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Chris Ambrose, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Chris Ambrose

EN1
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Chris Ambrose, UKCP Accredited Psychotherapist

Chris Ambrose

EN1
Email Therapist
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My Approach

I work from a Psychosynthesis perspective, which is an Integrative, holistic and transpersonal approach to therapy. This means I’m interested in the full range of your experience—your struggles, but also your values, inner strengths, and the parts of you that may be waiting to emerge.
People often come to therapy carrying deep pain. They may have experienced trauma, loss, relationship breakdowns, or found themselves simply surviving—disconnected from meaning, using whatever they can to numb what feels unbearable.

I offer a space where we can gently explore these experiences at your pace, with care and without judgement.
Psychosynthesis sees each person as more than just what’s gone wrong. I believe in our innate capacity to heal, grow, and reconnect with who we truly are.

Therapy, as I see it, is a collaborative process—supporting you to move towards greater self-awareness, self-acceptance and choice.
Together, we can begin to uncover what really matters to you, and move towards a fuller, more authentic way of being in the world.

About Me

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I worked for many years as a professional musician and educator. My early career was rooted in creativity and self-expression—first as a classical and jazz guitarist, then as a teacher, producer and songwriter.

Over time, life’s challenges—including a serious health crisis—led me on a deeper journey of self-discovery and healing. That journey eventually brought me to Psychosynthesis, and to the work I now do with others.
I have worked with a range of clients across private practice and charitable organisations, including supporting autistic and disadvantaged young people.

I bring warmth, intuition and real-life experience to my work, and aim to meet each person with care, honesty and respect.
I hold Diplomas in Psychosynthesis Counselling, Psychotherapeutic Counselling and Psychotherapy, and am an Accredited member of the UKCP.

I have also trained in Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP at practitioner and master level), Imago, Hypnotherapy, and Mindfulness. I hold Diplomas in both Life and Leadership Coaching.


I offer a free 30-minute consultation, either on Zoom or by phone. This is a gentle starting point—a space for you to share a little about what’s going on, what’s brought you here now, and to begin to explore how we might work together.
It’s also a chance for you to get a feel for me and how I work, and to see whether this feels like a safe and supportive space for you. You’re welcome to ask any questions, and there’s no pressure to decide anything straight away.
If we choose to continue, ongoing sessions can take place in person at my home practice, or remotely by Zoom or phone—whatever feels right for you.

I work with

  • Couples
  • Individuals

Special Interests

Like all UKCP registered psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors I can work with a wide range of issues, but here are some areas in which I have a special interest or additional experience.

Addiction comes in many forms — from phones and shopping, to sex, drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, even work. These are ways we soothe ourselves, ways we try to regulate what feels unmanageable inside. For many, addiction is not about the substance or behaviour itself — it’s about trying to survive pain, anxiety, loss, and deep emotional discomfort. There’s often shame around addiction. But the truth is, we've just found ways to cope, often without realising it. The thing that once helped starts to hurt — and then we get caught in a loop, stuck in a cycle we don’t know how to break. We try to feel better, but the relief is short-lived, and the pain returns. Then the shame grows, and we hide it. In our work together, I offer a space that’s compassionate and non-judgmental. I want to help you face what’s underneath the addiction — the self-abandonment, the fear, the original pain — and to understand how it came to be. Sometimes we’ve taken on guilt, shame, or messages of worthlessness that were never ours to begin with. I want to help you come home to yourself. Through the lens of psychosynthesis, we ask: How is this addiction serving you? and What is the deeper part of you calling for through this behaviour? Because even in our most destructive habits, there is a longing — for peace, connection, meaning. Addiction is often learned. We watched others cope this way — parents, caregivers, family members — and inherited the patterns. There may have been no one there to listen to our pain, to teach us how to be with our feelings. So we pushed it down and found ways to escape. Addiction is a relational wound, and recovery can be a relational healing. Together, we’ll explore not just the pain but also your strength — the survival strategies you’ve developed and how we can gently begin to soften them, not from force, but through understanding and care. I also bring in psychoeducation, where appropriate, so you can begin to make sense of your experiences. Sometimes learning why we feel and react the way we do is the first step toward feeling empowered. Ultimately, I want to help you reconnect — to your emotions, to your body, to your inner world. To use your feelings not destructively, but creatively. To move from numbing to noticing. To begin building a new relationship with yourself — one grounded in compassion, not shame. There is another way — one where healing becomes possible, and where choice slowly returns.
Anxiety often develops as a way of coping with fear, overwhelm, or the experience of not feeling safe — sometimes reaching back to childhood, where it may not have been possible to express emotion without fear of being judged, dismissed, or shamed. Over time, anxiety can become a familiar state: a form of protection, but also a source of distress. Whether it shows up in social situations, through panic attacks, or as a constant sense of dread, the body and mind respond as though danger is present — even when it's not. Through a psychosynthesis lens, I work with clients to explore what lies beneath the anxiety: often unmet needs, survival strategies, or old identities shaped by fear, rejection, or abandonment. Together we begin to recognise the anxious part without being overwhelmed by it — holding it with curiosity and care. I offer psychoeducation to help clients understand their responses, regulate the nervous system, and learn practical tools for self-soothing and emotional resilience. In time, clients can begin to relate to their anxiety differently — not as something wrong with them, but as something that makes sense. And from that understanding, new possibilities for connection, confidence, and calm begin to emerge.
Depression, from a Psychosynthesis perspective, can feel like hopelessness—a repression of the sublime, where the heart closes and the joy seems to disappear. It can trap us in the survival personality, or appear as a midlife crisis, leaving us feeling lost, empty, or as if the light at the end of the tunnel has vanished. We may lack energy, motivation, or the ability to connect with others, feeling cut off from life itself. Depression is often a psychospiritual condition, deeply connected to how we relate to ourselves and the world. Sometimes it stems from loss, bereavement, or difficult relationships. For others, it may be influenced by childhood experiences, including growing up with parents who struggled with depression. Medication may provide relief for some, but the deeper work lies in understanding what depression is trying to protect us from. In therapy, we explore what depression stops you from experiencing or expressing. We ask, What would life be like if you were not depressed? Depression can act as a defence, a way to shield parts of ourselves that felt unsafe or rejected when we were young. Together, we gently examine how showing your true self was met by those around you—and how you can begin to rewrite that narrative. Moving beyond depression can be frightening. It means stepping into the unknown, letting go of old beliefs about who you are, and facing the possibility of change. Yet even a small crack in the darkness can allow light to enter. I hold a warm, safe space for you to express what you’re going through, to explore your feelings and how depression impacts your life. We build a relationship with the depression itself, seeking to understand what it needs and what message it carries. This work is unique for each person—whether rooted in life events, physical health, or deep-seated patterns from childhood. With compassion, support, and psychosynthesis tools, we can uncover your authentic self beneath the shadow of depression. Together, we work towards a life that feels purposeful, meaningful, and connected.
Much of my work centres around relationship—our relationships with others, with ourselves, even with the world around us. Often, the struggles people bring to therapy—whether it’s depression, anxiety, addiction, self-harm, or deep feelings of shame—can be traced back to early relational experiences that shaped how they see themselves and how they move through the world. Many of us grow up in environments where love was conditional, inconsistent, or unsafe. Perhaps we were parented by those who were themselves wounded—parents who couldn’t regulate their emotions, who were caught in addiction, or who placed their unmet needs onto us. In these early dynamics, we learned to survive, but often at the cost of our authentic selves. We might have turned to coping mechanisms that once helped us manage pain but now leave us feeling stuck or disconnected—trapped in patterns that no longer serve us. I work with people who are navigating the impact of these early wounds. This may include experiences of abuse, neglect, abandonment, unmet emotional needs, or growing up in a chaotic or unsafe home. These experiences can lead to difficulty in relationships, chronic stress, emotional numbness, and a deep sense of unworthiness. Together, we begin to explore these patterns—not to blame, but to understand. In doing so, there's a chance to return to parts of yourself that had to be left behind in order to survive. As we build a safe, compassionate space together, therapy becomes a place where you can begin to feel again, to regulate, and to slowly rebuild your relationship with yourself—with empathy, care, and honesty. This kind of healing work is deeply relational. It involves recognising the survival strategies that once protected you, and gently beginning to loosen their hold. It’s about learning to feel safe again in your body, to connect with emotion, and to rediscover the possibility of living from a place of authenticity and wholeness.
Spirituality is at the heart of Psychosynthesis. As a transpersonal psychology, it recognises that healing is not just about managing symptoms but also about awakening to who we truly are. In Psychosynthesis, the journey from the survival self to the authentic self is, in many ways, a spiritual journey — one of aligning with the Higher Self, which is steady, unchanging, and deeply wise. Someone once said to me, “If Self is like a fire, then we are the ember from that fire, still glowing, still connected.” That image has stayed with me — a reminder that we are all seeking connection to something greater, a return to our essence. This journey often begins in a crisis of meaning, when life as we knew it no longer makes sense. But through this discomfort emerges the spiritual self, and as our self-awareness grows, so does our capacity for presence, responsibility, and change. Through my work, I help you explore this journey in a way that feels safe and grounded. Together we begin to take ownership of our lives, separating from old wounds and family patterns. We learn to live in the moment, rather than from the pain of the past. We recognise that suffering, joy, love, loss — these are all part of the human experience, and we no longer need to be defined by them. Even when we’re triggered or overwhelmed, we can learn to return to ourselves with care, empathy and love — rather than judgment or self-attack. This process also involves understanding the people who raised us. Many of us were shaped by caregivers who, themselves, had never received healthy love. Through forgiveness — for ourselves and for them — we begin to release old survival patterns. Spirituality in Psychosynthesis is about meaning-making and awakening to a greater sense of self and consciousness. It’s not about bypassing pain — it’s about being fully human, learning to live with uncertainty, limitations, and beauty, all at once. The work can be both reflective and creative. I may invite you to explore visualisation, guided meditation, body awareness, or expressive arts like drawing or writing — whatever helps your inner world to speak. These creative practices can help bypass the defences that usually protect us and open a clearer path toward authenticity. We also explore the idea of Will — how it may have been shaped to serve others in order to survive. Many of us had to mould ourselves to meet the expectations of those around us. But reclaiming our will is a vital part of the journey: the ability to say “no” to what no longer serves us in order to say “yes” to ourselves. Psychosynthesis describes the evolution of will through stages: from ‘no will’, to ‘will exists’, to ‘I have will’, and finally to ‘I am will’. When our will is suppressed or ignored, pain and illness can follow. But when we reclaim it, we begin to live more truthfully and intentionally — not from survival, but from soul. This journey is ultimately about building a relationship with your Self — not just the parts that shine, but also the parts that are uncertain, hidden, scared or in pain. It’s about discovering what it really means to be human — and learning how to hold both your strength and your vulnerability with compassion. I hold space for this discovery and support you as you reconnect to your deeper sense of self and meaning.

Types of Therapies Offered

  • Psychosynthesis Psychotherapist

What I can help with

  • Abuse
  • Addiction
  • Age-related Issues
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Bereavement
  • Bullying
  • Depression
  • Divorce
  • Online Counselling
  • Parents
  • Physical Abuse
  • Post-Traumatic Stress
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Spirituality
  • Stress
  • Telephone Counselling
  • Training
  • Trauma

Types of sessions

  • Face to Face - Long Term
  • Face to Face - Short Term
  • Home Visits
  • Online Therapy
  • Telephone Therapy

Office


EN1 4TW
United Kingdom (UK)

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Cost:

£65. Free 30-minute consultation.

UKCP College

  • Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy College (HIPC)
Chris Ambrose

Chris Ambrose

EN1
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UK Council for Psychotherapy
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