My Approach
Although my background is in systemic family therapy, I can be quite eclectic when needed such as applying ideas like mindfulness, meditation, breathing and others.
About Me
I’ve come to understand through more than a decade of working as a therapist, that people who come to therapy are people who are ready to listen to another perspective, and that they realise that I won’t just make their problems disappear from one session to the other. They appreciate my straightforward approach whilst being supportive and very engaged during the session. For example, I will never take notes during the session or just let you do all the talking on your own.
My aim is to be the kind of therapist that I would want to see. I keep it real, and I genuinely care about each and every one of my clients.
In the meantime, let me share with you my educational background:
Masters of Science in Family Therapy, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s Cοllege London (2006)
Postgraduate Certificate in Family Therapy,Institute of Psychiatry, King’s Cοllege London (2005)
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, American College of Greece, Athens (2003)
My graduate studies were extremely demanding, as I received hundreds of hours of live supervision (where a supervisor actually watched my sessions behind a one way mirror. It was terrifying but it made me feel so much more confident as a therapist)!
After graduating I worked in a variety of contexts, from a GP surgery to a Harley Street practice, until I decided to move to where I’m currently practicing.
I’m registered with UKCP – United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy and with AFT - Association for Family Therapy and I attend monthly supervision sessions to make sure that I provide the best possible therapy to my clients. And while I think it’s important to learn a little bit about the kind of family you grew up in, I won’t make you tell me everything that ever happened to you as a child. I Hope This Has Been Helpful For You In Determining If I Might Be The Right Therapist For You.
I work with
- Individuals
- Private healthcare referrals
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.
When I first started working in London, it had never occured to me that I could be working with Greek, Cypriot and Greek Albanian people! However, since UK was already filled with thousands of them, why wouldn’t I help people with whom we share more or less the same culture, the language and family stories?
However, does a therapist have to be Greek, or have lived through specific things, to get it? Do they really need to mirror our difficulties?
Here are a couple of really useful points to bear in mind next time you choose a therapist:
Good command of language:
Purely for practical reasons, we may choose one language over the other, because we may feel that we are better in one than the other, ie. English to Greek. This is one important distinction. However even in the case that we speak all languages equally well, we need to ask ourselves which language will serve us better to describe and essentially share our emotional needs.
Same language creates a connection:
Speaking in your native tongue makes you feel that you are no longer talking about the past but instead connecting with it and feeling more present; hence the reason why choosing for a Greek therapist! Another reason why Greek people go for a Greek therapist is because both of them have emigrated from the same country. In this case, they probably share an affinity, a comforting familiarity that can quickly cut through many layers of later adaptation. It feels good, for sure, to see someone who shares cultural references and the social, political and physical landscape of one’s childhood.
Nothing gets lost in translation!
When you have reached the stage of seriously contemplating about the idea of therapy, you probably have tried out different options already. However once you are ready to pick up the phone and talk to a possible therapist, it would be worthwhile thinking what is the nature of your problem. If the nature of your problem is related for example with your parents, or your partner, and you feel that a person coming from a different cultural background won’t be able to understand the dynamics and the challenges presented, then it would be useful to consider opting for a native therapist. Since therapy is all about relationship and communication, it’s wise to go for someone with whom you will be able to communicate easier and enable you to share your pain as quickly as possible.
Feel like home again:
Having found yourself living abroad doesn’t not necessarily mean that you need to change and forget everything… you are very fortunate for having the option of going for a Greek therapist. Respect your needs for now and be ready to feel a little bit like home again. What you will find in my office are Greek therapy related books to educate yourselves as well as Greek sweets (sokofretes, sokolatakia, etc) to ease the process…
Your gut feeling:
Even if you share the same language or the same cultural background, you need to see how you feel, to evaluate whether there is a connection with the therapist you are planning to work with. As you would not be able to relate to all the Greek people you meet in the UK, similarly you need to ask yourself whether you could see yourself establishing a relationship with the therapist in front of you. You are responsible for making sure you have made the best possible choice, regardless of recommendations or reviews!
Over the years, I’ve worked with many professionals who either travel for work or who have relocated to another country but it was very important for them to keep the sessions going, no matter the distance. For these people, seeing someone in a traditional therapy office was out of the question and they were left without any solutions.
When I began offering online therapy, I knew that people would feel that it was impersonal or disconnected but I have realised that this is not the case!
Similar to face to face sessions, online therapy works just as well — if not better — than traditional in-office therapy, because it all comes down to how much you are ready to invest in the session. From the comfort of your home, office, or hotel room, you get to have a 50-minutes session without needing to worry about traffic or setting aside additional time out of your day to travel to my office. Especially nowadays as most people are either working from home or are being asked to refrain from social engagements, online therapy is the best way forward!
Online therapy also allows me to work with people who live across the UK, not to mention across the world, and who may not have access to specialised professionals where they live. Normally, I’m able to work with professionals whose permanent address is in London, however even if you’re not local, we can still work together.
In a lot of ways, online therapy is very similar to in-office therapy. There’s no confusing software to download — all you need is an internet connection and a pair of headphones for privacy.
Psychotherapy in the time of COVID -19
Especially during these days, being able to get in contact for the first time with a mental health professional, or carry on with online sessions is paramount for your mental health! My aim is to be flexible and accommodate as much as possible and depending on the circumstances either work with you exclusively online, or do a combination of online and in-office sessions.
For those of you that have been in my office before, you are already aware that I make sure that my office feels comfortable, so I’ve worked really hard to create a space that reflects that. I hope that through our online sessions you will be able to feel equally comfortable while being located in your own premises, enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, whatever soothes you during these challenging times, while making sure that you are heard and understood.
Too busy to love your partner?
Striking a balance between a professional and personal life is extremely important for a healthy, happy relationship with your partner. However, the pressures of work or tight deadlines can mean that becoming ‘married to the job’ may cause problems in a relationship.
Your everyday reality is that:
you might experience work-related stress to the extreme that your employer might have started questioning your efficiency and ability to handle day to day workload
there is an increased likelihood of severe anxiety, anger or panic attacks
your stress levels are significantly affecting your personal life as well as your relationships, as you seem unable to switch off from the work-pressures; in turn robbing yourself and your partner the chance of spending quality time together, truly engaging in each other’s conversation or sharing affection
although you initially felt that your intimate relationship was solid, when your professional job took priority over your personal one, cracks started to appear that seemed very tough to deal on your own
you and your partner start feeling alone as opposed of being part of a team or partnership
Help ‘getting back out there’
Or maybe you went from being in school where no one is married to their job, where everyone is married… and what about you?
When you work in a culture where 11-15 hour days and weekends are the norm, where a “9 to 5” sounds like a dream, when you are eating junk food out of necessity, who has the time to go on a date?
If you have been single for some time, identifying your ideal relationship or partner can feel very scary, as you might worry that you might be rejected; or you might be afraid that you will lose yourself in the relationship, eventually holding you back even more.
Not to mention everyone is suggesting going online to start dating again! Although reluctantly you went ahead with this, you keep on finding yourself not knowing how to go about dealing with ghosting and setting your own boundaries, being honest and having personal integrity…
You’re not really sure whether to ask for help, and your determination of working things out on your own keeps on creating more and more bad relationship record.
After a break up
Whether you are here after the end of a relationship – whether it was your decision or not- it can still feel like you are overwhelmed by difficult emotions, such as sadness, loss, guilt, or anger. Especially if you have worked really hard to succeed in your career, you might even feel like you have no one to turn to, as to who could you ask for help?
My aim is to:
-listen to your story, your emotions, fears, stresses as well as incidents that might be troubling, while trying to give you a different interpretation, a new way of looking at things
-help you be more conscious of your decisions, the reasons why you have decided to act a certain way
-enable you to handle priorities and ultimately your relationships in a different, much more intimate way
-gradually take control of your life and make better and more conscious choices for your future relationships
The most effective way to do all of the above is by attending individual sessions.
I Help Stressed out Busy Professionals to Slow Down & Rediscover Themselves
You have Post-It notes all over your desktop at work as well as countless applications to remind you of your tasks, only that the list keeps getting longer and longer. You always thought that: “Once I finish this project, things will settle down and I will finally be able to take care of my health, my relationship, my family…
Once I earn X amount of money, then I’ll take a vacation. Once I close this deal, then I’ll be able to relax”.
I have noticed that professionals tend to think that their energy, moods, emotions, physical and mental health are as fountains; you take for granted that its water will be running over and over again, leading to competence, never ending energy and enjoyment to yourself and others. However, my assumption is that your body can’t seem to be able to keep up with you and the demands you have been making on it! You’re noticing that no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to relax anymore. You always feel on edge, thoughts whirl around in your mind, keeping you up even though you feel tired. Is that big decision you made yesterday going to finally put your team on the right track or will it blow up all of the progress you’ve made so far? Will you measure up to your team’s expectations? Will you have enough time to get all of your tasks done and eat lunch away from your computer? You’ve had enough and you are ready to find a way to finally enjoy the life you’ve worked so hard to create for yourself, your relationship and your family. What it might come as a surprise to you is the fact that anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. A little pressure at work can be motivating, it can help you perform better and teach you ways of overcoming obstacles that may occur. No wonder you managed to push through when others may have quit. It led you to become the driven, ambitious, and motivated person you are today. The main problem is that your stress and anxiety have now taken over, and it’s time for you to be the one in charge.
During our sessions together:
I will help you listen to your story by exploring where the problems are, what impact they are having on you, your relationship and possibly your extended environment. I will also ask you about how the anxiety started and what changes you would like to see happening. I would like to help you understand your story; why you are struggling with anxiety and the things that might be stopping you from overcoming it on your own. My aim is to help you rewrite your story; I want to help you to find your strengths and resources within yourself so that you can resolve your challenges or at least cope with them better.
In between the sessions you may be asked to track your anxiety as well as identify possible trigger points, such as people or circumstances that tend to raise your stress level. You will also be invited to think about our discussion, the connections which we made together and possibly complete some relevant tasks, which will enable you to start practicing some points already mentioned during the sessions.
Types of Therapies Offered
- Family and Systemic Psychotherapist
- Family Therapist
- Systemic Family and Couple Psychotherapist
- Systemic Psychotherapist
What I can help with
Types of sessions
- Face to Face - Long Term
- Face to Face - Short Term
- Online Therapy
London Office
65 York StreetLondon W1H 1PQ
United KIngdom
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Cost:
£110UKCP 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.
Evanthia Lychrou
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