Matt Isard - Fourth Space Therapy

While therapy is mainly about you, you may want to know who you might be talking to.

My name is Matt. I am a gay, cis-male, BACP-registered, integrative therapist with experience and interest in working with LGBTQ+ people to help you through whatever is affecting you.

You are at the centre of our sessions. I’m here to listen and ask questions, but also reflect what you say, challenge it, or offer a different perspective to help you better understand yourself. 

I believe that you are the expert on your own life, so sessions are collaborative and tailored to you. You may want space to talk and reflect; you may prefer a more exploratory approach; you may want someone who challenges you. Together, we will find what suits you. 

Your therapy will not be like IKEA flat-pack, with universal instructions. It will be fitted around you and your needs.

I understand that you are complicated, like I am complicated, and all humans are complicated; that is what makes us all amazing. The fact that it is a cliché doesn’t make it any less true (it just means I should stick to therapy, not writing a screenplay). I believe we are made up of different parts, each with its own fears and wants, that, when all put together, make us unique and special.  Ideally, these parts peacefully sit alongside each other, but so often they don’t. I have found understanding my own parts hugely helpful.

If your parts aren’t sitting peacefully alongside each other, that’s not your fault. Throughout your life, you have taken on messages from family, friends, wider society, and some of these may have stopped you from feeling good enough. These messages may have made you feel you needed to change, hide, or ignore parts of yourself to feel accepted and safe. This may have helped you cope in the past, but it can cause distress for you now, affecting how you feel about yourself, your relationships, and your place in the world. This is very normal; anyone else who has been through the same life experiences might have ended up feeling the same.

Fourth Space Therapy offers a confidential, supportive, and non-judgmental place where we explore and make sense of who you are together. Sessions are collaborative and tailored to you. Some people want space to talk and reflect; others prefer a more active, exploratory approach. Together, we will find a way that suits you.

I have often experienced that with greater self-understanding comes awareness of choice; the ability to respond differently, to reconnect with parts of yourself that have been hidden, and to live in a way that feels more ‘you’.  

I have worked with a wide variety of people: members of the LGBTQ+ community, asylum seekers, retirees, neurodivergent individuals, students, and working professionals. People come to me with many different concerns, such as anxiety, depression, grief, relationship difficulties, suicidal thoughts, and other issues that have impacted their lives. 

If you’re considering therapy, you’re welcome to get in touch to arrange an initial free chat either online or over the phone to ask any questions. I am based in both Camden, North London, and Clapham, South London, so hopefully can offer a space near you. I am currently available to see you both in-person and online.