Welcome to Helen Stokes Psychotherapy
“To heal is to touch with love that which we previously touched with fear.” Stephen Levine
Welcome, and thank you for visiting my website. My name is Helen and I am a qualified psychotherapist and supervisor
based in Paddington and Kentish Town, as well as online. Life can be challenging and overwhelming at times.
I offer a safe space to talk through what is troubling you.
About me
My name is Helen (she/her/hers) and I am a fully qualified psychotherapist and supervisor. I have been working one-to-one with clients since 2013. I also worked full-time within the NHS as a Principal Psychotherapist within a community mental health team for 8 years. I now offer in-person therapy to individual adult clients in Paddington (W2), Kentish Town (NW5) and online therapy via Zoom. I am committed to offering you a safe, confidential place to explore your concerns, hopes and fears in a respectful and non-judgemental environment.
If you have found your way to reading this, I'm guessing that you feel you may benefit from speaking with a counsellor or psychotherapist. Choosing a psychotherapist may seem daunting, so I hope that the information on these pages will help to offer some reassurance.
I offer individual psychotherapy to adults - people aged 18 and over.
I am a qualified transpersonal integrative psychotherapist (Postgraduate Diploma - CCPE). I also hold a Diploma in Energy Psychotherapy and a Diploma in Creative Approaches to Supervision. I have professional indemnity insurance.
I am a UKCP registered psychotherapist (ukcp.org.uk). I am bound by its professional code of conduct and subject to its complaints procedure. This includes responsibility to manage your information confidentially and in line with GDPR. Every five years, I undertake a rigorous reaccreditation process with UKCP. I also regularly undertake continuous professional development (CPD) to further my skills.
How I work
At some point, most of us experience difficulties in our lives. Talking with friends and family members can be helpful. However, sometimes this is challenging. You may feel that you do not want to ‘burden’ others or are concerned about upsetting them. You may also feel embarrassed or fear judgement from talking about what’s troubling you.
I draw from a range of therapeutic schools, traditions and practices. This means the way we will work together is unique to you, supporting you to make the changes you want to make, to increase your self-awareness, and/or to meet the goals you have set yourself. There is no fixed agenda for our sessions and we always agree together how we work - it is your time and space.
Our work is likely to consider how past experiences can impact on our everyday experience of ourselves and our relationships, as well as considering the mind-body connection. Our brains, nervous systems, gut and heart are all interconnected and we experience life through our physical bodies, which in turn impacts our emotions and thoughts. Working with our physical senses can help us to access memories and emotions and relieve stress that we may have been carrying for a long time. Many people I work with also find creative expression to be a helpful part of therapy and this might involve us working with visualisation, imagery or dream work.
Due to my experience working and training in the NHS, I am also experienced in using techniques from CBT, DBT, CFT and MBCT.
My approach
I trained as an integrative therapist, drawing on a range of therapeutic models. Our therapeutic relationship will be key and I work creatively and collaboratively. I believe that my clients have the desire and capacity to grow to their full potential and are the experts in their lives. I do not give advice or offer solutions, but I will work with you to help you to identify and build on your strengths and resources while we tackle the existing problems together.
Having worked in the NHS for 8 years means that I have worked with people from a wide variety of backgrounds, struggling with a broad range of difficulties: anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, abuse, psychosis, bereavement, personality disorders, and self-harm.
Due to this experience, I am skilled in adapting my approach to suit the needs of each individual that I meet and I have developed a specialism in working with childhood trauma and related symptoms. For instance, you might struggle to manage your emotions, experience lapses in time or memory or find relationships difficult. To support this work, I have completed specialist training in methods that work with the body, mind and nervous system to process trauma gently and effectively.
In addition, I have a particular interest in working with people who either have, or suspect they may have, neurodivergent diagnoses such as ADHD, autism and dyslexia.
What I offer
Individual psychotherapy is a joint weekly commitment that lasts for 50 minutes. I offer therapy that is collaborative, respectful and tailored to you, in a supportive space. I aim to respect all genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, religions, and all other individual differences.
Commitment and growth
Each individual's approach to learning and their pace is different. Those who are able to commit to the process and persevere will get the best results. When negative thinking or destructive patterns of behaviour are blocking the process, I will support you and challenge what is happening. Working together, we will explore and discover what really matters to you and what might be getting in your way.
Locations
I see clients in person in:
Paddington (W2) - easy access for Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, the City, Hammersmith and Fulham and all places served by Paddington Station.
Kentish Town (NW5) - easy access from Camden, Hampstead, Islington
I also work online (Zoom) with adults based in the UK.
Booking an appointment
To arrange a free initial consultation or make an enquiry, please contact me by email and I will aim to respond to you within 24 hours.
I know how anxiety-provoking it can be to see a new therapist or start therapy for the first time, so I offer a free initial consultation (up to 30 minutes) so we can see how we get on together and discuss your difficulties and expectations for therapy. We will discuss and if we decide that an alternative professional or provision that would be more suited to your needs, I may be able to make some suggestions for you to follow up.
If we agree to work together, I will discuss with you arrangements to continue to meet weekly for a 50-minute session. This begins with a commitment to six sessions followed by a review session before agreeing to longer term work together.
I offer 50-minute appointments at a rate of £90-120 per session. Concessions may be available on request.
Supervision
I am a qualified clinical supervisor registered with UKCP. I completed the Diploma in Creative Supervision with the London Centre for Psychodrama in 2022. My supervision practice is informed by my work as a transpersonal integrative psychotherapist.
I work integratively, in line with your needs, your practice, your modality and (training) organisation if relevant, and I use creative methods such as art, visualisation and psychodrama to further illuminate the work. We will always work in service to your clients and your practice.
I offer individual and group clinical supervision to psychotherapists, and to other professionals interested in reflective practice. From my experience working for the NHS in secondary care, I have additional experience of supervising lived experience practitioners and volunteers, as well as offering reflective practice to groups of individuals from different disciplines such as occupational therapists, support workers, social workers and psychiatric nurses.
I offer supervision in person and online. Individual sessions last for 50 minutes and cost £90. The duration and pricing for groups and teams depends on the number of people involved. Please contact me for pricing if this is of interest.
Get in touch
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about how psychotherapy works, or to arrange an initial assessment appointment. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of starting psychotherapy, and whether I can help you.
All enquiries are usually answered within 24 hours.