Keith Barber
Member Status: Accredited
Member No: NCS17-04481
Location: East Ham
I am registered with UK Council for Psychotherapy and with the National Counselling Society and work with a wide range of issues. I have particular experience of working with people entering or close to breakdown if you feel this might be your issue. Please see my full profile for details.
I qualified as a counsellor in 2000 after a three-year training, then did a further two-year training leading to qualification and registration as a psychotherapist in 2003. I work in private practice and offer a safe and confidential space where you can explore and address a wide range of issues. I think of it as a healing conversation where you can find ways to overcome or heal what ails you.
I use an approach called 'Integrative Psychosynthesis'. Psychosynthesis includes our conscious mind, traces of the past, unconscious aspects we struggle with (often emerging as issues for therapy) and a 'higher' dimension related to our deepest longings and sense of purpose in life. Those ideas are a framework for me to integrate - use methods and ideas - from a variety of approaches in the way that best serves your needs.
A metaphor I use for therapy is that of healing a wound in the psyche. Some wounds are trivial, maybe a necessary consequence of gathering experience of the world, and quickly heal themselves. But sometimes there's a more serious injury; if it doesn't heal properly at the time it may cause problems later. Therapy is where we uncover and heal that wound.
I work with the whole of who you are - your past and the influences that formed you, your present and what is happening for you now, and your future in the form of dreams, aspirations and fears. Much wounding happens before you had the capacity to remember, but the body remembers so I give attention to your physical presence. Dreams and imagery may open access to unconscious processes you can't reach in other ways. Playing is how we learn best so I try to make it possible for us to play. Most wounds occur in relationship - or lack of it - so I focus on our relationship; in fact research seems to suggest the relationship with the therapist is the healing factor in therapeutic work. And I offer a safe space where you can work through difficult issues and try new ways of being that may feel awkward or scary.
I work with a wide range of people and issues. Diversity, social inclusion and justice are important to me and shape my practice. So I ensure I can see shift workers and I offer reduced fees for people on low incomes. I offer a therapy that men find useful and relevant. And I work with gender- and sexuality-diverse people, whether working with alternative sexualities (kink/BDSM) or just offering a place where they won't be judged.
If you relocate or need to travel during our work, I can offer the possibility of working by phone or online, although this is not a mode of working I normally start in until we have been working for a time.
