Dr. Adi Berson
Counselling Psychologist
phone: +44-(0)73-05511217
email: adiberson@gmail.com
Registration no. PYL040335
About
My name is Adi Berson, I am a Counselling Psychologist registered with the HCPC. I practice psychodynamic psychotherapy with adults (individual and couples therapy), and adolescents. I work in English and in Hebrew, face to face or via video conferencing (zoom).
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I trained in Israel, where I received a MA degree both in Clinical and Organizational Psychology and a PhD from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Alongside my clinical work, I am a lecturer at Birkbeck University of London, teaching on the MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy course.
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Professional Experience
I have gained over 18 years of clinical experience providing psychotherapy for adults and adolescents. I trained and worked in public mental health services and in student counselling centers. For the last 12 years I have been working in private practice, seeing clients experiencing a wide range of difficulties, both acute and longstanding. Throughout these years I helped my clients to cope with the various challenges of adult life; self-image, career development, interpersonal and intimate relationships, parenting, and coping with crisis and change, to name a few.
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My work in the public and private sector provided me with experience in working with several mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety (general as well as panic disorder and social anxiety), eating disorders, trauma, and bereavement. I have also worked with clients suffering from various personality disorders, helping them to maintain everyday functioning and well-being.
Finally, my degree in organisational psychology and previous work as an organisational consultant have been highly beneficial in my work with professionals who are coping with the stress of work. I combine my clinical and organisational understanding to help with issues such as work-life balance, career choice and change, and work-based conflicts.
Psychotherapy
"Wanted, a quiet place to rest the soul,
Just for a few moments…
Wanted, one phrase, clean, agreeable, and warm to serve as a bench,
a refuge, for someone close to me, a dove-child, my own soul."
(Admiel Kosman)
Psychotherapy
For adults
There are so many reasons to start therapy, but they all have in common the need to feel better, to overcome difficulties and to cope more easily with life’s challenges. In my practice, I offer a safe place, a pause in the intensity of life’s constant demands, in which you can feel acknowledged and understood, yet also challenged to know yourself better.
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My main approach to psychotherapy is psychodynamic which focuses on a deep exploration of conscious and unconscious aspects of the personality. By expanding self-knowledge and understanding of past and present experiences, we will attempt to make sense of your current difficulties and ease emotional pain. In psychodynamic work, insight into the source of one’s distress is the driving force for change and improvement.
Couples
Therapy
Romantic relationships are one of the most important forms of relationships in a person’s life, and sometimes the most challenging. Throughout the evolvement of a relationship, different obstacles are encountered, and overcome. There are times, however, when the dynamic between a couple causes so much interpersonal and individual distress, that the regular coping mechanisms don't seem to work anymore. It is in such cases that couples therapy can be of help.
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I believe that in couples therapy, the “patient” is the relationship. The relationship is an entity in itself that combines the internal-world of each member, as well as the unique dynamic that is constructed through the encounter of two internal-worlds. In therapy, we will explore the different contributions of each partner, (known and unconscious), to the relationship entity. It is this awareness that promotes change.
Psychotherapy
for adolescents
Adolescence is a time of emotional turbulence and identity exploration. The causes for anxiety at this age are many; physical change, peer pressure, sexual identity, conflict with parents and siblings, and more. These processes are a natural part of development, but therapy can ease the distress they evoke.
Therapy provides adolescents with a place to examine their emerging identity in a containing and non-judgmental environment. It enables them to be heard and helped by an adult who is not their parent, thus allowing for independence which is exercised in safety. for this reason the therapy is usually conducted with minimum involvement of the parents. There are however situations, (such as risk behaviour or with younger adolescents), in which parent-consulting is needed alongside the therapy.
Making the first step
I invite you to contact me by phone or email, and we can discuss your specific needs and assess together how to proceed. Our initial sessions will then be dedicated to thoroughly understand your reasons for requesting therapy, as well as past experiences and family background. We can then define goals for the therapy and have a better idea of its duration. Once this is done, we can start our therapeutic journey together.
Contact Details
West Hill House
Swain’s Lane 6
N6 6QS
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