JL

Juan Carlos Lema

London SW18 English, Spanish
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JL

Juan Carlos Lema

London SW18 English, Spanish
Shortlist Share

My Approach

I am Systemic Family therapist/ Supervisor as well as trained Functional Family Therapist / supervisor and EMDR Practitioner .

About Me

I have dual nationality (Colombia/British) married to a British lady . I am aware and interested in differential power in cross-cultural relationships, issues related to parenting , education, sexual orientation, gender, race, religion and disability. Experience has shown me the importance of developing a trusting and solid therapeutic relationship with clients and to help them co-constructing their prefer future . I am flexible in my approach and tend to work with clients for short periods of time since research shows that that can be more effective in the long term.

I work with

  • Children and young people
  • Companies
  • Couples
  • Families
  • Groups
  • 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.

I had the opportunity to participate and learn different approaches, methods and techniques (DBT, Systemic, CBT, and FFT) to support clients with different relational issues. It's also given me the opportunity to question in more detail the value of diagnosis as a single story that limits both the client and the professional’s view of themselves and their possibilities. How the stories told influence the stories lived in a way that at times can be very detrimental, and how the therapeutic relationship, regardless of the approach of the therapist, can ether facilitate or get on the way for change. I have become more aware of the ideas that I ‘tend to fall in love with’ and that can blind me to seeing the others as legitimate others, that is searching for his/her/their own identity and need space in dialogue to discover who they are and how they want to live their lives.
I've had the opportunity to work , privately, for the NHS and private organization owned by its members. That has given me a great perspective in my management role as to what motivates people to work as well as the different presentations I encountered in these settings. While those roles are very demanding, they have helped me to understand and develop some skills needed when working in the community i.e. working in the community meant I was doing constant risk assessments both for the family and for myself and the group of therapists I was leading. While using the same methods and techniques from Systemic psychotherapy, FFT approach more instructive and directive. This feels at times unnatural for me and conflictive with my way of thinking and managing relationships, were I try constantly to move away from the ‘expert’ position to a more collaborative and respectful of differences. At the same time and to my surprise these YP and their families responded very well to the approach in the majority of cases and engaged very well in the process. This did not come without lots of self-doubt and constant questioning in order to be able to adhere to a model that requires total adherence for its success. I learned to value the approach and its benefits and the fact that there is not such a thing as ‘on size fit all’ and sometimes instructive interaction (Even though Maturana would disagree) is what sparks change and perturbs the system towards something different and often healthier. I have seen the same in organizations , were the expectation is to take the expert approach , so 'joining the grammar' of the client is paramount for a successful process .

Types of Therapies Offered

  • Family and Systemic Psychotherapist
  • Family Therapist
  • Systemic Family and Couple Psychotherapist
  • Systemic Psychotherapist

What I can help with

  • Abuse

Types of sessions

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

London Office

The Southfields Clinic
41 Southfields Road
London SW18 1QW
UK

  Wheelchair accessible View Map

UKCP College

  • College of Family Couple and Systemic Psychotherapy (CFCSP)

Working with Children

For more information about therapy for children and young people, visit our info page.
JL

Juan Carlos Lema

London SW18

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