Meet the Therapist: Holly Taylor

Holly Taylor is a therapist in Central London

What attracted you to become a therapist?

I was attracted to becoming a therapist when I had therapy myself in the early 2000s. I worked with a Jungian therapist who introduced me to the world of dreams and archetypes. I found it such a rich and illuminating world that I felt inspired by her.

Around the same time, I was working as a teacher with children in the care system and learning a lot about attachment from the clinical psychologist in that team. The combination of those experiences and my new learning sparked something in me. 

Where did you train? 

I trained initially at Goldsmiths one evening a week and then completed a Diploma in Counselling at the London Gestalt Centre. I returned two years later to complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Gestalt Therapy Theory and then completed a Masters in Advanced Clinical Practice at the Minster Centre.

The whole journey end to end took me 10 years but I feel glad of that. You can’t really rush the development needed in this field of work. 

Can you tell us about the type of therapy you practise?

I am an integrative psychotherapist but my ‘home’ is in Gestalt practice. I always find it hard to describe because for me it is more of an attitude than a set of skills or ideas. I chose it because I admired the clinical attitude of one of the first tutors I encountered in my certificate course. I followed her to her home institution and have never regretted that.

Gestalt practice puts ‘what is’ at the heart of the work. By just being curious and staying in contact with each other the work can be profoundly transformative. 

What do you specialise in working with?

I have developed some expertise in working with post and peri-natal anxiety and with parenting issues more broadly. I also find I have an interest in life’s transitions.

Most therapy seems to be about loss in one way or another and the work is to be able to be open to this. I am also a climate-aware therapist and have made a study of our psychology in relation to the threat of climate change in all our lives. 

What sort of people do you usually see?

I work with adults of all ages who bring along a great many of life’s varying challenges. I love this variety and the therapy I practise is adaptable to these. I always feel I work with individual people rather than solely with the ‘”issue”. 

Have you noticed any recent mental health trends or wider changes in attitude?

I consider the mental health challenges of climate breakdown likely to be a growing trend and rightly so. This is the biggest threat we face as a species and how can it not affect us? It is more than eco-anxiety in my view and is already showing itself through declining wellbeing and heightened anxiety. 

What do you like about being a therapist?

It is an enormous privilege to work at psychological depth with people. I am constantly learning and re-learning what it means to be human and this makes the work rewarding and fascinating. 

What is less pleasant?

Working in private practice I have few complaints and I have autonomy over how and where and when I work which makes me very lucky indeed.

When I have worked in organisations I would say that what is not so pleasant is not having the space to hold the emotional weight of the work because of the pressures involved and the need to see enough clients. It is a very different way of giving and receiving therapy.

How long have you been with Welldoing and what you think of us?

This is my second experience on Welldoing. I joined a few years ago but left to reduce the size of my practice in order to make room for study. I like the fresh look of the site and how it presents therapists to the users. 

What books have been important to you in terms of your professional and personal development? Do you ever recommend books to clients?

I rarely recommend books to clients unless they are trainees themselves perhaps. I do think Irving Yalom writes in a way that is interesting both to clients and therapists and is accessible and honest. There have been so many books that have formed my clinical thinking – too many to list here!

What you do for your own mental health? 

I was in therapy myself for 10 years and when I left I felt able to take with me so much from that experience. I can’t imagine my own life without that journey. Now I enjoy my work, family, being outside and reading more widely. 

You are a therapist in Central London. What can you share with us about seeing clients in this area?

I work in Angel and sometimes from home too. Angel is a busy centre with lots going on. It feels dynamic and easy for people to reach. 

What’s your consultation room like?

My room in Angel is quiet and calm in the attic of a lovely building. Clients say they like its feel. It is tucked away and comfortable and I have found more energy in myself since starting there. 

What do you wish people knew about therapy?

That needing or wanting therapy is not a sign of illness.

What did you learn about yourself in therapy?

I learnt that I had a lot to grieve for.