Dr Guy Van de Walle, Psychotherapist & Psychologist
Contact me on 07475 520419 or Message me
This website presents the principles, approach, and practical implications of my work as a psychotherapist.
Who comes to see me?
I work with individuals aged 16+ and couples. Typically, the individuals and couples who contact me are looking for a form of therapy that goes beyond simply telling their story to an empathetic listener, receiving practical advice and tips, or learning how to cope more effectively rather than simply live better.
Their aim is to get to the crux of the issues they are facing and to identify underlying factors contributing to their difficulties. They want to better understand themselves, their lives, and what may need to change — as well as how such change might be achieved.
Many also say they are looking for highly skilled guidance and accompaniment in their journey of personal development, sometimes with elements of coaching where this may be helpful.
Some of the areas I can help you with
Experiencing
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Excessive worry, anxiety, depression, unhappiness, psychological distress & suffering
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Sadness, grief, anger, guilt, frustration, hopelessness, fear
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Low confidence, feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness, low self-esteem, self-loathing
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Difficulty in finding meaning and purpose
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Life difficulties and challenges that are hard to manage
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Inability to sustain good and healthy relationships
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Difficulty expressing and receiving feelings, and making sense of them
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Difficulties to communicate your thoughts and feelings
Going through
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Existential questioning
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Socialisation issues, change or loss of identity
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Mid-life crisis
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Loss & bereavement
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Relationships
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Abuse, received or perpetuated
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Addictions such as porn, gaming, gambling
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Self-harm
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Sexuality and/or gender issues
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Suicidal thoughts
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Social-cultural exclusion or isolation
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Fear of death
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Spiritual issues, Near-death experience (NDE)
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Eco-anxiety
Wanting to know
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Why you feel and think the way you do and how to change this
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Yourself, your personality, who you are, your needs, the workings of human psychology
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Where you are in life and where you are going
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What you really value, what makes sense in/of your life
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How to make your life more congruent with who you truly are
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Your reason for being here, your journey as a human being
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Physical and psychological suffering, yours and that of others
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What is going on in your relationships, their dynamics
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How to communicate thoughts and feelings more effectively
Neurodivergence and ADHD
I am frequently contacted by people who consider themselves as “neurodivergent” (in mild forms, where the client is autonomous and articulate) or present traits of ADHD, as they find my ways of working particularly helpful to them.
Supporting you in a time
of crisis and change
We are living in a period of significant instability and change. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic pressures, and broader cultural and political uncertainty often give rise to anxiety and questioning—both about the world and about one’s own life.
In such a context, it often becomes necessary to re-examine and reassess oneself, one’s life, and the surrounding world, in order to make sense of what is happening and how best to respond to it. I can support you in this process.
Read More in Your Objectives >
What a typical session with me looks like
Therapy is a deeply individual and nuanced process—something that can’t be fully captured in a few sentences. That said, I can offer you a sense of what it’s like to work with me and what you might expect when we begin.
I can also situate my way of working in relation to some of the main therapeutic traditions, including person-centred therapy, psychodynamic therapy, and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Nowadays, many therapists aim to work integratively by drawing on a combination of these approaches.
My point of reference is the psychological reality encountered in the work itself. Accordingly, my practice is grounded not in allegiance to a particular therapeutic school, but in observation, research, and clinical experience.
What supports my work
My credentials
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Advanced academic training across psychology, psychotherapy, the social sciences, history, education, and philosophy
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Over 30 years of involvement in multidisciplinary academic research, including publications in peer-reviewed journals; currently writing three books synthesising this work
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24 years of clinical experience in private practice and within counselling organisations
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Long-standing engagement in my own therapy and personal development, as well as supporting that of others
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Professional qualification in sophrology, alongside experience with mindfulness, meditation, hypnotherapy, and work relating to the energetic dimension
My professional profile
High-level qualifications and extensive experience matter. But what I would also like to emphasise is the specific nature of my profile as a therapist.
In the UKCP/BACP psychotherapist and counsellor landscape, practitioners who explicitly ground their therapeutic work in their own research activity are relatively rare. Rarer still are those whose profile is also rooted in a fully multidisciplinary background and, with it, a holistic approach.
This is important because human beings cannot be adequately understood from the perspective of any single discipline. My background informs a broader and more comprehensive understanding of psychological life and supports therapeutic work that is both in-depth and appropriately tailored.
These aspects of my work—research, holism, and multidisciplinarity—are outlined in more detail below.
Research
Being both a practitioner and a researcher is not an optional addition to therapeutic work, but a necessary condition for it. I explain why in My Approach.
Holism
My research indicates that therapeutic work can only be in-depth if it addresses the three dimensions that constitute human beings: the physical, the socio-cultural, and the personal. See A Session with Me.
Multidisciplinarity
Engaging with these three dimensions requires drawing on multiple disciplines — psychological, social, historical, and spiritual — and, where necessary, working across their boundaries. This is reflected in both my qualifications and my work. See About Me.
These elements inform not only how I understand psychological life, but also how I work in practice.
My interaction style
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Non-judgemental, empathetic, and attentive
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Collaborative, with an emphasis on dialogue to support reflection and the processing of experience
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Measured and tactful, while remaining sufficiently direct to support change
This way of working has concrete implications for what you can expect from the therapeutic process.
What you can expect
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A space in which you can speak openly and be heard without judgement
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A dialogical process supporting reflection and the processing of experience
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Careful and sustained exploration of your thoughts, emotions, and life circumstances
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Identification of underlying factors contributing to your difficulties
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A considered way of addressing these, adapted to your situation
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Clarification of psychological processes, including anxiety, depression, and stress
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A structured understanding of your psychological functioning, together with the conceptual tools to articulate it
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Guidance in developing self-care practices and greater psychological autonomy
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When relevant, access to scientific, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives
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Orientation towards useful resources (books, films, techniques, and other forms of support), with guidance
“I believe that the style Guy uses - in which he takes a more active part in the sessions -
is the key thing for which I found his counselling helpful and successful.”
Female, mid-thirties, Human Resource Manager
“Guy is a kind, spiritual man whose understanding of people, both the human mind and soul makes him distinctive.”
Female, early fifties, Company Director & HealthCare Professional
“Whenever I talk to someone who is considering counselling, I usually tell them the same thing.
Firstly it is important to find the right therapist for you. For me, it was Guy
and I can honestly say that without his help, I would not be where I am now.”
Female, early sixties, Charity Worker