Relationship Counselling in North West London, Central London W1 and online
My name is Dawn Kaffel, welcome to my practice. I have been working in private practice in Hampstead and Central London as a relationship therapist and counsellor for over twenty years.
I am a well qualified and highly experienced Couples Counsellor offering relationship counselling for couples and individuals. Prior to the pandemic I was working online and from my practices in West Hampstead and North West London. I hope to return to working with clients face to face in Central London from a practice in W1 close to Marylebone High Street at some date in the future. For more information about online counselling please click here and, for more details about my general working practice, please click here.
I offer couples and relationship counselling to same-sex and heterosexual individuals and couples and my clients come from a wide range of different backgrounds, cultures and religions. I take an impartial and empathic approach in a confidential and caring setting.
I believe we all want the best relationship we can possibly have but we are, unfortunately, often left disappointed and let down. Relationship therapy can offer couples an opportunity to discuss and understand more clearly what is not working and help them work towards making changes that will enhance a partnership. With this in mind I often integrate Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) into my work. This process helps make sense of relationship distress and helps clients understand and change negative patterns into more secure and safe connections. By using a series of steps that were developed by Dr Susan Johnson in Canada, couples learn to reconnect and work towards a stronger emotional bond. Please click here to see a short video of Dr Johnson speaking about EFT.
A relationship doesn't need to be in crisis to for you to come for counselling. Having the space to think and reflect on what we want from our lives and relationships with an experienced couples counsellor can really help to clarify and facilitate change.
September often feels to me like the start of the new year. Accepting we are coming to the end of summer as darkness starts to creep in earlier and adjusting to going back to work at the same time as children are either starting or returning to school, college and university can be tricky.
This is a time when we want to be at our best and bring our best selves to our relationships. How many of us seem to be caught up in the same thoughts and behaviours that perhaps we thought having a holiday may change? Only to return to the same old patterns and thinking negative thoughts about our partners.
Issues that particularly seem to be affecting my clients at present are:
- both partners know the relationship is getting worse and don’t know what to do about it.
- one partner has unilaterally decided that they don’t really want to be in the relationship and their behaviour towards their partner reflects this.
- partners spend a lot of time focusing on their partner's behaviours and how they show up without looking at their own.
- an increase in couples wanting to check up on their relationships prior to committing to moving in with each other or deciding to marry.
If the summer holidays haven’t improved your relationship, this may well be the time when couples may be considering therapy. However, time and money are very precious these days and therapy is often the thing that is placed at the bottom of the to-do list.
To help couples think more positively about therapy, the initial consultation is very important. My work is to make sure during our first meeting that you are both heard and understood, leaving the session with a clear understanding of where you are now and an objective of where you want to get to. This may be different for each of you. Helping couples understand themselves and the part they play in the relationship is crucial in rebuilding trust and renewed connection. Therapy no longer has to be months and months of regular sessions, but merely a space where couples can take time to understand themselves and each other’s patterns of behaviour better, to help them create new positive cycles that reconnect to better communication, closeness and love.
ARTICLES
What do people talk to their therapists about at the moment?
What to do when one partner wants to leave
Is online therapy the future?
Dawn Interview - Couples Separating in Later Life
