Dr Stella Duffy
Approach and background
My approach to therapy is that it is a conversation between two people – you and me – about the things that really matter to you. While I will always endeavour to offer a warm and supportive space, I am also prepared to be challenging in encouraging you to tackle the trickier things as well as the simpler ones. I believe that therapy is a gift we can give ourselves, towards a more open and vital life.
My own experience of therapy is that it has been useful in addressing major issues at crucial points and, in less difficult times, it is a safe space to listen to myself, consider how and where I am now, and how else I might choose to be.
My background is in the arts, and I have a particular interest in supporting people to live their lives creatively. From an existential perspective, this might mean considering our choices more closely, looking at where we have become stuck in beliefs or the stories we tell ourselves, or using a confusing or upsetting time in life as a chance to take stock and make new choices that better suit who we are now and who we are becoming.
Training, qualifications, and experience
I am psychotherapist in private practice with a doctorate in Existential Psychotherapy. My doctoral research is in the embodied experience of postmenopause and I have a special interest in supporting people through major life transitions such as illness, in/fertility, menopause, and bereavement.
Alongside my private practice, I have worked in an NHS cancer support service with both patients and carers, hospice bereavement support, and low-cost community mental services.
I worked in the arts for many years as a writer and theatre-maker, supporting community-based creativity and engagement. A great deal of my work has been around inclusion and equalities, in wider terms and in LGBTQ+ issues. I have a passionate belief in both the creativity of every person and the value of supporting people to explore creative approaches to life’s dilemmas.
As a qualified yoga teacher and Focusing practitioner, I am interested in embodied approaches to therapeutic work, which I personally found useful in my recoveries from cancers and in living with the experience and effects of early medical menopause. I offer individual, relationship, and group therapy.
Relevant Qualifications
Doctorate in Existential Psychotherapy, the New School of Counselling and Psychotherapy/Middlesex University.
PGDip Existential Psychotherapy, the New School of Counselling and Psychotherapy/Middlesex University.
Certificate in Couples Therapy, The Existential Academy
Certificate in Focusing Skills, British Focusing Association
200-hour certified yoga teacher training, Yoga London.
I am registered as a full clinical psychotherapist with UKCP, a registered member of BACP, and a member of the Society for Existential Analysis.
I work in accordance with UKCP policies and Code of Ethics and Professional Practice.
Availability, fees, and contact details
I offer weekly individual and relationship therapy. All sessions are 50 minutes long.
I am available in-person and online.
In-person slots are on Tuesday afternoons and evenings at the Brixton Practice; please contact me for current availability.
I offer a half hour introductory session to see how we might work together.
For individual sessions I charge between £70-£100 and ask clients to suggest what they feel they can fairly afford, based on their income.
Relationship sessions are £95-£125, also based on income as above.
I have a number of low-cost spaces, for which I currently have a waiting list.
You can contact me by email info@stelladuffytherapy.co.uk, or read more about me and my work at stelladuffytherapy.co.uk.
