I am an Integrative Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists. I have spent most of my working life in the health and social care sector in therapeutic settings where mental health support played a significant part of my role. I have worked in a variety of settings.
I offer a warm, accepting, and confidential space to individuals wishing to explore therapy. We are all unique and respond to life’s challenges in different ways. Sometimes, when these challenges become too hard, we may turn to coping strategies that can be to the detriment of our own well-being. Even when we know this to be true, it can be tough breaking free of negative patterns of behaviour that essentially have been helping us to manage. However, I firmly believe that we possess both the inherent drive and the resources to find a way through these difficulties using alternative healthier strategies.
I understand the urgency of wanting to effect change sooner rather than later, and I commit to working with your immediate concerns and your longer-term goals in collaboration with you. If you have a specific challenge that you are seeking to resolve, fathom, or move on from, together we may decide to look at where and when the difficulty originated in order to better understand your emotional world and your thoughts and behaviours in the past as well as in the here and now. It can be of great value to dedicate some time to exploring your unique lived experience, I will support you on this journey.
I encourage self-acceptance, and self-care, as a foundation. Within the healing unit of the therapeutic relationship, I invite clients to take stock of their lives and look upon themselves with kindness. I offer a safe space where past and present experiences, and current concerns, can be expressed and explored with the aim of taking positive steps towards a happier future.
I have worked with clients living with grief, low mood, depression, addiction, eating disorders, anxiety, and survivors of sexual violence. I have also worked with clients with hidden disabilities, and physical disabilities, as well as have experience with clients living with the long-term fall-out of ADHD, and dyslexia in terms of disrupted education and unmet needs.
I offer short-term or longer-term therapy and work at your pace and with your agenda. My emphasis is on helping you to build resilience and structure, with the aim of bringing about lasting therapeutic change.
Additional areas of focus: Relationship issues, Trauma and abuse, Intimacy-related issues, Sleeping disorders, Parenting issues, Anger management, Self esteem, Career difficulties, Depression, Coping with life changes, Compassion fatigue, ADHD, Abandonment, Adoption and Foster Care, Aging and Geriatric Issues, Attachment issues, Autism and Asperger Syndrome, Blended Family Issues, Body image, Cancer, Caregiver issues and stress, Chronic pain illness and disability, Codependency, Commitment Issues, Communication problems, Control issues, Coping with Natural or Human-Caused Disaster, Divorce and separation, Domestic Violence, Drug and Alcohol Addiction, Eating and Food-Related Issues, Emptiness, Family of Origin Issues, Family Problems, Fatherhood Issues, Fertility Issues, Forgiveness, Guilt and shame, Hoarding, Hospice and End of Life Counseling, Immigration Issues, Impulsivity, Infidelity, Intellectual Disability, Isolation / loneliness, Jealousy, Life purpose, Midlife crisis, Money and financial issues, Narcissism, Obsessions, Compulsions, and OCD, Panic disorder and panic attacks, Post-traumatic stress, Pregnancy and childbirth, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Self-Harm, Self-love, Sexual Assault and Abuse, Social anxiety and phobia, Traumatic Brain Injury, Visually Impaired, Women's issues, Workplace issues, Young Adult Issues
Clinical approaches: Client-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy
BACP Therapist - Registered Member MBACP #398883
These quotes represent just a few of the many positive reviews that we have received for Lesley Papper. We don't pay anyone to provide their review and they are all made voluntarily. Some people's experience receiving therapy with BetterHelp might be different.
Lesley has been amazing, helping me get back confidence in who I am and be more compassionate with myself.
Written on Jun 07, 2024 after therapy with Lesley for 2 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, grief, and eating disorders
Lesley is not only supportive and kind but she also provides me with so many nuggets of advice. Talking with her has really helped me to understand myself and I truly value every session I have with her
Written on May 09, 2024 after therapy with Lesley for 3 months on issues concerning stress, anxiety, addictions, and family conflicts
So far Lesley has been more help than I could have wished for. I’ve made more progress with her than all my extensive therapy prior. She is sensitive but clear, supportive of any small changes but also encourages further action and positive direction going forward. Lesley is extremely thorough and analyses such a vast range of problems in a really succinct way. Couldn’t recommend enough.
Written on Jan 17, 2024 after therapy with Lesley for 2 weeks on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, addictions, relationship issues, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, intimacy-related issues, and compassion fatigue
Lesley is empathetic and caring and is excellent at remembering what we talk about from one week to the next . It has been really helpful to have someone to talk to to help clarify my thoughts.
Written on Jan 13, 2024 after therapy with Lesley for 1 month on issues concerning stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief, self esteem, and anger management
I trust Lesley and I feel safe when I talk to her — and that is the most important thing in a good therapy.
Written on Nov 01, 2023 after therapy with Lesley for 2 weeks on issues concerning stress, anxiety, family conflicts, and eating disorders
Lesley has a nurturing and humanistic approach to all of our discussions. She is incredibly understanding and reassuring, as well as an informative expert in her field. Anyone to have a discussion with Lesley will be extremely lucky!
Written on Jul 27, 2023 after therapy with Lesley for 2 weeks on issues concerning depression, stress, anxiety, family conflicts, trauma and abuse, grief, self esteem, career difficulties, and adhd