Dr Peter Finlay

Almost everyone needs someone to turn to at difficult times. Counselling and Psychotherapy can help you come to terms with emotional problems or troubling aspects of your life, and gives you an opportunity to share your concerns with someone skilled at listening. Finding a psychotherapist or counsellor that you feel comfortable with is paramount and clearly not everyone is an ideal match. You may even need to visit more than one to find someone you feel at ease with. So why should you select me…. Firstly, I am very mindful of how difficult taking this step can be, and I offer a calm and compassionate approach, while we gain an understanding of your concerns. Although my primary model is 'psychodynamic' which simply means that I try to explore and interpret the underlying causes underpinning what you are telling me, it is my view that no one technique suits all, and I draw on a variety of ‘models’ to help you in whichever way is appropriate. Once we have revealed, talked-through and understood these root causes we can examine ways of dealing with the issues and moving forward. This is a very much a joint effort where we work together to help you through the troublesome episode and out the other side. Secondly, my experience ranges from working with in-patients presenting severe psychotic disorders during my time at Basildon Hospital, through to self-referred ‘patients’ with anxieties and issues which simply affect their quality of life. Anxiety, in its various forms, can be distressing and is often self-managed by denial or pretence – unlikely to be successful. Let me help you deal with it effectively. Frequently, when I introduce myself to someone as a Psychotherapist, their initial reaction is to suggest that I will identify them as mad and have them locked up. All they hear from me is the word 'psycho', the stigma associated with the word and its suggestion of some sort of lunacy. This is of course miles away from the reality: We are all both physical and emotional. If you break a bone you get help and have it mended - There is no reason not to do the same if circumstances or events have upset you so much that your head feels like it's about to burst and your quality of life is impaired.