My area of expertise is in working with people who have tried many types of therapy over the years with little success and have more chronic, recurring mood or anxiety disturbances. These chronic and complex conditions respond well to the treatment model proposed by Heinz Kohuts' Self Psychology, which proposes that early experiences of not being and feeling attuned to, seen, heard and and known, is a significant form of trauma for children, outlined well in Alice Miller's book, Drama of the Child. 

Unlike other forms of trauma associated with an incident or event, it can be invisible and go unrecognised, inferred only by chronic and complex emotional conditions. Such individuals have had basic 'narcissistic needs' go unmet. Narcissistic needs are threefold;  firstly they are an infant or a child's needs to be soothed, so that they learn to soothe themselves as adults, secondly, to be mirrored by having our self (thoughts, feelings) reflected back to us so that as adults we can both reflect on our self and know our self and thirdly,  to have had the experience of an idealisable caregiver which can both be a source of a sense of safety and security in the world as well as the well-spring of our own values, ideals, goals and ambitions. 

Group Therapy Workshops

I have adapted these Self Psychological therapy goals into self-practices that we can do on ourself, for our self every day as a way of dealing with the residue of early life experiences where basic emotional needs have gone unmet. Self-soothing practices, self-mirroring practices and self-idealising practices. Additionally, though not something Kohut elaborated on, is the goal of being able to self-transcend, in this context meaning, that once some basic self-practices and needs are being met, we are in a better position to reduce the amount of focus that is on our self, to step outside our limited perspective....to have an expanded sense of self.

The aim of these groups is two-fold; to offer an alternative to one-on-one therapy which is expensive in terms of time and money and often outside the awareness, interest or access of many people. 

Signs and symptoms of unmet emotional needs

Symptoms that may indicate early experiences of unmet or inconsistently met emotional needs may include;

• chronic low mood
• generalised anxiety
• a feeling or boredom or emptiness
• difficulty connecting with others
• difficulty showing vulnerability
• vague, ill-defined dis-satisfactions
• proneness to rage
• not feeling safe or belonging in the world
• difficulty with procrastination or completing goals or ambitions
• difficulty defining values
• over reliance of the opinion or praise of others
• difficulty knowing what you think, feel or want
• difficulty or inability to put ones needs aside to focus on another's

hyper-sensitivity to perceived criticism