Deborah A Lee

I see being a psychotherapist/counsellor as being alongside the person in the other chair, rather than positioning myself as the ‘expert’ on other people’s lives. I see psychotherapy and counselling as about recognising and challenging the social structures in which we are all located, rather than individualising whatever material is brought to sessions and participating in social control. Being a psychotherapist/counsellor and engaging in psychotherapy/counselling (I am also a client) is, for me, political activism: when we take part in seeking to free ourselves, who knows where we will go. 

I don’t make a list of ‘areas I work with’, as that seems to me to compartmentalise our experiences unhelpfully: we are all more complex than the one thing that might initially bring us to counselling/psychotherapy. My experience to date includes services for women experiencing what are often referred to as ‘complex needs’, such as domestic violence and use of alcohol and drugs as coping strategies, as well as more generalised services. You’re welcome to bring whatever you wish to sessions. I don’t operate with a detailed formal assessment at the beginning of our time together, instead preferring that you say whatever you choose to say when you choose to say it. I don’t believe psychotherapy/counselling needs to be therapist-led, you’ll know best what is arising for you each time we meet. 

I am offering two free places for individuals for psychotherapy/counselling via the Free Psychotherapy Network from January 2021. Sessions will be via Zoom, so you may be located anywhere in the UK. Sessions will be available evenings and weekends. After a first session of 50-minutes, where we decide if we would like to work together, these two free places will be 6 weekly sessions of 50-minutes, after which time we will review how we feel about working together for a longer period. 

I am also an academic at the University of Salford.

I look forward to hearing from you if what you have read here appeals to you. Here is my email address: personcentredness@gmail.com