Chris Dudgeon, Trauma and Addiction Counselling, London and online

The effects of trauma are often the problems which clients initially seek help with

I work most often with:

Substance dependency.

Problematic ways of coping, such as pornography use, gambling or gaming.

Severe anxieties such as attacks of panic, intrusive thoughts and social anxiety.

Compulsive intimacy, emotional distance and other relational difficulties.

Persistent low mood and feelings of depression.

Low self-esteem, body image and distressed eating.

Other ways of thinking or behaving that have taken hold.

When the symptom is carrying something older

For some people, easing the symptom is enough, and that is real work in itself. For others, the anxiety or the addiction turns out to be carrying something older, something that took up residence long before the drinking, the scrolling or the sleepless nights began. Many describe years of holding everything together whilst feeling strangely far from themselves.

When you are ready, we can turn to what sits underneath. Not to dig for its own sake, but because a difficulty that is understood loosens its grip in a way that managing it never quite does.

This is often where questions of meaning, purpose and identity come in. There can be a sense that a life built simply to get through is not the same as a life you would choose.

Some people reach this in midlife, when the old ways of coping stop working. Others have felt it all along.

You do not need to know which kind of work you are here for. We can begin with what is pressing now, and let the deeper questions arrive in their own time.

What it is like to work with me

People often ask what I am like to sit with. I am warm, and I am direct. I will not rush you, and I will not fill a silence for the sake of it.

Much of the time we go slowly, at a pace your body can bear, because trauma does not respond well to being hurried.

People often say the hardest thing out loud, then look up to check my face. It is still just me, still listening. I am not easily shocked, and you will not have to make yourself smaller, or edit yourself, to be met here.

I will also, gently, challenge you where it helps, because being understood and being stretched are both part of how change happens. Mostly, though, this is a place to be honest without being filled with shame.

However you arrive, we begin there, and move at your pace

Finding some ground

Making sense of your story

When everything feels like too much, the first work is often simply to find some ground.

For this I draw on well-researched approaches, including cognitive, mindfulness-based and body-focused (somatic) work.

They can help you settle anxiety, steady a craving, or find some footing when distress feels overwhelming.

This is a starting point, not the whole of the work.

Making sense of your story

As things settle, we can start to make sense of how they came to be.

This is where narrative therapy comes in. It begins from the idea that you are the expert on your own life, not me.

Together we look at the stories you have come to live by, where they came from, and whether they still fit.

Often the problem you are wrestling with is not you; it is something that has taken up residence, and it can be faced.

Working gently with trauma

Going deeper, when you are ready

Trauma sits underneath a great deal of what brings people to me.

So it shapes how I work throughout, not only when we name it directly.

When you are ready, we can turn towards the harder memories, and the feelings tangled up with them. At a pace your body can bear.

This means paying as much attention to what happens below the neck as above it.

Going deeper, when you are ready

For some people the work goes further than easing the symptom.

We make room for the questions underneath, about meaning, identity and how you want to live.

This is deeper, more reflective work, less about fixing a problem than understanding what it has been asking of you.

It is never rushed, and it is not for everyone, but for those who want it, it is where the deepest change tends to happen.

Difference is welcome here

Trauma and distress can enter anyone's life. Some of us, though, carry more of it and find less support waiting, often because of who we are or how the world has treated us. In my room, you will not have to explain or defend your identity, your background or your relationships.

Whoever you are, you will be met with respect and without judgement. I stay aware of my own position and of the ways difference can play out in therapy, so that the work stays about you.

Lived experience

Difference is welcome here

Born and raised in Scotland, I am a gay man in my fifties, living and working in London. If it matters to you to work with someone who understands difference from the inside, that is part of what I bring.

Before I trained as a counsellor, I spent twenty years in professional services across the UK, Australia and Asia, which gives my practice both depth and a wide sense of the lives people lead.

Qualifications

Master of Counselling, Monash University.
Master of Narrative Therapy, University of Melbourne.
One-year Trauma Recovery training, the Dulwich Centre.
Currently in advanced training at Re-Vision, London, in transpersonal and depth-oriented therapy.

Registrations

Accredited registrant member (MNCPS Accred.) of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS). An Accredited Register overseen by the Professional Standards Authority. I work to the NCPS Code of Ethics.
I am also a registered member of Addiction Professionals, the UK body for the addictions field.

International

I hold further registrations in Australia and Hong Kong (PACFA, ACA and HKPCA), where I trained and practised for many years.

I practise at Homa, situated just a short walk from Kings Cross and Angel in North London, in the heart of Clerkenwell.

My fee is £85 for a 50-minute session. For clients who want to work in depth over the longer term, I offer a reduced rate. I accept Apple Pay, credit card and bank transfer. We can work short-term, long-term or open-ended, depending on what you need.

Homa, 26 Lloyd Baker Street, London, WC1X 9AW

By Tube: The practice is a short walk from Angel Underground and Kings Cross Station.

By Bus: The 30, 73, 205, 214, and 63 buses all stop within a short walk from the practice.

By Car: The Homa Practice is inside the congestion zone. There are some pay-by-phone parking bays. Most are restricted to 4 hours.

Visit Homa Website

Book a free 30 minute intro call

The call is not a session or an assessment. It is a chance to tell me a little about what is going on, to ask me anything you like, and to get a feel for whether we might work well together.

There is no obligation to book anything afterwards.

You do not need to explain why you are getting in touch, and anything you share is held in confidence

Tell me whether you would prefer email, WhatsApp, text or a phone call, and I will reply within 24 hours.

Email, WhatsApp or telephone

07903 650264 therapy@chrisdudgeon.co.uk

Break free from the shadow of trauma

Do you want to break free from addiction, anxiety or some other way that trauma is casting a shadow over your life?

The effects of trauma are often the problems which clients initially seek help with

Overcoming the effects of trauma is about making our body and our life a safe place to be

When the symptom is carrying something older

What it is like to work with me