The Abingdon Natural Health & Therapy Centre
Psychotherapy, Counselling and Complementary Therapy in Abingdon
Meet the Therapists
Meet The Therapists
Abingdon Natural Health & Therapy Centre is home to a range of experienced therapists qualified in various Psychotherapy and Counselling modalities and in Natural Health and Complementary Therapies. All of the therapists working at the centre are insured and accredited so you can rest assured that you are in safe and caring hands. Below you will find information on the therapists and their approach. Please feel free to contact the Centre if you have any further questions or would like to know more.
Stephanie Davis MA (Cantab), PhD, UKCP reg, Attachment-based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist
I am a qualified attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapist registered with the UKCP who works relationally. I have over 20 years experience working in mental health and offering psychotherapy and counselling to individuals and couples.
Continue...
I also work with clients under EAPs and with the national charity MarriageCare. Prior to working as a therapist, I worked as a management consultant and also as a research fellow in Education and Psychiatry. As such, I have a keen understanding of the impact of different environments on mental well-being as well as mental health issues themselves. I have worked in the NHS, private practice and with several charities specialising in a variety of areas such as fostering and adoption, stroke survivors and their carers, and refugees. I completed a four year training in attachment-based psychoanalytic therapy in London where I ran a successful practice for over ten years. Since leaving London I have worked in Abingdon, Oxford, Didcot and Witney.
Approach & Specialist Areas
As an attachment-based psychotherapist, I view relationships with others as a key part of human development and growth, and understand that disruptions and difficulties in relationships - in both childhood and adulthood – and feelings of isolation can damage our ability to manage our lives and our selves. These disruptions and difficulties can affect us in a variety of ways of which we may be unaware. My work with clients involves facilitating an understanding of how much of one’s behaviour, and way of relating to others, is influenced by processes linked to such disruptions and difficulties. I consider the therapy to be ‘relational’ in that it is an endeavour in which the therapist and client are both mutually engaged and working together to effect change.
I have developed expertise in working with a range of clients from different cultural and national backgrounds with concerns as diverse as depression, anxiety, trauma, eating problems and abuse as well as emotional difficulties and problems of identity and the self. I also specialise in working with the transition to parenthood, perinatal mental health and issues around PND.
I use the EFT approach when working with couples. Attachment needs are present throughout the lifespan and viewing the adult couple relationship as an attachment relationship offers a perspective which views the difficulties and disruptions as a consequence of couples struggling to have a good enough, supportive attachment with one another. When a couples’ attachment feels insecure it can result in negative cycles of behaviour which prevent them from communicating and connecting effectively. Working from this perspective, I endeavour to support couples to identify and understand their negative cycles and support them in unlocking the emotions fuelling this negative cycle to facilitate a move to a more secure and supportive attachment and way of relating.
Training & Qualifications
UKCP Registered Psychotherapist
Diploma Attachment Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
PhD Psychology
MA (Hons) Psychology (Cantab)
Emotionally Focussed Therapy (EFT) approach with couples (Marriage Care)
Perinatal Mental Health
Please feel free to contact me on 07847 440860 or by email. For further information please look at my website.
Nicholas Langdon, Psychodynamic Counsellor
I offer short and medium-term individual psychodynamic counselling and where appropriate I incorporate elements from other approaches including; CBT, Person-Centred therapy, Mindfulness and Existential therapy.
Continue...
I have worked in mental health care over for over 30 years and have experience in providing a safe and confidential therapeutic relationship that offers a balance of support and challenge. We can begin by exploring your past and present difficulties and what your hopes are for the future. The first sessions are valuable for outlining your issues and expectations and to help you to set your agenda, aims and review points.
The issues that we can work through include; anxiety, depression, anger, loss, issues with relationships and other complex mental health difficulties.
I completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Practice in 1993 and undertook my own therapy for several years as part of this training. As a member of the BACP and I abide by their codes of ethics and practice. This includes a commitment to continued learning towards further accreditation and regular supervision for my therapeutic work. If you wish to contact me by phone or e-mail, I would be pleased to answer any questions that you may have about counselling and the possibility of working together.
T: 07780 382120
M: nicholas.langdon55@gmail.com
Lorraine Chapman, Mindfulness and Wellbeing Practitioner
Lorraine offers individual and group mindfulness sessions for anxiety, stress and the symptoms of menopause.
info@sparklingwellbeing.co.uk
Continue...
Helena Coleman, Soft Tissue Therapist
My Name is Helena Coleman, and I am a Soft Tissue Therapist. I trained with the Oxford School of Sports Massage and graduated with BTEC Level 5 Diploma which remains the highest level possible in Sports and remedial massage.
Continue...
Soft Tissue Therapy is the assessment, treatment, and the offer of rehabilitation advice for people suffering a wide range of minor and chronic injuries caused by any lifestyle factor. As well as treating your injury my aim is to identify the underlying causes and offer more long-term improvements in physical wellbeing. Whether that means having a better nights sleep, keeping up with your kids or helping you remain fit for your next London marathon I will work with your personal goals.
Anne Stewart, Therapeutic Counsellor
Sometimes life becomes overwhelming in ways we never expected. Pain can feel endless, as if it’s never going to ease. When things around us begin to shift, we can find ourselves stuck in a place of hopelessness or helplessness, unsure how to move forward.
Continue...
My In those moments, many of us turn inward with harshness. We tell ourselves we shouldn’t feel this way, our emotions are wrong, inconvenient, or too much. We try to keep going, to please others, to hold everything together, and somewhere along the way we lose sight of ourselves. Feelings of stuckness, emptiness, and meaninglessness can quietly take over.
Counselling offers a space where all of this can be gently unpacked. A space where you don’t have to pretend, minimise, or push your feelings aside. A space where your experiences can be explored with compassion rather than judgement.
For me, counselling is about creating room for your story, your pain, your hopes, your confusion, your resilience and walking alongside you as you begin to understand yourself more deeply. It’s a place where you can begin to reconnect with the parts of you that have been silenced or overshadowed, and where healing can start to take shape in its own time.
I’m a Humanistic Counsellor, counselling tutor, and clinical supervisor, and my work is rooted in a deep belief that every person has the capacity to grow, heal, and reconnect with those lost parts. Over the years, I’ve supported people through a wide range of experiences, including depression, anxiety, self-harm, bereavement, divorce, disordered eating, OCD, low self-esteem, suicide attempts, and the complex layers of trauma that can follow abuse or PTSD. Every person’s story is unique, and I approach each one with warmth, respect, and genuine curiosity.
Kelly Grimes, Humanistic Counsellor
I am a qualified Humanistic Counsellor. I have worked for 20 years in health and social care, with older people and then with people who have struggled in their mental health and with their families. This included varied diagnoses, such as anxiety, depression and psychosis.
Continue...
I have worked together with family units on history, dynamics and communication and co-facilitated courses in mental health to family members and other professionals.
In my experience so far, I have learned how people want and deserve to be seen exactly as they are. I am often moved by stories of others and how mental health has featured within cultures and generations, from what is unsaid, ways we have supported ourselves and each other, to sometimes what we now know and recognise as stigma surrounding mental health. I am always learning and my clients are my greatest teachers.
How we can work together
Sometimes feelings can be overwhelming to hold alone and you might want to share this with someone who is trained to listen, who offers a safe and nurturing space.
Changes in your life may have created a loss of the person you once were. Perhaps you feel that you lack purpose and you would like more meaning in your life. You may have conflicting feelings, or what once seemed to make sense may have become confusing. Situations may be familiar, yet uncomfortable and you may be wondering why you can’t move forward.
I can be with you as you are and how ever you bring yourself. I can support you gain insight into your experiences and how they have shaped you. Together we can explore your ways of being with others, your relationships and how you make sense. Sometimes you might need to protect the unsaid, or perhaps you might need other ways to express your feelings, when words are not enough and you need something different. I believe that we can only ever become the experts of our own experiences, so I can support you to deepen your understanding of yourself.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if this is your time to reach out and I hope I can help you. I love my client work. I am impacted deeply by the journeys clients have taken and the courage they can build to help make their lives better than before.
Contact me at:
enquiries@kellycounselling.co.uk
07534 274308
www.counselling-directory.org.uk/counsellors/kelly-grimes
Benjamin Hill MA MNCS(Accred), Psychotherapist
Psychotherapy is a journey. It is different for each one of us. We begin to look carefully and honestly at ourselves. In time, feelings surface and are freed. We change. We come to therapy when something is too painful to bear. A crisis: loss, death, a failing relationship, trauma. Sometimes there isn’t anything clear.
Continue...
We’re not feeling alive, we’re unhappy, purposeless, lonely, or frightened. Seeking help is an expression of hope for something better. Shifting our energy toward change is important.
My name is Ben and I offer depth psychotherapy in Abingdon and Oxford. The Psychotherapy I offer provides time and space to investigate any material that is important for you. We will gradually build a relationship and using this as a vehicle we can explore how you relate to others and the world around you. As part of this work there will be an emphasis on present moment experience and an exploration of sensations, thoughts, emotions, words, and images that seem important. These experiences provide a gateway for you to become aware of habitual ways of seeing the world. This awareness is an important part in the process of change. To support you in this exploration I will endeavour to provide a safe, warm space and offer kind encouragement as your process unfolds. I will welcome whatever emerges in our work together and offer reflection if it feels appropriate. This work tends to be longer term, as it seeks to address deeply rooted tendencies and patterns and bring about lasting transformation.
I began this work in 2018 and draw on over 10 years personal experience of helping people in difficulty, my own journey through therapy, and my experience of practising and teaching meditation.
I am accredited by the National Counselling Society, and hold a masters degree in Mindfulness Based Core Process Psychotherapy. I warmly invite you to email me using hello@inprocess.org.uk or call on 07395 876 287
Carla Combrink, Person Centred Psychotherapist
I am a qualified person-centred psychotherapist. I work to enable each person's unique way of being in the world. This means that I do not impose pre-defined structures on you but work to understand and support your unique experience and potential.
Continue...
I work on a short, medium and long term basis. Although longer term work allows for deeper levels of engagement which can support sustained growth and change, I believe the seeds of healing can be sown in a few short sessions. The therapeutic journey is shaped around your needs.
Dawn Bagwell-Cox, Psychotherapist (CAT)
My name is Dawn Bagwell-Cox. I am a Registered Nurse with 30 years’ experience working with people from all age groups and backgrounds who have mental health problems. I am also a qualified Psychotherapist in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) and have been working as a CAT therapist with adults and young people in the NHS since 2008.
Continue...
I am registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Association of Cognitive Analytic Therapy (ACAT); I am also a member of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
My experience has been working with people who have a wide range of difficulties including anxiety, depression, childhood trauma and neglect, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, sexual abuse, eating disorders, personality disorders, self-harm and other stress related problems. I am available to see private patients, adolescents or adults, during the early evening at the Abingdon Natural Health and Therapy Centre in Abingdon.
CAT uses a collaborative and relational approach towards a person’s difficulties. One of CAT’s great strengths is that it is a time limited therapy which can last from 6 – 24 sessions depending on the focus of the work. The focus and the length of therapy will be negotiated with you and agreed within the first few sessions. Initially I will offer an assessment interview which lasts about an hour, each therapy session is for 50 minutes.
I use various tools in my work specifically letters and the co-creation of a diagram or personal map within sessions. I also use narrative theory and creative imagery in order to assist understanding of individual experiences and problems.
Please click on the link below to find out more about CAT and its approach.
www.acat.me.uk
Contact details: 07977 502111 email: dbcat@btinternet.com
Joan Holt, Couple and Family Therapist
I am a Couple and Family Therapist and Supervisor trained at the Oxford Family Institute and the Tavistock Centre, London. I am bound by the UKCP Code of Conduct and my Registration Number is: 00313376.
Continue...
I have over thirty years experience of working therapeutically within the NHS, Education and Social Services helping couples and families manage emotional and communication difficulties associated with loss, trauma, family disruption, neurological problems and ill health, including mental health. I previously worked for many years as a Relate counsellor and supervisor.
The main focus of my work is with relationships, so whether you come on your own, with a partner or with your whole family my aim is to facilitate communication between you and improve understanding of each other’s positions. I take ‘family’ to describe any group of people who define themselves as such and am happy to work with whoever you identify as important to you.
I work collaboratively with young people and adults of all ages and aim to provide a calm space where differing thoughts and feelings can be safely explored. I believe that people can gain strength through change alongside others and that my job as a therapist is to support and assist that change.
I acknowledge the importance of people’s different beliefs, cultures, contexts and life experiences and will adapt my way of working according to family members’ ages, needs, resources and preferences.
Attendance at the first session does not oblige you to continue to meet with me. Together we will clarify your goals and expectations of therapy and if you decide that Systemic Couple & Family Therapy is not what you need I will help you think about alternatives. For couples and families I prefer our first meeting to be for 90 minutes. Subsequent sessions will last an hour unless you request otherwise.
Decisions about the number of sessions, frequency and duration of therapy, also which family members to attend, will be agreed together.
Please call me to discuss what therapy you are looking for or to arrange an appointment: Tel: 0787 9822 880 or email me.
I am registered with Aviva, BUPA, WPA and Pruhealth Insurance companies.
Jeannina Chiarella, Holistic Therapist, BSc Psychology
I’m a certified holistic therapist. I believe that the body, mind and spirit are all connected. I apply my knowledge trying to find the best way to help people heal naturally.
Continue...
I use holistic therapies to help people relieve any tension and blockages from their bodies; using psychology to be able to understand, help and guide my clients.
I offer Reiki as a therapy to remove emotional blockages that can be manifested in different parts of our body generating physical tensions and pain. Reiki helps to relieve depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and aligns your chakras. Crystal-Reiki is another therapy which is the combination of Reiki and crystals. I use crystals to amplify energy which have specific vibrations and purpose. Sound therapy is a wonderful healing therapy. I use crystal bowl and Tibetan singing bowl for the sessions. Sound therapy is a vibrational medicine which travels inside the body relieving chronic pain, stress, depression, and balances your chakras. These vibrations harmonize your chakras and your body, vibrating in a healthy frequency.
If you have any question or would like to book a session with me, please feel free to contact me
Phone: 07435018432
Email: J_Chiarella@hotmail.com
website: www.BinduHolisticTherapies.co.uk
Beth O’Keefe, Therapeutic Counsellor
I am an integrative therapeutic counsellor, whose aim is to provide a safe space where together we can explore your inner world. Though I see adults of all ages, I have a lot of experience in working with ages
18-25. I also have a lot of experience in working with ages 11-18 in a both an agency and school settings.
I also have experience in working with neurodiverse clients.
Continue...