Home PractitionersLouise Wilson

Louise is a specialist Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with ten years’ experience of working as a counsellor and therapist in a wide range of settings including nurseries, schools, the NHS and for local authorities.

She has an MA in Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and is professionally registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).  She follows the Code of Conduct and Ethical Principles set out by UKCP and BACP.

Areas of work

Babies : Louise offers support to mothers/fathers and their babies around concerns including sleeping, feeding, toilet training and behavioural challenges.

Nursery and Primary-age Children (3-11 years) : Louise’s long experience of this age group has involved helping with communication difficulties, challenging behaviours at home or at school, unhappiness, school refusal, bedwetting and difficulty with friends.

Teenagers (12-18 years) : Louise has worked with the most troubled teenagers and can help with a variety of issues including: general stress and anxiety, exam stress, OCD, phobias, depression, social phobia, aggression, self-harm and sexuality/gender issues.

She also has experience across the age groups of helping with emotional and behavioural issues in children who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other conditions.  She provides support to parents, carers and teachers in living with and managing these.

Ways of Working:

Louise believes that the basis of the therapeutic relationship is warmth, empathy and trust.

Being an ‘Integrative’ therapist means that Louise brings several theoretical perspectives, rather than just one, to her understanding of what is going on for young people.  She has an in-depth knowledge of child development and behaviour and her main approach to working is based on Attachment Theory.  Her training also included psychiatry and neuroscience.

Being integrative also means that she can work in a variety of ways and tailors the type of therapy to the age and personality of the individual and their particular needs.  She uses counselling, art therapy and play therapy depending on the individual and how they are feeling at the time.  She believes that play is the language of young children and that the arts can offer a whole different dimension of expression for individuals of all ages when talking does not seem to be enough.

Experience:

As well as seeing young people as part of her private practice, Louise assesses and gives one-to-one therapy to some of the most challenged young people in other settings, including children and teenagers in the care system, as well as giving training and support to their foster carers and social workers.  She is also School Counsellor at an independent girls’ school near Bromley.

She has worked in an NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Team at South London and Maudsley Hospital Trust and extensively in schools and children’s centres across Inner London Boroughs, including Lambeth and Barking and Dagenham.

What Happens in Therapy?

Louise will offer an initial assessing consultation to you or you and your child or teenager together.  This will last for about half an hour, during which time Louise will work together with you to decide what you will need and will usually involve completing a short questionnaire.

Based on this consultation, Louise will usually offer a course of therapy sessions to your child/teenager, ranging from six sessions to something more long-term if desired and considered appropriate.  Occasionally Louise would recommend referring on to another professional.

Personal Information:

Louise had a previous career in arts and educational publishing.

She has always had a particular empathy with young people which led her towards her second career.  She is passionate about helping young people thrive in an increasingly challenging world and supporting their parents in doing this too.  She has a continued fascination for the way in which she sees therapy offer healing and transformation to the developing brain.

Whether it is an improved relationship between a mum and her baby, the calming of tantrums in a young child or helping a teenager to feel happier and more sociable, Louise says that she cannot think of a more rewarding job to do.

Beyond her work, Louise’s enthusiasms are the natural world and walking, singing, art, yoga and meditation and being with her family and friends.