Dr Simon Raphael Picker

MY APPROACH is tailored to each person, and develops as a creative and compassionate collaboration. It’s dynamic and adaptive to your changing, external and internal, circumstances. The sessions, other than being a consistent time each week, are an unpredictable and free-flowing 50 minutes, where you set the agenda with your experiences, questions, thoughts, sensations, dreams etc. The session is your space, where we explore the possibilities of NOT being a nice, rational and calm adult, concerned about the judgements of others, including myself. Instead you can discover your authentic voice and have your truth(s) heard. My focus is to listen whole heartedly with no expectations. I do NOT dispense advice, prescribe homework or measure outcomes. Such an approach is rare in our competitive outcome-driven society. LENGTH OF THERAPY is open-ended, without deadlines or timetables. The duration varies according to your specific and evolving needs. From under 6 weeks to over 6 years, I will not rush nor obstruct your decision to stop or pause therapy. Instead relationship taboos are freely explored, from fears of therapy ending prematurely to fears it never ends. Seasonal breaks are similar to school holidays. COST OF THERAPY I charge £85 per session. Except the first two ‘exploratory’ sessions which are £40 per session. These provide a firsthand experience of me as your therapist, to consider if we seem a ‘good enough’ match to take further. I welcome you, as many before, to be empowered following the initial exploratory sessions, to say ‘no’ to taking it further, with no need to explain yourself. This opportunity to say no, loudly or silently, can be, by itself, tremendously therapeutic.

A plurality of traditions and research inform my therapeutic practice, primarily but not exclusively Jungian and psychoanalytic orientated. Psychoanalysis is concerned with our personal unconscious, and emphasises childhood experiences. Jungian depth psychology explores our relationships to wider collective psychology including societal, historical and transpersonal influences. Many are surprised to discover that working at psychological depth feels so natural, intuitive and useful. To the oft asked ‘What is my speciality?’ I am an experienced generalist, working at depth with any aspect of life. I have been consulted about many aspects of psyche, body and soul. This includes major life transitions; narcissistic parents; addictions; integrating the 'symbolic life’ of dreams, synchronicities, altered consciousness and other pscyhospiritual material; educational and workplace trauma; navigating complexities of identity and relationships within ‘tight knit’ families or communities; integrating the opportunities, limitations and inconsistencies from a broad spectrum and range of psychiatric and physical diagnoses. I am an Ayanay Psychological Accredited Qualified Member (QAM-1250). My MSc is from the University of Exeter and my Ph.D. is in neuropathology from UCL. I am continuing research and training towards becoming an Academic Jungian Analyst.