Frances Read

Therapist Directory Listing Category: Psychotherapists and Counsellors

About the Therapist

About the therapist:

I'm a compassionate, responsive, trauma-informed therapist, offering one-to-one psychotherapy to adults in person and online.

People come to me to talk through things that are affecting their lives, especially difficulties they are experiencing in relationships with partners, family, friends or colleagues. As well as working on the immediate issue, we'll look at understanding who you are and how you act and feel in relationships with others. We'll strengthen your sense of self and give you confidence in recognising your needs. By looking at your past experiences, present situation, and future hopes, the therapy will give you the self-knowledge to make positive changes.

Volunteering with Samaritans as a telephone and outreach volunteer for four years changed my perspective on life. I went back to study and graduated from Birkbeck, University of London, with a Masters in psychodynamic psychotherapy and counselling. I started seeing patients with the NHS following two years as a volunteer counsellor at ELOP - the East London Out Project. In 2018 I started seeing people for private therapy.

I'm interested in fairy tales, myths and legends. Archetypes and symbols are all around us. If a person can find their own vocabulary to talk about their feelings the power of talking therapy can be transformative.

Many of my clients are neurodivergent. I believe there is a whole spectrum of gender and consensual sexual expressions and I take an affirmative stance in my work.

Sexual identity:

Bi- | Pansexual
Other

Gender identity: Female

Gender history: As assigned at birth

Non-monogamy: Yes

Intersex: No

Neurodivergent: Unsure

Personal pronouns: She/her

Qualifications - Links to websites:

MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling & Psychotherapy, Birkbeck, University of London Psychosocial Studies, 2015 Registered member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) - registration number: 350671 https://www.bacp.co.uk/search/Register

Qualifications - Additional:

Award	Awarding body	Year of award

Experience and approach:

Therapy provides a safe, non-judgemental space to think, feel and understand your emotions, what they might be telling you, where they come from, and why they are still so powerful.

Psychodynamic therapy aims to bring unconscious thoughts and feelings into the conscious mind. This type of therapy is about looking at root causes and how the resulting symptoms are affecting you in your day-to-day life.

As well as working psychodynamically, I also work integratively, incorporating elements of person-centred therapy, mindfulness, and psychoeducation. This means I can be more flexible and offer what a client needs at a particular moment in time. My work is trauma-informed with a focus on developing the therapeutic relationship as a place of safety, including internal resources for the client to access, containing any traumatic memories that might appear, and being sensitive to the client's responses.

Approaches: