Eleanor Stanford

I see clients across various weekday mornings, afternoons, and evenings, from my practice rooms in Shoreditch (E1) and Central Hackney (E8).

I currently have availability for in-person sessions in Shoreditch on Wednesday mornings and online via Zoom on Tuesday afternoons. 

We all go through times when life feels especially hard, uncertain, or painful. When we need help to work through our problems or a period of transition.

I see therapy as a collaborative process, and my aim is to create a space where you can express yourself freely, and be heard. Where we work together to better understand your past and present, to untangle disruptive thoughts or behaviours, and to help you heal for a future with more possibility.

Many of the individuals I work with identify as LGBTQIA+, and my practice is queer, trans, non-binary, relationship diverse, and kink friendly. Living under late capitalism, I am sensitive to the myriad ways marginalisation can impact mental wellbeing, and also have a special interest in and experience of cross-cultural therapy (working across racial and cultural difference).

As an integrative therapist, I shape my approach to your specific needs. Here is a brief list of the approaches I may draw on:

Relational - extensive research has shown that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the best vehicle for change, and so I prioritise creating a warm, accepting environment and robust alliance between us.

Psychodynamic - in which we pay attention to what’s happening on unconscious, as well as conscious, levels.

Trauma-informed - being sensitive to how overwhelming experiences impact the mind and body, using frameworks including Internal Family Systems.

Somatic therapy - working more directly with the body and the nervous system to help regulate and avoid retraumatisation, using frameworks including Polyvagal Theory.

I am experienced working with anxiety, intrusive thoughts, depression, questions or issues around gender, questions or issues around sexuality, bereavement, abuse, stress, obsessional behaviours, low self-esteem, burnout, alcohol and drug issues, relationship breakdown or conflict, work problems, and issues with family of origin.

In addition to my years in private practice, I have experience working with queer young people, providing low-cost counselling to diverse communities in North London, and as part of a multi-disciplinary NHS team focused on personality disorders. I am also a member of the assessment team for a local counselling charity.

Following six years of training, I obtained an MSc and a Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy from the Metanoia Institute, one of the leading centres in the U.K. Before that, I studied Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling at The Minster Centre.

I came to train as a psychotherapist following my own experience as a client in individual and group therapy, and so I know first hand how transformative this work can be. I consider the therapeutic space to be a rare gift.

Sometimes, words can’t express the complexity of being human, and in these moments I enjoy working creatively. That can mean drawing on wider ideas from art, literature, or philosophy, and working with art-making, metaphor, or the embodied experience.

My practice and work continue to evolve. To support this dynamic process, I participate in a range of Continuing Professional Development activities, encompassing the latest developments and research in the field.

Recently, this has included trainings in Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) and trauma-informed somatic work. My work also receives regular clinical supervision from a senior colleague. 

First we can meet on a free, 20-minute call, to see how we might work together. 

Once we have decided to move forward, our first session will be a consultation session, in which I will learn more about your background, and what you hope to gain from therapy. This is charged at the usual fee.

Sessions are 50 minutes long, and at the same time and place each week. 

My fees are on a sliding scale between £60 and £80, which allows me to reserve the lower end of the scale for students and those on lower incomes.