I am a qualified counsellor registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

How therapy can help

Therapy can assist in a variety of ways, from being a place to express feelings and thoughts in a judgment-free confidential space, to exploring deeply traumatic experiences with professional support.  It can be a form of personal development - an opportunity to increase your self-awareness, become more emotionally robust, learn more about your life story and develop your understanding of how you came to be who you are today.  Therapy can be a space where you process intense emotional experiences such as the death of a loved one, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, difficulties in relationships (romantic or platonic), issues of identity such as sexuality, ageing, culture and gender, work-related stress and anxiety or changes to health or employment circumstances.

My background

Prior to training in counselling and psychotherapy, I spent fifteen years as a lawyer specialising in court advocacy. I am familiar with the physical and emotional consequences of working in stressful environments, managing extreme emotions and complex relationships.  Being in the midst of such heightened emotions on a regular basis sparked my interest in psychology and psychotherapy and in turn I embarked on an intensive five-year training in gestalt counselling and psychotherapy.  For more information about me and the way I work, please visit my website at www.robertjdmarshall.wordpress.com. 

Where I work

I have rooms in central London at Staple Inn next to Chancery Lane tube station and also at The Gestalt Centre just north of St Pancras station.

How to get started

To have an initial discussion about starting therapy with me, please contact me by phone or email.  

What happens in the first session?

Each session lasts fifty minutes. In your first session, you and I will have an opportunity to discover more about each other and whether I am the right therapist for you right now.  I will ask you some basic questions about you, what brought you to therapy and what you hope to gain. There is no binding commitment to remain in therapy with me, but if you and I decide to continue, the next step is to mutually design a bespoke therapeutic environment, incorporating how you want to explore the issues you are bringing, at what pace, depth and for how long.