Tel : 01525 288 258 email : info@katherinekillick.co.uk
Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis
Welcome to my website. I am an experienced psychotherapist serving Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire and surrounding areas. My practice is based in the Greensand Ridge on the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, and is easy to reach from Junctions 12 and 13 of the M1, and the A5.
All my work begins with an assessment which enables me to think with a potential client about his or her inner and outer circumstances, and to determine the most appropriate way forward. This may lead to a decision not to engage in therapy at this time, or it may lead to a referral to a different form of therapy.
Examples of problems that my clients have worked on in therapy with me include:
- bereavement and loss
- recurrent difficulties in relationships
- identity problems
- anxiety
- depression
- low self-esteem
- borderline personality disorder
- narcissistic personality disorder
- eating disorders
- abuse (both perpetrators and victims)
- self-harm
- trauma
- psychosis
Katherine Killick Psychotherapist
I practise psychoanalytic psychotherapy and Jungian psychoanalysis with individual adults, and I am registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council. In conjunction with my clinical work, I offer assessments for psychotherapy and analysis, clinical supervision, and the other services described on the various pages of this site.
I began my professional life by training and working as an art therapist, and I am involved in the training and continuing professional development of practitioners in that field. I worked as an art therapist in the adult mental health services within the NHS for over 15 years (1979-1994), and developed specialised expertise in working with individuals with severe mental health problems. The art psychotherapy service that I developed and managed has been described in my published work (see 'Publications'), and I teach widely on the subject of working with psychotic and borderline psychotic states of mind.
I undertook further training in Jungian psychoanalysis with the Society of Analytical Psychology, qualifying as an analyst in 1998 and earning the status of Training Analyst in 2004. This means that I have undertaken the necessary professional development and training required to provide analysis to trainees of the Society. I have also earned the status of Training and Supervising Analyst at the British Jungian Analytic Association. I teach theoretical seminars at both of these organisations, and at the West Midlands Institute of Psychotherapy, on the specialised subject of working analytically with people in borderline psychotic and psychotic states of mind.
I have undertaken some training in the field of systemic family therapy, and I have completed a training as a facilitator of systemic family constellations. I am experienced at working as a member of a multidisciplinary clinical team. This additional experience helps me to assess relevant contextual issues, and the appropriateness of referring on to other agencies. I often work with patients who are in couple psychotherapy, family therapy, and some other forms of treatment alongside their individual psychotherapy or analysis.
A further dimension of my practice is my work for the Clergy Counselling Scheme provided by the Diocese of St Albans, which was set up to provide a confidential psychotherapeutic service to the clergy and others involved in Christian ministry within the Diocese.
I am
- a Training Analyst of the Society of Analytical Psychology
- a Training and Supervising Analyst of the British Jungian Analytic Association
- Registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council
- Member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology
Jungian Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy
The people with whom I work in psychotherapy and analysis are usually seeking psychological healing. People may be disabled by their problems, or functioning well in their lives. Some are seeking analysis as a journey of a spiritual nature, some as a means of self development, others as part of a training process. Many have been in counselling or psychotherapy before, and feel that there is further work to be done.
Examples of difficulties that I have treated analytically include: recurrent difficulties in relationships, identity problems, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, abuse of many kinds, eating disorders, self-harm, trauma of many kinds, and the psychoses. All my work begins with an assessment which enables me, and the prospective patient, to think together about the patient's inner and outer circumstances, and to determine the most appropriate way forward for the patient - which may mean a referral to a different form of therapy.
In my approach, the problem that troubles a person sufficiently to bring him or her to therapy, such as suicidal thinking and actions, self harming, anxiety states, panic attacks, addictions, compulsive behaviour, sexual perversions, disturbed eating patterns, shoplifting, and other destructive patterns, is thought about as a sign of an underlying disturbance. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis attend to the disturbance that underpins the symptomatic behaviour. The behaviours in themselves can be treated by other forms of therapy without attending to these unconscious patterns.
All my work begins with an assessment, the aim of which is to develop understanding of the issues that are bringing a person to consult me, to discern whether psychotherapy or analysis can be an appropriate approach, and if so, to think about what will be involved in working together. Sometimes the work of assessment is in itself sufficient to enable the person to move on in his or her life, and no further work is needed. Sometimes referral on to a different form of therapy, or a different therapist, is appropriate.
My approach to the patient aims to understand the trauma, or multiple traumas, underpinning the problems with which the individual struggles consciously on a day to day basis, and to enable this understanding to be accepted by, and integrated with, the patient's conscious sense of who he or she is as a person. Analyst and patient both commit to a relationship that remains consistent, and reliable, over the period of time that is needed.
The analytic relationship proceeds on the basis of meetings at a specified time or times, which take place between one and five times weekly. This relationship provides conditions within which the patient can discover the wounded areas of his or her psyche at his or her own pace, and share this journey with a person trained to be with his or her woundedness in a way that can lead to healing.
The experience of feeling understood by the analyst can in itself be deeply relieving to the patient who has often been feeling lonely, desperate, and overwhelmed. As insight and understanding increase, aspects of the patient's inner world that have been put out of awareness become more conscious, and can be integrated. This process strengthens the patient's sense of his or her wholeness as a person with feelings, thoughts, a mind, and a life of his or her own, and empowers him or her to live this to the full.
The coping strategies and defences that have enabled the patient to survive have often acquired a life of their own which interferes with the patient's ability to live his or her life to the full. They are ineviitably destabilised by the healing process. Also, the experience of feeling understood, however relieving, is usually accompanied by anxiety, and feelings of shame and guilt are common as the process begins to take effect. Accordingly, patients often 'feel worse' at times when the fundamental changes that can come about through analytic work are taking place.
Please look at my FAQ page for answers to questions that many people have asked about Jungian psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. You can find out more about the training that I have undertaken, and about Jungian psychoanalysis and psychotherapy, by looking at the Society of Analytical Psychology website, and about the broader field of the psychoanalytic psychotherapies by looking at the British Psychoanalytic Council website.
Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Q & A
Please click on the boxes below for answers to questions that I am frequently asked
How will talking about my problems to you change anything?
A lot more goes on in analysis and psychotherapy than 'talking about' problems. The analyst is trained to develop a relationship with the patient that enables the suffering underlying the patient's disturbance to be thought about, emotionally understood, and come to terms with, and this relationship is the medium for healing.
What is psychoanalytic psychotherapy?
Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a way of treating psychological disturbances as they present themselves in the 'here and now' of the relationship between patient and therapist. The British Psychoanalytic Council website provides information about the nature of psychoanalytic psychotherapy in general. Anxieties, defences, compulsions, and the suffering that underpins them, inevitably emerge into the relationship with the therapist, and become available to understanding. Understanding enables integration of aspects of the self that are hidden from awareness because they are felt to be shameful or otherwise 'bad'.
What is analysis?
Analysis is a particular form of psychotherapy that usually refers to a relationship of sufficient depth and intensity to enable regression to the deepest levels of the psyche to take place. It usually involves a long term commitment by both patient and analyst to sessions at a frequency of 3 to 5 times per week. Please look at the websites of the British Psychoanalytic Council where psychoanalysis in general is explained, and the Society of Analytical Psychology, where Jungian psychoanalysis in particular is explained.
What does Jungian mean?
There are different schools of psychotherapy and analysis. Please look at the Society of Analytical Psychology website for further information about the particular nature of Jungian analysis and psychotherapy, and about the nature of the training that I have undertaken. My own view of what is particular to Jungian psychology is that it takes account of a spiritual dimension of the psyche.
I'm not well educated and I have trouble with expressing myself in words
That doesn't matter. Analysis is not an intellectual activity. It does take courage to be honest with yourself and with your analyst, and a fair bit of motivation to commit to and stay with the process.
I know my problems are caused by sexual abuse in my childhood. What good will raking up the past do? I need to put it out of my mind, find a positive attitude and move on
Analysis is for people who are unable to move on, and whose efforts to put their experiences out of their minds have failed, or caused more problems. If you have found a satisfactory understanding of your difficulties, and if you can move on, it makes no sense for you to seek therapy with an analyst. Analysis is about meeting the unkown, and unknowable, dimensions of what is going on in the here and now of the relationship in the consulting room, and learning from this experience.
I know my parents did their best for me. I don’t want to blame them for my problems.
Blaming – whether this takes the form of self blame or of blaming others, is usually a sign that something painful and distressing has not been sufficiently understood, and come to terms with. The traumas that can emerge in psychotherapy and analysis may have occurred generations back, and understanding this can be helpful to patients struggling with the consequences in the here and now.
What happens in sessions?
Sessions last for 50 minutes during which you are asked to try to say whatever comes to your mind, without editing or interference, however 'socially unacceptable', including your feelings and fantasies about the analyst. You may sit on a chair, where you can see the analyst, or lie on a couch next to the analyst, in order to feel able to speak freely. You may bring drawings, and other objects of significance, into sessions. You can expect your analyst to behave in ways that are not usual in social situations, for example by discouraging physical contact, by sometimes not answering questions directly, and by refraining from offering sympathy and reassurance. This is because she is attending to unconscious communications as well as those that are more conscious.
I never have dreams. Does that matter?
Part of the work of analysis is helping the patient to learn the language of their personal unconscious, as it is revealed in dreams and other material. Dreams can help the work, but are not essential. What matters is that you try to report,as faithfully as possible, what you are experiencing in the here and now of the session, whatever that may be.
How much does it cost?
Session fees are reviewed annually in March, and any changes announced in time for changes on 1 May. My fee scale for 2022/23 is £70 per session for once and twice weekly work, and £65 per session for three, four and five times weekly work.
Why would I come to you? There are so many therapists out there, I am confused...
The decision about what therapy, or therapist, will best 'fit' your needs and your circumstances needs to be made with great care. My work begins with an assessment which will establish whether my services are appropriate for you at this point in time, or not. This could take one or more sessions. An understanding of your circumstances and difficulties will emerge, and together we will think about the best way forward for you.
Why should I trust you? You could be making me depend on you so that you can exploit me financially
There is no requirement that you trust your analyst, who is trained to work with people who are profoundly mistrustful. The more you can share your fears and worries about the process, the more the analyst can help you to think about them. The fact that your analyst is bound by strict codes of ethics that prohibit all forms of exploitation and abuse of patients can inspire confidence in the process.
What if I can't come to a session, if I am ill, or on holiday?
When arrangements for the work are agreed, these include fixed times for your sessions. This space is then yours until the arrangements change, and has to be paid for whether you attend or not, regardless of circumstances. You do not pay when I am away, and I notify you of my absences as far in advance as possible to enable you to take account of these when making your own plans.
I dont understand why analysts see people more than once a week
I see people at frequencies of 1 to 5 times weekly. The arrangements for each person's therapy are made on an individual basis, and can adapt as the work progresses, and as the life circumstances of the patient change. Frequent sessions enable the analytic work to become a process that continues throughout the week because the patient can experience the analyst as ‘being there’ for him or her in an ongoing and dependable way. This security allows deep feelings, unconscious material, and problematic patterns of relating to emerge and to be attended to in ways that are not possible when the patient is ‘left alone with it all’ for 6 days out of 7.
When will I feel better?
Many patients come to therapy wanting to feel better, and this can be part of the problem. The work aims to help the patient to be more whole, to be more fully him-or her-self, to know his or her own mind, and to feel empowered to make changes that he or she wants in his or her life. This is not necessarily pleasurable or enjoyable, although it is usually profoundly satisfying. The process of healing can be disturbing and upsetting at times, and it is important to be aware of this.
How does this kind of therapy end?
People often fear that this work can be endless, and it can take years for the fundamental changes that are possible in analytic work to become established in the patient's mind. When the presence of the analyst is no longer needed to help the patient to maintain the work of the therapy, it is usually apparent to both analyst and patient that it is time for the work to end, and a date for ending is agreed, and worked toward.
Supervision
I have worked as a clinical supervisor since 1994, when I began to supervise the work of art therapists, both individually and in groups. Since then I have supervised the work of psychodynamic counsellors, psychoanalytic psychotherapists, and people in the process of training as psychoanalytic psychotherapists and Jungian analysts. I earned Training Analyst and Supervisor status with the British Jungian Analytic Association in 2011.
I welcome enquiries about supervision from psychodynamic counsellors, arts psychotherapists, psychotherapists and analysts.