Dr. Panos Bouzianis, CPsychol
Counselling Psychology, Psychoanalytic Therapy and CBT
My name is Panos and I am a Chartered Counselling Psychologist. I offer short- or long- term psychological therapy to adults. My aim is to provide a confidential space where you can share your experiences without fear or shame. Together we will examine the origins of your difficulties, what keeps them going, and how you want to address them. I will listen to you carefully, help you clarify your situation and together we will think about possible ways forward.
WHEN TO START THERAPY
The moment you start thinking about addressing your concerns is the right moment to start therapy. At the centre of a useful therapy is your wish to understand and address your own suffering. Thinking that being in therapy is a sign of weakness or an indulgence might put you off an otherwise vital and productive endeavour. Putting off therapy may lead to things eventually coming to a head at a potentially great cost to your peace of mind. Change can be terrifying but it does not have to always be.
You may be going through relational problems, a lack of drive, anxiety, stress, feelings of failure, powerlessness, guilt or shame, loneliness, loss, or have been a victim of injustice, discrimination, trauma or abuse. When you wish you had more control over repeating patterns or to reclaim what has been lost, then it is time for therapy.
WHY THERAPY?
Addressing your difficulties and concerns needs a confidential, open and non-judgmental space where you can freely discuss and process difficult and private thoughts, feelings and experiences. Therapy will help you find out where things went wrong and how you can approach your wants and fears more effectively, efficiently and authentically.
In therapy you will have a chance to find your own truths as opposed to imposed and limiting “shoulds”. You will work towards approaching your life with a new resolve, drive, or peace. Although external adversity may be making things worse there is always something that we can shift inside us or do differently. Therapy can help us accelerate coming to terms with that the old ways are not working for us anymore and thus become ready for something new.
THE PROCESS
Suffering can be found in many different forms. Adhering closely to labels and to standardised, one-size-fits-all therapy procedures might not get us far. Therapy is a highly individual process and ought to privilege difference.
In the first few sessions we will discuss about your circumstances, current or past and what changes you wish to make. I will listen to you, ask you questions, help you clarify your thoughts and highlight potentially important, if not unconscious, links between different parts of your life. If we decide to continue to work together I can then help you understand for yourself what seems to be at the core of your suffering and how to move forward with meaningful and resilient action.
You decide how long therapy lasts: it may take weeks, months or even years, depending on how deep you wish to go in finding new ways to cope, to relate, and to enjoy.
FEES AND POLICIES
- I offer both remote and face-to-face sessions.
- An initial consultation is paid only if we decide to have further sessions together, otherwise it is free of charge.
- Sessions cost between £65.00 and £120.00 (“sliding scale”) depending on your financial circumstances and this can be agreed upon starting therapy.
- Sessions last approximately 45-50 minutes. Depending on what is discussed, and usually later in the course of therapy, sometimes we may end a session on an important question, conclusion or impasse - which might take us below or above the 45-minute mark.
- Therapy can be once weekly but we may meet more frequently if we agree that this may be more productive.
- I have a 48-hour notice cancellation policy. If we can reschedule a cancelled or missed session before your next regular one, you won’t be charged for the cancellation. Generally I will insist to not miss sessions so we can keep the momentum of the therapy going. Holidays and emergencies are obviously an exception.
- You may also be able to pay for your sessions through your insurer (e.g. AXA).
- My privacy policy and data use and protection information relevant to my services can be found here.
COVID-19 Policy
I can offer remote sessions via telephone, Zoom, Skype or Whatsapp. For face to face appointments, unless both of us have been fully vaccinated I will only see clients with masks or with a negative
test.
I draw my information governance policy for remote sessions from the NHS guidelines and my COVID-19 policy from regulatory bodies of my profession and the NHS.
Contact
I will aim to respond to your query within 48 hours and see you within the next 14 days - depending on current availability. My working hours are Monday to Wednesday, morning to evening.
Location
49 Queen Victoria St, London EC4N 4SA
Phone
How to Find Me
The therapy room is a 4-minute walk from Cannon Street and Bank Stations and a 1-minute walk from Mansion House Station.
The building door is a big wooden one – once there, please ring “Reception” and make your way to the first floor reception area (before 5 pm) or you can message me
(from 5 pm onwards) so I can come and collect you.
The therapy room itself is on the second floor.
About Me
I am a qualified Counselling Psychologist that specialises in evidence-based psychological treatment and metapsychology. I work with adults (18+) and can offer sessions in English and in Greek.
Training and Qualifications
- British Psychological Society (BPS) Chartered Member (CPsychol) since January 2016
- Healthcare Professions Council (HCPC) registered Practitioner Psychologist since July 2015
- Doctorate of Psychology (DPsych), Counselling Psychology, City University London, February 2015
I finished my undergraduate degree in Psychology in The American College of Greece in 2011, where I practiced as an assistant psychologist for the Dromokaition Psychosis Psychiatric Team.
During my Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at City University London, I practiced in the charity sector and in an NHS Drug and Alcohol service.
I became qualified in 2015 and promptly after started working for primary, secondary and specialist NHS services. I had the honour of working with people from various walks of life and have significant clinical experience with acute and chronic psychological distress, such as anxiety, mood, personality and eating difficulties, as well as complex trauma and psychosis.
I started my private practice in 2017 where I focused on my independent psychoanalytic training and practice (Freudian and Lacanian) and in integrating CBT and psychoanalysis. I strongly believe that there is a need to focus on unconscious processes and the role they play in our lives.
In 2019 I joined Headstrong Counselling as Head of Clinical Services and senior supervisor. I had the privilege of training students of psychology and psychotherapy exercise their passion for the clinical work but also helped expand access to psychological therapy services for the public.
The Recovery vs Discovery Metaphor
Therapy can be viewed as a mix of two aims, or processes, one of recovery and one of discovery. The difference lies in how they approach suffering, love, hope, or meaning – and what may be missing. Recovery helps us claim back what we lost, and discovery invites us the question these losses, and challenge our personal myths. In a practical sense, recovery aims at covering over gaps in our functioning: learning a new coping skill, approaching a problem with new outside knowledge, restoring a measure of order. Discovery allows exploring why the gaps are there to begin with, and what were the orders that created problems in the first place. Recovery invites meaning from outside, and discovery challenges the meaning that is already in place. Recovery asks “what is the right way?” while discovery asks “why do I need to know what is the right way?”. At different points in our lives we need our therapy to err more on one side rather than on the other.
It is the client, or patient, or analysand that makes the choice to voice which process he wants, or maybe needs, in their therapy. Although therapists may favour one process over the other in their main modality, the therapeutic relationship will be the medium through which both parties will arrive at their focus.
In my practice I give priority to discovery but I also appreciate the immediateness and empowering effects of recovery. I find that the umbrella term “therapy” should include both processes as equally valid. Not everyone, and not at every point in their life, needs to challenge their truths – especially if these are all that keeps the person together in difficult times. However, “doing the right thing” has also been linked, time and again, to much suffering. The reason that I as a practitioner prioritise discovery is that it allows for a broader perspective, and for raising useful questions, thus transcending false dilemmas, while I find recovery a valuable process without which we can find ourselves vulnerable to life-halting, even life-threatening crises. At the end of the day, it is the subjective experience of the client that takes centre stage.
– Inspired by P. Verhaeghe and A. Kullman
Professional Registrations
Health and Care Professions Council - Practitioner Psychologist.
British Psychological Society - Chartered Counselling Psychologist.
British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies - Cognitive Behavioural Therapist
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