Who are we?

Alex is a Principal Clinical Psychologist based in North London. He has over 20 years of experience working in various mental health settings in the NHS, specialising in working with adult clients with longstanding and complex difficulties. His core therapeutic approaches are Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and he was trained and supervised in RO DBT in 2011 by Professor Lynch when he was involved as a research therapist on the original RO DBT trial in the UK. Learning more about emotional overcontrol has helped him to transform his own practice by noticing how the core difficulties were not being addressed using standard therapies, and therefore has been able to help his clients move closer towards the life that they want for themselves. 

Alongside his clinical practice Alex has supervised doctoral research into aspects of overcontrol and has delivered introductory training sessions in RO DBT to various audiences across the UK and internationally. Alongside his role in the NHS and as an academic at University College London, Alex runs a private practice largely focussing on delivering RO DBT in person and online to clients who are struggling with various aspects of their life driven by excessive emotional overcontrol. 

Helen is a highly experienced Existential Psychotherapist  and Behaviour Therapist for individuals, couples and those in non-normative relationships. Her experience comes from working in five different therapy settings: a music and dance conservatoire, NHS, women’s prison, private hospital and private practice. She developed a speciality in working with complex clients presenting with enduring, problematic personality styles while working at HMP Holloway where she was DBT Team Lead employed by CNWL NHS Trust. At the same time Helen was DBT Lead at Priory Hospital North London, and continued to develop her private practice Stimmung. Helen completed intensive training in RO DBT with Professor Tom Lynch, and started delivering the treatment at Stimmung with Alex in 2016. Helen is affirmative with Gender, Sexual and Relationship Diversity (GSRD), unconventional lifestyles and relationships, and neurodiversity in adults and teenagers, especially ADHD. She delivers individual RO DBT-informed therapy to adolescents. Helen's former career as a music producer stimulated a focus in working therapeutically with musicians and creative people. Her specialist Stimmung Therapy Programme is endorsed by the British Association of Performance Arts Medicine (BAPAM), the Royal Society for Musicians (RSM) and the Independent Society for Musicians (ISM).

Ian is a Consultant Clinical and Forensic Psychologist who has worked within psychological settings for over twenty years.  His previous practice routinely included assessments, interventions and additional consultative roles with a range of clients and using a range of treatment models.  He has received specific training in, and implemented, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Group Analytic Psychotherapy, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT).  However, having primarily been based in large institutions, Ian set up his own psychology practice with the aim of offering something to the wider community, on a more personal level, and particularly to those who may not be feeling quite as positive as their outside appearance might suggest.  Ian therefore aims to help those people who feel disconnected or isolated, even when they are around lots of people; he hopes to help people to develop fulfilling relationships and to interact more effectively; and he wants to help people to adapt to the ever-changing, unpredictable world that we live in.  In addition to providing treatment, his specialist interest in RO DBT has led to him delivering a number of workshops and training events regarding disorders of overcontrol, the differentiation of overcontrol from undercontrol, and the implementation of RO DBT itself.