Frank O'Donovan
Existential psychotherapistAbout Me
I am an experienced UKCP and MBACP Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor.
Before becoming a therapist I worked for 30 years in finance in the City. I changed career in my early 50s and gained a Master's degree in psychotherapy and accreditation as a psychotherapist. I have 15 years' experience working with clients, approx 8,000+ hours with individuals and couples.
I have worked in a wide variety of counselling settings including Guy's Hospital, Pentonville Prison, a bereavement centre and a university. I have worked with a wide range of people of different ages, social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
The focus of the work will be to explore the concerns and issues you may have about your life in a safe and supportive setting. The work will be collaborative and our aim will be to help you understand more about who you are and who you want to be. I aim to create a compassionate, safe and confidential environment in order to develop a working partnership.
While we each carry our own hopes and expectations of life, sometimes our lives can feel empty and meaningless, we seem to be drifting and disappointed. No one teaches us what we need to know to be at peace. Starting counselling and experiencing a therapeutic relationship could be the start of healing and growth and discovering a different approach to life.
Ring me now for a brief, no-obligation chat: 0780 7051162. If I don't answer please leave a message and I will return your call.
Issues often worked with
Types of therapy
Therapy offered
Client groups
Fees
Wimbledon, SW20:
pre 9.00am - negotiable per session
9.00am onwards - individuals: £90 per session; couples £110 per session
There is no obligation on you to commit to further sessions nor any commitment required to a minimum number of sessions.
Supervision Fees: £80 per 50 minute session.
I accept cash or cards at the end of each session.
Should you try therapy?
There's a lot that holds us back from trying therapy. There's the idea that you have to be a little mad or have some strange problem in order to go and see a therapist.
But therapy is for everyone because it entirely reasonable for a person to be anxious and confused by life, challenged by relationships, family life and the direction of your career. So really the only qualification for going to therapy is to be a normal human being.
There is also the worry about the strangeness of therapy, it will be you and a person you've never met to whom you're expected to divulge nothing less than your inner life. Why not talk to a friend - however, friends are not properly trained to listen, friends interrupt, and sometimes it's easier to tell someone who has no prior knowledge or expectations of you the big and important things about who you are. Also, therapists are the last people ever to judge: we view the concept of a normal human being as being far more expansive than that held by society at large. Therapists know how unusual and surprising people can be especially around sex and anxiety.
So many of our problems come down to not having enough insight into how our minds work. What we want, what we fear, why we act the way we do, and overwhelmed by certain feelings. The goal of therapy is self knowledge. By talking a lot to someone who listens very carefully over many weeks, you come to deeper insights into the mind you inhabit.
To get the most of therapy you need to approach sessions with honesty, openness and empathy. Every person is unique and the journey is different for each client. Therapy is not a quick fix and often requires time and commitment into the process in order to find answers into your problems.
Training and qualifications
My training is broadly based which means that I draw upon a range of different therapeutic models but is essentially focussed on the individual and his or her experiences of life. This means that I value your subjective experience and in our sessions the work will be tailored to your individual needs.
I hold a BA (Hons) in English Literature.
My initial psychotherapy training was at Birkbeck College (University of London) where I gained a Diploma in Psychoanalytic Psychology.
I subsequently gained a Masters Degree (MA) in Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling from Middlesex University through my studies at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling in London.
Verified professional membership
