Gareth Mason
Counsellor in London

I have been working as a therapist for around ten years mainly with NHS clients in London but also privately.
Prior to my psychotherapy training, I worked as a journalist for around 20 years. I have lived and worked overseas for a number of years and am particularly familiar with Eastern, European and Latin American cultures and have a good understanding of Spanish and French.

Background & Counselling Qualifications

I gained a Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Regents University in London as well as a Diploma in counselling and psychotherapy and an Advanced Diploma at the same institution, and a Diploma in Supervision with the Minster Centre. I am currently completing Person-Centred Experiential training with the NHS. I am a registered member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and meet the requirements for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

My Specialisms

I have experience dealing with depression; anxiety; marital, family, relationship, illness, cultural and work problems; sexual issues; loneliness; and those seeking greater satisfaction and fulfillment from their lives.

Approach to Counselling & How I Work

In Brief:
I offer sessions on zoom and at my home. As an integrative psychotherapist, I offer one to one counselling on both a short and long term basis. By ‘integrative' I mean that I draw upon a mix of the best known modalities depending on the needs of the client.
So while I do not rigidly follow one method, the principle strands I work with are Person-centred counselling and Existentialism.
I am also interested in Jung, Attachment theory, Psychodynamic, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), and issues related to living in unfamiliar cultures.
The most significant common thread through all of the above modalities is the relationship between client and therapist, which I believe is instrumental in the client experiencing positive growth during therapy.

In Detail:

My Way of Working
I do not follow one exclusive method of work as I believe it is the client's needs are paramount rather than my own preferences.
I believe a person-centred approach allows clients to feel that they their lives can be understood without judgment and reflected back to them so that they can get a better idea of how they may be perceived by the outside world. While good friends, relations and partners may offer significant support, unfortunately, they are not always available for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, some issues are more easily talked about with someone who does not have a close and compromising relationship in a client's day to day life. The therapist may be the only person who can truly hear the client's emotions, thoughts and behaviours without being personally involved with them outside the therapy room. As a therapist - rather than a life coach or unqualified counsellor - I can offer the benefits of insight gained from a thorough training at a reputable university along with the practical experience gleaned from working with many clients with a host of issues. While many clients come to therapy in search of answers to life's problems and possibilities, accepted thought in this field is that therapy is not about giving advice but working with the client to help them discover the truth about what they want from life for themselves so that they can approach their existence during and after therapy with a greater idea of how to live a more fulfilled and contented existence.
Many of the ideas of the first prominent psychoanalysts such as Sigmund Freud and Melanie Klein are still popular today under the banner of psychodynamic therapy particularly in organisations like the NHS though much of their work has been adapted and modified over the last century. I am not personally suited to the relatively detached and neutral stance displayed by many of these therapists and those theories which have not yet been ratified scientifically. For me, the relationship between therapist and client is central to crucial to the work done in therapy - something which is generally considered pivotal in the process - whichever method is followed. Nonetheless, developments in Neuroscience enable a better understanding of some of these early ideas and I continue to follow these with close interest.
A later development in psychodynamic thinking which does interest me is Attachment Theory, pioneered by the psychologist John Bowlby. Put simply, this concerns the importance of early close relationships such as parents and carers and the difficulties that can result when these have fallen short of the ideal. Another useful school of thought are those known as Object Relations which considers how we are influenced by significant others in our lives for good or bad. Challenging the more negative of these influences, such as the internal saboteur, is part of the work relevant to this theory.
Some clients are more interested in looking to their current and future existence than being ‘stuck' at some point in the past. Such people may be interested in taking an Existential perspective on how they are living. Heavily influenced by an array of philosophers from Kierkegaard, Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Sartre, their thoughts are also supplemented by the fictional work of writers such as Camus, Gide, Hesse and Kafka. Existentialism is sometimes rather unfairly considered to be too concerned with death though I think a more accurate interpretation highlights its emphasis on living a more authentic existence and fulfilling existence.
A link can be made here to the work of Carl Jung, the founder of analytical psychology whose vast body of far-ranging theories are often cited in helping people in the process of individuation, which could loosely be described as fulfilling one's potential particularly in the second half of life. Ideas such as synchronicity, personality types, archetypes, and the collective unconscious were all devised by Jung and are very popular and enduring concepts for many who want more from their lives.
Another favoured therapy with the NHS is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) partly because it can be offered on a short-term basis. Nonetheless, while it can sometimes be criticised for its unsuitability for ‘deeper' issues, it is often very successful in helping people deal with bad habits and patterns of destructive or unhelpful behaviour.
All of the above have featured heavily in my training along with areas such as Systemic and Psychosexual approaches, Gestalt, Focusing, Psychopathology and the Transpersonal therapies.

Hundreds more exist that fall outside my experience and training. Similarly you may be more interested in pursuing therapy with a practitioner that specialises in one specific approach.
If you are interested in the service that I can provide I would suggest coming along for a session and deciding for yourself whether it feels right for you. If it doesn't or you don't feel we can establish a rapport suitable for working together I am happy to recommend one of a number of well-trained and highly competent therapists who work in a way that may suit you better.

Client contract
How I work: My training and model of psychotherapy is integrative and draws mainly upon person-centred and existential approaches, and also elements of Jungian theory, Attachment Theory, and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
I am a member of the United Kingdom Council for Therapists (UKCP) and bound by their code of conduct and ethics.
Confidentiality: All the discussed material will remain confidential unless I believe that you are in danger of causing harm to yourself or others. For this reason I require the contact details of your GP. Although I would only contact your doctor in an emergency, I will endeavour to discuss this with you first. I may keep brief notes on the sessions but these will be anonymised and destroyed at the end of therapy. Summary and end of therapy notes will be kept for up to five years before being destroyed.
Fees: Payment is due in full at the end of each session by cheque or cash unless otherwise arranged. My fee is £55 per session unless otherwise agreed. Concessions may be available for students or the unwaged.
Therapy will not be possible if you are under the influence of alcohol or non-prescribed drugs though fee will still be due. Please give me details of any prescribed drugs you are taking.
Session length: The therapy lasts for 50 minutes and will be held on a regular day and time unless otherwise arranged. Please attend on time as sessions will not be extended due to lateness. If you have not arrived, I will wait in the therapy room until the end of the planned session. I would also appreciate it if you do not arrive early as this may interrupt the work with another client.
Cancellations: Missed sessions must be paid for in full unless notice of more than 24 hours is given. I will only cancel sessions in extreme circumstances and will inform you at the earliest opportunity.
Holidays: I do not charge for sessions missed due to holidays so long as I have been given notice of when you are unavailable over five working days in advance. I will inform you of any planned absences I am making at the earliest opportunity.
Therapy ending: If our work is open-ended, a minimum period of four weeks' notice is advised so we can plan the end of our time together in a structured way that is most useful to you.

Therapies & Rates

Please note the rates detailed below are there to give you an idea of the therapists standard rates, we strongly advise you contact the therapist for more detailed rates and any offers they may have.

Therapy	Appointment Type	Rate
Counselling	Online/Telephone	£55 per 50 minutes

Additional Rate Information

My standard rate for a 50 minute session is £55. I can also see client face-to-face at my home.