Crissy Duff

I take an integrative relational approach to working with clients and have a particular interest in Gestalt therapy. This means that I am able to draw upon a range of different therapeutic approaches and techniques, to better support my work with you.  Where appropriate and helpful, I may incorporate a creative approach using mindfulness and the expressive arts. As well as working with adults, I also have extensive experience of counselling children and adolescents and I work with couples and families, offering support with partner, parent-child and other familial/collegial and friendship based relationships.  

I run small therapy groups for individuals seeking support for specific issues e.g. parenting, menopause, separation and divorce. I am also a qualified clinical supervisor working with qualified and trainee therapists and other health and education professionals, on a one to one basis and within groups, both privately and within organisations. 

When working with trauma I offer an approach called Brainspotting, a trauma therapy technique that uses a client's gaze to locate and process "brainspots" which are specific points in the visual field linked to emotional pain and trauma stored in the brain and body.

I offer face to face and online sessions from my comfortable, home-based room in South West London. Online sessions take place via Zoom. I am close to transport links and there is ample free parking in the area. 

I was previously Clinical and Practice Manager Help Counselling a low-cost charity and trainee placement, based in Notting Hill. I have worked as a school counsellor, as a Mental Health and Disability Mentor at Kingston University and I have counselled adult clients within the NHS and Local Government Occupational Health Services. 

Having held the position of Clinical Lead for a national cancer support charity, and specialised in bereavement work for some years, I also focus on supporting children, parents and families through anticipatory grief and the pre-bereavement period following a diagnosis of a life limiting condition. In pursuit of this goal, I regularly offer online and face to face group sessions for the charity Breast Cancer Now and offer training to educational and health care professionals.

Choosing a therapist can feel daunting and it is important that you have the opportunity to speak with me before committing to sessions. For this reason, where appropriate, I offer a 20 minute free Zoom or phone conversation, to give us both the chance to get to know each other, to explore what you are looking for from therapy and to discuss how I may be able to help. If we do decide to work together, sessions, which last 50 minutes, will take place weekly, on the same day and at the same time. 

As a supervisor I work with qualified counsellors and those still in training, both one to one and in groups. I also offer supervision within organisations, schools and the helping professions. Whilst Clinical Manager for the charity Help Counselling in Notting Hill I regularly supervised groups of trainee therapists from a wide range of approaches including Gestalt, Transpersonal, Person Centred, Psychodynamic and Transactional Analysis. I myself trained with The Centre for Supervision and Team Development (CSTD London). The core of this training is the Seven Eyed Model which was developed with an aim to equip supervisors to help their supervisees to experience work as "a place of purpose, achievement, self-worth, service, relationship, and creativity."

I work from a ground floor room in a comfortable home environment with good transport links and unrestricted parking.  I offer sessions both face to face and via Zoom.

A first supervision session is a chance for us to get to know each other and to decide whether we are a good fit and would like to work together. We will take time to explore how we both work, to identify your specific needs and to determine what you hope to gain from the supervisor/supervisee relationship.