Hello, I’m Dan
I am a fully qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and qualified Master Practitioner in Neuro-linguistic programming.
In my private work with clients, I have experience dealing with a wide range of issues. I have also had experience in placement within the NHS as an Honorary Assistant Psychologist within the Priory group of hospitals. I hold full professional insurance and abide by the ethical principles of the UKCP.
I can offer individual sessions in-person from my practices in central London and Marlow, Buckinghamshire or online.
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Contact me on +44 7899 804013 or by clicking below to arrange a free 20-minute consultation.
In trying to come to terms with this problem I began to become fascinated by developments in neuroscience and what it could tell us about the way we interacted with our environment. At the same time, I became interested in Neuro-linguistic programming which is a therapeutic approach that studies subjective experience and how that information can be used to change the way we interact with our environment. I adapted many of these techniques to develop a way of alleviating the debilitating effects of my performance anxiety.
My journey to becoming a therapist
I am a classically trained musician – my grandmother, who was a professional violinist, gave me my first violin lessons aged 3! I later switched to the viola, which has a rich, melancholy tone and suits my character a bit better. In my career as a viola player, I have performed with most of the big London orchestras in venues all over the world. In concert halls including the Albert Hall, Festival Hall, The Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Konzerthaus (Vienna), La Scala (Milan), Carnegie Hall (New York), to name a few. I’ve played at Abbey Road on the soundtracks for many films including The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, and with artists including the Spice Girls, Travis and the Devine Comedy (my gran played there many years before me on a Beatles album!). I’ve performed at the Brit Awards backing Rod Stewart and at the Albert Hall accompanying The Who. As my career progressed, I became aware how anxiety was affecting my ability to express myself as a musician and how uncomfortable I began to feel on stage.
When the pandemic hit, and we all went into lockdown I began to reassess my life choices. There was no telling when (or if) live music would return, and I was experiencing some health issues which had begun to affect my playing. I decided that now would be the time to devote myself to my interest in self-exploration which in turn gave me the idea to enroll at the Metanoia Institute and train as a psychotherapist. I am now in my 4th year of a Masters in Gestalt Psychotherapy. The profound and deep connections I have experienced working with my clients, and studying the techniques and theories of counselling and psychotherapy has opened new dimensions and possibilities. Above all I feel immensely privileged to share and become part of my clients’ journeys towards growth and positive change.
My approach to therapy
We can discuss which approach will work best for you in our first couple of sessions and continue to adapt our therapeutic plan at regular intervals along our journey.
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During our initial consultation we can discuss what has prompted you to contact me; I will invite you to tell me a little bit about the issue as you see it and any past or current background information you are comfortable sharing with me. I will talk you through my thoughts for a treatment plan and check how this feels with you.
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Should we go on to work together we can arrange to meet in person, or on-line. We will get to know each other in a calm and accepting environment and together we will develop a way of working which suits you best.
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Over the first few sessions we may find that it is useful to explore your early life to understand how some of the decisions you had to make are limiting or causing problems for you now. Working deeply, we will move towards an outcome which allows greater self-acceptance and increases the choices available to you. This would be a more long-term way of working. This can range from blocks of sessions (the average is 20) which can be reviewed regularly and extended if desired, or be open-ended, continuing until a sense of resolution is felt.
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If you prefer a more structured, goals-orientated approach then brief therapy which incorporates tasks outside of our sessions and focusses on specific, pivotal areas of your situation may suit you best. This therapy normally ranges between 6-12 sessions.
How I like to work
I will draw on my experience working with different therapeutic techniques and theories to inform the way we work together.
I am trained in a modality called Gestalt Therapy which provides the principal foundation to my approach. The emphasis is on the importance of working in the here and now and of raising an awareness of how past events and future worries may be impacting you in the present. Our aim will be to develop a therapy plan by forming a creative partnership that enables you to feel comfortable and supported enough to try new things.
I will use techniques from NLP which support methods of creatively modeling the most effective ways of interacting with the environment, by using visualisation techniques and behavioural repatterning strategies. As a Master Practitioner in Neuro-linguistic programming I will help you discover how you have adapted to cope with the difficulties you have experienced in your life and to notice how these ways of being may now have become habits which limit your potential. From there we will explore methods which enable you to regain control of your life and transform the way you see the world.
I incorporate insights from the ever-developing field of neuroscience and use exercises and breathing techniques which have been developed to enable us to stimulate communication between our brain structures and promote the formation of new neural pathways.
I use my experience as a musician and performer to integrate intuition, creative expression and a spirit of collaborative experimentation into our work. I don’t want you to feel constricted by any expectations of how therapy should be. I value the freedom to explore and experience new ways of being in a safe, accepting environment.