John Walker

I currently have availability for additional client appointments.

I came to therapy later in life, having first had a varied career for more than thirty years in the business world. This has given me a broad experience of dealing with different people, from different backgrounds, in different (and sometimes very challenging) situations. I feel that my own life experiences have helped to shape me, both as a therapist and as a person. They have given me an empathy and understanding  that I believe helps me to engage, and form relationships with clients, from all walks of life and with a diverse range of difficulties to overcome..

I am a psychodynamic therapist and my approach is grounded in psychoanalytic thinking. I'm interested in how our early relationships and life experiences might continue to influence our emotions, behaviours and relationships in the present.

I work with my clients in a way that is understanding, trusting and non-judgemental. I work from my home and offer a private, discrete and safe space for clients. A quiet and undisturbed place, where we can think about what has made us who we are and what aspects of ourselves we might want to work on together? Understanding this is often a good  starting point for a journey towards change and improvement.

Therapy is a shared endeavour that encourages curiosity about who you are, and what events and experiences in your life might have influenced this. Therapy also fosters self awareness and understanding, which helps us to heal and grow. It can help you, whether you are exploring changes, or struggling to deal with aspects of your life that you feel are beyond your control. 

The therapeutic process is about developing a deeper understanding of yourself over time. It empowers and enables you  to move forward with confidence and to make changes. Ultimately therapy can help you to move towards a better future.

My work is grounded in Freud's ideas that early experiences and unconscious processes can shape (and continue to influence) how we feel , how we relate to others, and how we respond to situations that we find difficult to deal with, in our day to day lives. 

I offer a regular, confidential and safe space to explore difficult feelings, recurrent patterns and the aspects of your life that you may be finding difficult to deal with. We will work together to gain an understanding of what might underlie your difficulties. Self-awareness and self- understanding can help us move towards change and improvement.  

My first session usually lasts for about 20 minutes and is free of charge. It is relaxed and friendly and it's a chance for you to ask any initial questions or raise any initial concerns that you might have about starting therapy. 

I usually like to talk you through how the process works and what we might both expect as we move forward together. You may have had therapy before and, depending on what kind of therapy this was, our process and way of working might be a little different this  time.  

It is also an opportunity for us to talk about what has motivated you to try therapy at this particular point in your life, and what kind of difficulties you might be hoping to overcome. I often find that talking briefly about your family history can be a helpful starting point for this session. 

I also find that it can be useful to talk about anything that we might want to explore together in our next session. It gives us both a chance to perhaps consider our thinking a little before our next meeting.