Agreement & Guidance Notes with clear information about privacy, holidays/breaks, holding/cancellation fees. You will take this away and If we decide to work together I ask you to sign and bring it back to the 2nd session for me to sign and return to you. 

I record couple sessions for supervision and training purposes so if you agree to this I will send you a consent form to sign.

For individuals, the first session is a loosely structured assessment to ensure I can help you. I will ask questions to help me get a picture of who you are: ie. work, family & living situation, any previous therapy experience and what brings you to therapy. 

For individuals who are interested in EMDR the first session will be a detailed history assessment to ensure I will be able to help you.

For couples I will invite you both to say what brings you to therapy for help and what you would like to achieve, what you feel your strengths are as a couple and what needs strengthening.

I will give each partner a chance to speak and I may ask each of you to respond to what you hear your partner say.

We can decide at the end of the first session whether to continue or you may go away and have some time to think about it.