Counselling, Psychotherapy, Psychology, Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy

The Awareness Centre provides counselling, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, psychology and psychosexual and relationship therapy. We work with individuals, couples, families and groups.

Room 7

We provide NHS counselling to clients/patients who are registered with one of the GP Surgeries where we manage their counselling service. To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Michaela McCarthy either by phone on 020 8673 4545 or via email on nhsreferrals@theawarenesscentre.com

We also provide a counselling scheme for clients/patients who are registered and receiving most benefits, including working tax credit, who are registered disabled, pensioners and students. This scheme is called the Counselling Contribution Service and this service is open ended which means a client/patient can see a therapist for long term therapy. However you must show proof that you are registered and/or receiving a benefit. To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Michaela McCarthy either by phone on 020 8673 4545 or via email on counselling@theawarenesscentre.com

We provide Low Cost Counselling and Low Cost Psychosexual and Relationship Counselling to clients/patients on low income. This is an open ended service and we work with individuals and couples. Some practitioners provide home visits.

We provide private Counselling. Psychotherapy, Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy to clients/patients and this can be a short or long term process. The Awareness Centre is also a health care provider for BUPA, AXA PPP, Aviva, Standard Life, Pru-Health, Cigna and WPA.

We also provide therapy in Battersea, Belgravia, Brixton, Chelsea, Clapham, Earls Court, Elephant & Castle, Forest Hill, Fulham, Hackney, Old Street, Regent's Park, South Kensington and Southwark. To view our External Clinical Therapists page please click here.

Our clinical practitioners are registered with HPC (Health Professions Council), COSRT (College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists), AFT (Association of Family Therapy), FDAP (The Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals), ITA (Institute of Transactional Analysis), ETA (European Association of Transactional Analysis), BPS (British Psychological Society), BACP (The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy), UKCP (The UK Council for Psychotherapy ), Association for Coaching UK & EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council), Health Professionals Council and the Internal Society for Schema Therapy (ISST).

All our consultations are by appointment only, however, sometimes appointments become available from time to time so it is worth calling to see if we have any availability on the day.

To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Ruth Nightingale, our Counselling Coordinator, either by phone on 020 8673 4545 or via email on counselling@theawarenesscentre.com

Please click on the relevant link below for further information:

Counselling Services

NHS Patients

The Awareness Centre provides primary care counselling services in Lambeth, working in partnership with GP (doctor) surgeries. If you are a patient at one of our partnership surgeries, you may be referred to us for NHS counselling by your GP. After referral from your GP or practice nurse, an initial assessment will be offered within 5 working days. We do not have any waiting lists for patients.

We will offer you weekly 50 minute counselling sessions. Appointments are available during Centre opening hours or at your GP surgery during the surgery’s opening hours. Your counselling sessions are confidential, free of charge and run for 6 sessions.

Although your GP will be given some statistical information regarding the outcome of your counselling, the content of the sessions will not be disclosed to your GP without your written consent. If you are interested in receiving counselling via the NHS, please speak to your GP.

We accept NHS referrals from the following surgeries:

Brixton Hill Group Practice 22 Raleigh Gardens SW2 1AE T: 020 8674 6376	Clapham Manor Surgery 86 Clapham Manor Street SW4 6EB T: 020 7411 6866
Pavilion Practice 9 Brighton Terrace London SW9 8GP T: 020 7274 9252	Hetherington Group Practice 18 Hetherington Road London SW4 7NU T: 020 7274 4220
Streatham Place Surgery 26-28 Streatham Place London SW2 4QY T: 020 8678 5630

All our counsellors abide by the BACP Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and The Awareness Centre has BACP Organisational Membership. Our Counsellors appreciate and respect difference and diversity in culture, age, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, physical ability & spirituality.

To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Michaela McCarthy either by phone on 07702 806 749 or via email on nhsreferrals@theawarenesscentre.com

Therapists

Nancy Adu	Cindy Afflick	Charlotte Albertin	Gabriella Andronico	Angelika Berndt
Caz Binstead	Luke Bowen	Camilla Brown	Jane Chilvers	Gilly Cottew
Tania D'Aloia	Ellie Debenham	Christian de Cruz	Augustin Demetriou	Farrella Dove
Lucy Early	Alistair Evans- Gordon	Alex Fergusson	Sarah Hamilton	Alistair Hinch
Cathy Hutson	Alex Jones	Lee Jones	Eli Kamali	Lizzie Kock
Beatrice de Lajudie	Sonia Khan	Olivia Kilbee	Kirsty Loudon	Harpreet Manku
Anna Mathur	Charlotte Myners	David O'Hara	Cheryl Payne	Anna Purser
Helen Randal	Evelyne Riddle	Louise Rodgers	Holly Rose	Rebecca Rose
Ali Ross	Nisha Saini	Antonio Sanchez	Jessica Seaton	Rebecca Shamash
Hugh St Aubyn	Veneshia Talbot	Niamh Terry	Sandra Tapie	Maria Elvira Tobon
		Meirion Todd

Counselling Contribution Service

The Awareness Centre provides a Counselling Contribution Service to clients in receipt of benefits, including working tax credit, registered disabled or registered as a pensioner or student. You will need to show evidence of the above to one of our receptionists to qualify for this service.

We accept referrals from any borough in London and you can self refer; your GP or another professional can refer you to this counselling service.

This service is open ended which means you will be able to experience long term counselling.

To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Michaela McCarthy either by phone on 07702 806 749 or via email on counselling@theawarenesscentre.com

Fees:
£10 for 50 minutes

Therapists:

Nancy Adu	Cindy Afflick	Charlotte Albertin	Gabriella Andronico	Angelika Berndt
Caz Binstead	Luke Bowen	Camilla Brown	Jane Chilvers	Gilly Cottew
Tania D'Aloia	Ellie Debenham	Christian de Cruz	Augustin Demetriou	Farrella Dove
Lucy Early	Alistair Evans- Gordon	Alex Fergusson	Sarah Hamilton	Alistair Hinch
Cathy Hutson	Alex Jones	Lee Jones	Eli Kamali	Lizzie Kock
Beatrice de Lajudie	Sonia Khan	Olivia Kilbee	Kirsty Loudon	Harpreet Manku
Anna Mathur	Charlotte Myners	David O'Hara	Cheryl Payne	Anna Purser
Helen Randal	Evelyne Riddle	Louise Rodgers	Holly Rose	Rebecca Rose
Ali Ross	Nisha Saini	Antonio Sanchez	Jessica Seaton	Rebecca Shamash
Hugh St Aubyn	Veneshia Talbot	Niamh Terry	Sandra Tapie	Maria Elvira Tobon
		Meirion Todd

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:

Low Cost Counselling and Psychotherapy Service

We are now providing Low Cost Counselling and Psychotherapy to clients during the day, evenings and weekends. Our therapists can provide support for:

Addiction
Anxiety & Stress
Depression
Post-Natal Depression
Relationship Difficulties
Sexuality
Loneliness and Isolation
Abuse & Domestic Violence
Anger
Bereavement & Loss
Identity Issues
Self-Esteem & Confidence
Life Transitions
Mid-Life Issues
Obsessions
Insomnia
Recurrent or Chronic Illness
Work Related Issues
Assertiveness

To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Ruth Nightingale, our Counselling Coordinator, either by phone on 020 8673 4545 or via email counselling@theawarenesscentre.com.

Fee:
£30 - £45 for 50 minutes

Therapists

Nancy Adu	Cindy Afflick	Charlotte Albertin	Gabriella Andronico	Camilla Brown
Angelika Berndt	Clare Biggar	Caz Binstead	Luke Bowen	Jane Chilvers
Gilly Cottew	Tania D'Aloia	Ellie Debenham	Christian de Cruz	Augustin Demetriou
Farrella Dove	Lucy Early	Karen Esser	Alistair Evans- Gordon	Robert Falkner
Alex Fergusson	Sarah Hamilton	Alistair Hinch	Cathy Hutson	Alex Jones
Lee Jones	Eli Kamali	Sonia Khan	Olivia Kilbee	Saburo Kobayashi
Lizzie Kock	Beatrice de Lajudie	Kirsty Loudon	Harpreet Manku	Anna Mathur
Claudio Mendes	Charlotte Myners	Ruth Nightingale	David O'Hara	Cheryl Payne
Anna Purser	Helen Randal	Evelyne Riddle	Louise Rodgers	Holly Rose
Rebecca Rose	Ali Ross	Antonio Sanchez	Nisha Saini	Jessica Seaton
Rebecca Shamash	Hugh St Aubyn	Veneshia Talbot	Sandra Tapie	Niamh Terry
Meirion Todd	Jane Zoega

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:

Private Therapy Services

Counselling

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Fee:
£50 - £130 for 50 Minutes

Therapists

All our therapists are fully qualified, registered and fully insured. We are sure that you will be able to find someone to support your needs.

Fernanda Barros	Lesley Cook	Kelly Garrett	Tara Harrison	Michaela McCarthy
Sarah McGuinness	Annie Moss	Ruth Nightingale	Janet Palmer	Clair Roberts
Andy Tickner	Nick Williams	Duane Yon	Jane Zoega

Referral Form

Psychotherapy

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Fee:
£50 - £130 for 50 Minutes

Therapists

All our therapists are fully qualified, registered and fully insured. We are sure that you will be able to find someone to support your needs.

Fernanda Barros	Kelly Garrett	Christopher Headon	Michaela McCarthy	Sarah McGuinness
Ruth Nightingale	Janet Palmer	Nick Williams	Jane Zoega

Referral Form

Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy

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Fee:
£50 - £130 for 50 Minutes

Therapists

All our therapists are fully qualified, registered and fully insured. We are sure that you will be able to find someone to support your needs.

Christopher Headon

Michaela McCarthy

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:

Couples Counselling

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Fee:
£50 - £130 for 50 minutes

Therapists

All our therapists are fully qualified, registered and fully insured. We are sure that you will be able to find someone to support your needs.

Christopher Headon

Michaela McCarthy

Andy Tickner

Nick Williams

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:

Addiction Counselling

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Fee:
£50 - £130 for 50 minutes

Therapists

All our therapists are fully qualified, registered and fully insured. We are sure that you will be able to find someone to support your needs.

To make an appointment to see one of our therapists then please contact Ruth Nightingale, our Counselling Coordinator, either by phone on 020 8673 4545 or via email counselling@theawarenesscentre.com

Lesley Cook

Michaela McCarthy

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:

Coaching

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Therapist:

Anne Alaoui

Fee:
£75 for individual clients
£150 for organisational clients

About the Therapist:

Anne Alaoui
Anne is a qualified professional coach, who provides career and leadership coaching.

Specialist areas
Anne is particularly interested in supporting clients in career transitions, e.g.:

changing jobs and/or organisations
transitioning from managing self to managing a team
moving from an operational to a more strategic role
coping with redundancy
returning from a career break

Anne’s clients are often looking for fulfillment and self-expression in their careers. Through the coaching conversations, they gain a renewed sense of direction, get clarity about their values and utilize their strengths under changing circumstances.

Approach
Anne believes that coaching is a powerful means for change for individuals and organisations. She provides her clients with space to think and explore. Her style is gentle but probing; it works well for those who are willing to experiment and to explore different perspectives.

Career highlights
Anne has over ten years of experience as a financial services professional advising corporate clients, including three years at Deutsche Bank and five years at KPMG, where she had trained as a Chartered Accountant.

Anne’s educational background includes Middle Eastern studies at Manchester University and the MBA programme at UCLA. She is currently completing the MA in Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy at Regent’s College. Anne also works as a counsellor at The Awareness Centre and at the West London Centre for Counselling.

Relevant qualifications and memberships

Member of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC)
Member of the Coaching Division of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
Trainee therapist, UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Certificate in Coaching Practice, EMCC senior practitioner level, i-coach academy/ Middlesex University
Core curriculum, The Coaches’ Training Institute

Testimonial
“I immediately trusted Anne and felt completely supported and non judged by her. I found our conversations very rewarding and powerful and an opportunity to quieten the conversation going round in my head on a loop, allowing space for things to show up more naturally for me…I would highly recommend Anne to anyone who is in a stage of transition or considering where to take their future career.” T. W., HR consultant

Child, Adolescent and Family Intervention Service

The Awareness Centre provides a specialist child, adolescent and family intervention service to work with a range of childhood emotional and behavioural issues. The team have proven and considerable experience of working in and managing services with this client group in the NHS, in local authorities and in the voluntary sector.

After assessing your child's specific needs, and yours, we will develop a treatment plan with you that will most effectively address the difficulties your child and your family is struggling through. This treatment will be based on the evidence base about what best works to treat these issues.

What problems and issues can we work with?

Managing your child's difficult behaviour
Parenting support
Anger management
Dealing with bullying
Low mood and depression
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Low self-esteem
Supporting parents and children with Autism, Aspergers and ADHD
Dealing with traumatic experiences and loss

We work individually with children and young people, as well as with parents and/or the whole family. We use a variety of approaches including cognitive behaviour therapy, parenting interventions, family systems therapy and trauma based approaches (CBT and Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing). We work creatively and most importantly, treatment is tailored to the individual child, the family and the specific presenting problems.

Therapist:

Clare Hurley

Fee:

£85 for 50 minutes

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT)

The Awareness Centre provides cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for individuals struggling with a range of problems in life, including low mood and depression, worries and anxiety problems, and reactions to traumatic events.

CBT has a strong evidence base and is recommended nationally as the first line of treatment for depression, anxiety and trauma by the government body, the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). This organisation reviews national and international research to draw up guidelines about what treatments are most effective for specific problems. And they advocate the use of CBT – for example, CBT is more effective than antidepressants in treating anxiety, and as effective as antidepressants in treating many forms of depression. CBT is more likely to keep you well in the longer term.

CBT looks at the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviour. It helps people to understand how their thoughts affect their mood and behaviour. Changing the way you think, can then affect the way you feel and what you do. CBT is a way of looking at your beliefs about yourself, other people and the world. The sessions will focus on the here and now, but at times you may talk about the past to understand how it affects you now. CBT will help you to develop skills to improve your state of mind and your day to day happiness.

Therapist:

Clare Hurley

Fee:

£80 for 50 minutes

External Clinical Therapists

Private Healthcare Insurance

Private Health Insurance Services

If you want to use your private health insurance to pay for your therapy, then please contact Ruth Nightingale our Counselling Coordinator on 020 8673 4545 or email counselling@theawarenesscentre.com. Please see information below

The first step of the process is to contact your private medical insurance company and check that your policy covers you to receive therapy. Then we will refer you to one of our therapists who are a health care provider. You will then need to be referred to see the named therapist by your GP or if you prefer to see our private GP then please contact Dr Paul Heenan on 07808 728 941 and he will refer you to see the named therapist his fee is £40 and this session will only last 10 mins.

During the second step of this process The Awareness Centre will charge you a referral fee of £75 for the first session, you will provide us with a pre-authorisation code and then the therapist will directly invoice your insurance company at the end of each month.

The Awareness Centre is a healthcare provider for: PPP AXA, Cigna, Aviva, Standard Life, Bupa, Pru Health and WPA.

Fee:
£60 - £150 depending on your insurance policy and therapist's fees

Therapists

All our therapists are fully qualified, registered and fully insured. We are sure that you will be able to find someone to support your needs

Michaela McCarthy

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:
Healthcare Provider:	Please select an item.

Additional Services

Clinical Supervision

We have a variety of senior psychotherapists and counsellors who work in private practice from The Awareness Centre and who are qualified clinical supervisors. They offer individual and group supervision to students and to more experienced practitioners.

You will gain support with your clinical practice either in the voluntary and/or private sector, you can gain support for essay and case study writing, the accreditation process, ethical issues, support with developing your private practice and more.

All our supervisors are fully qualified, accredited and insured. Please book an appointment through our reception service 020 8673 4545 or email Ruth Nightingale, our Counselling Coordinator, counselling@theawarenesscentre.com

Supervisors:

Michaela McCarthy

Fee:
Individual £50 - £75
Individual (Experienced Practitioner) £90
Group £30

Clinical Placements

If you are an appropriately trained or recently qualified counsellor, psychotherapist or counselling psychologist, The Awareness Centre may be able to offer you a clinical placement to support your professional development. You can download our handbook to get further information.

Placements are offered within our NHS Counselling Service and counsellors may be based either at The Awareness Centre or within a local GP practice. Counsellors will hold a weekly caseload of four clients and work within a time-conscious (6 sessions) model. Our clinical approach is integrative/relational, and a number of our NHS practitioners also incorporate CBT techniques into their work.

We also provide placements within our Counselling Contribution Service and Low Cost Counselling Service. Counsellors will work more long term with these clients.

Please note that clinical placements are restricted to therapists in the later stages of BACP accredited or UKCP registered trainings, or to those who have qualified and are building up their hours to apply for professional accreditation or registration. Candidates with relevant clinical experience are preferred, although each application is considered on its own merits. We are particularly interested in receiving applications from candidates who have experience of working with clients with mental health and/or addiction issues, or who are able to offer counselling in a second language.

Group supervision is provided in house on a fortnightly basis with an accredited integrative psychotherapist. We also provide ongoing training in working within a time-conscious model and we also run assessment training. Weekly personal therapy is a requirement throughout the placement. Many counsellors remain in their placement for 2 years. After a period of professional development during their clinical placements, a number of our clinical placement counsellors have started working as a low cost counsellor and in private practice at The Awareness Centre.

If you wish to make a preliminary enquiry about a clinical placement, please email Ruth Nightingale counselling@theawarenesscentre.com a copy of your CV specifying your training and one-to-one experience as a practitioner.

Supervisors:

Paul Croal

Christian Murphy

What People Say:

'It’s been a privilege to spend time as a placement counsellor at The Awareness Centre. Working with the different and varied subjects and challenges which clients bring into the therapeutic environment has been extremely rewarding. The therapy rooms are lovely, it’s well managed and the supervision which is offered is extremely helpful.'

'I have had my placement as a NHS Volunteer counsellor with The Awareness Centre since 2008. It has been a very positive and rewarding experience. The Awareness Centre offers a very helpful combination of Group and Individual Supervision; this is quite a rare and extremely beneficial way to receive Supervision.

'It has moved me on as far as my clinical work is concerned but also it has given me a good insight about the business side of counselling and Psychotherapy.'

GP Surgeries

Information for GP Surgeries

If you represent a GP surgery or other organisation looking for a counselling service, then please contact us. We will be happy to provide you with a proposal for your current counselling service in a format that will support your Primary Care Trust or other funding.

We can improve your current counselling service and work in partnership with you according to your particular requirements. As part of our contracting process with you, references will be available from our current GP surgery partners.
You can use our rooms or we can provide a service within your surgery or premises. All our counsellors are fully insured under The Awareness Centre’s insurance policy.

Please contact Michaela McCarthy our Managing Director on michaela@theawarenesscentre.com

Referral Form

Patient's Name:
Patient's Telephone Number:
Patient's Email:
Reason for referral:
Referred by:	GP Consultant Other Professional Self Please make a selection.
Referrer's Name:	Please provide us with your name
Referrer's Telephone Number:	Please provide us with your contact number
Referrer's Email Address:

If you would like to be referred to one of the above therapists then please contact Ruth Nightingale, our Counselling Coordinator, on 020 8673 4545 or counselling@theawarenesscentre.com

Disclaimer: Counselling or Psychotherapy Treatments are not a substitute for professional medical care by a qualified doctor or other health care professional. Always check with your doctor if you have any concerns about your condition or treatment. Clients are responsible for assessing the outcome of their treatment and are advised to refer to NICE guidelines for further information.

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