James Twiddy

James graduated as a Psychodynamic Counsellor in 2017 and has since accumulated over three hundred hours of practice, gaining experience in working with a wide range of presenting issues including complex bereavement, anxiety, depression LGBTQ issues and living with illness. As a qualified counsellor at The Therapy Clinic James continues to work with a broad range of clients.

Before training to be counsellor James spent much of his professional career working in education. Here he worked in specialist units with children who often presented behavioural problems and learning difficulties. After finding that establishing relationships with the students and investing time and taking an interest in their lives acted as a force for positive change, he found himself drawn into relational work and decided to become a counsellor.

After qualifying as a Psychodynamic counsellor, James held a position at the MacMillan Horizon centre, working with recovering cancer patients and family members of cancer patients. Working with these family members led to an interest in working with couples and in 2018 James undertook additional training as a couple’s counsellor.

After studying more contemporary theorists alongside classic psychoanalytic analysts such as Freud James’ approach is based on understanding that there is a link between the past and the present, without assuming that there a direct cause and effect for a presenting problem. Instead there is an understanding that that feelings and learned responses from childhood can have an impact on how we respond and react in adult life.