Adolescent and young adult service

We help people with

What we do

We help people between the ages of 14 and 25 who struggle with any emotional or relational aspect of being an adolescent or young adult.

We aim to understand what you as a young person or young adult are going through and help you to understand this better for yourself. If your parents are struggling as well, we can meet with them separately.

Different types of people see us, who all have a variety of problems and issues including relationships with their friends and family school or working life, depression, anxiety, self-harm or suicidal thoughts, problems related to self-esteem, eating difficulties, and experiences of abuse and trauma, including violence, family break-up, bereavement. 

Sometimes young people come to us with a clear-cut diagnosis (e.g. depression, anorexia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobia or post-traumatic stress disorder). But often the problem can also be more difficult to pin down. It may feel like there are many difficulties and anxieties that overlap and are harder to untangle. 

We draw on our knowledge of working with issues affecting this age group. Central to our work is the individual: your own experience of what it’s like being an adolescent or young adult, and the ways in which you understand what’s been troubling you. 

We offer different types of therapy but mainly concentrate on your emotional wellbeing to help understand how you think, feel and act while considering the influence of relationships, past and present. It also promotes greater self-awareness so that we might notice and feel more in control of the unhelpful ways we can find ourselves acting and feeling, often without even thinking.

What to expect

We initially offer a consultation that allows us to think with you about your needs within a psychoanalytic framework, which typically consists of a series of four meetings to help you to think about your difficulties and what therapy might be helpful in the long-term, if anything. During the consultation your therapist talks with you about the different types of therapy we offer and explains the benefits and downsides.

Occasionally, after the consultation we might refer you to another service. We would discuss this with you first. 

Sometimes it can feel frightening to start to talk about how you’re feeling and there might be a part of you that wants help but another that finds accepting it really difficult. We hope to help you get to a place where you can talk, if you want to. We understand for some people this might take some time.  

If you are feeling nervous, or anxious, or angry, or confused about coming to see us, it helps if you tell your therapist how you are feeling, even if it is something negative.