John McKeown

Features

Description

England
John McKeown

I offer individual and group psychotherapy and counselling in central and west London, and a consultancy service for designing and implementing addiction programmes. I also provide training and education for young people in the area of addictions, drug and alcohol awareness, health and self-care.

Qualifications

I have a diploma in Addictions Counselling, and a clinical psychotherapy diploma in Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT), both from Guy's, King's and St Thomas' United Medical and Dental Schools, London. I'm registered with the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapists.

Experience

I began working in the counselling field in 1986 with young homeless people. I then worked with ex-offenders, followed by a job in a drug rehabilitation programme in London. In 1990 I spent a year training in-house to specialise in addictions counselling, which includes group therapy, at Clouds House treatment and training centre in Wiltshire.

From 1994 I was clinical manager for the charity RAPt, setting up and running addiction treatment programmes in five prisons, including HMPs Wandsworth and Pentonville. From 1998 I worked at the Priory Hospital Roehampton, London, the Priory North London, and also set up in private practice.

Since 2001 I've worked as a consultant, setting up addictions treatment programmes in London and Liverpool for the Chemical Dependency Centre (CDC), a London-based addictions charity, and the Bridge House Project in Liverpool.

My current work includes providing educational lectures and seminars for Premiership youth academies, group therapy, private clinical practice and I've also recently co-written the self-help book Being Gazza with Paul Gascoigne

Approach

I usually use what's known as 'eclectic' therapy, which means that according to what is judged as applicable for the particular client, the therapist draws on all their training, techniques and experience while tailoring the sessions around the client, the timeframe available, and the particular problems presenting.

Client-Centred Counselling

My counselling approach is 'client-centred', also called 'Rogerian' or 'person-centred', and is based on the assumption that an individual seeking help can develop a relationship with their counsellor that allows the free expression of emotions. This enables the client to come to terms with the negative feelings that may have caused emotional problems, and to develop inner resources. The objective is for the client to perceive themselves as a person with the power and freedom to change, rather than as an object.

Cognitive Analytic Therapy

My psychotherapy training is in Cognitive Analytic Therapy, which is a time-limited integrative therapy focusing on discovering how problems have evolved and how the procedures devised to cope with them may be ineffective. It is designed to enable clients to gain an understanding of how the difficulties they experience may be made worse by their habitual coping mechanisms. Problems are understood in the light of clients' personal histories and life experiences. The focus is on recognising how these coping procedures originated and how they can be adapted and improved. The work is active and shared. Diagrams and written outlines are worked out together to help recognise, challenge and revise old patterns that do not work well. Then, mobilising the clients' own strengths and resources, plans are developed to bring about change.

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