UKCP Psychotherapist · Therapeutic Coach
When the shouting, the worry or the co-parenting has worn you down, you do not need another parenting course. You need somewhere to think clearly, with a UKCP-registered psychotherapist who has sat with hundreds of families.
Planned support, not crisis care
Years of experience
None of this makes you a bad parent. It makes you a parent carrying a great deal without much support. That is exactly what this work is for.
Client examples on this page are anonymised or composite.
There is plenty of free parenting advice. What is harder to find is someone clinically trained to see what sits underneath the behaviour, for your child and for you, and regulated to work with it safely.
Most families arrive with one or two of these. The earlier we make sense of what is driving them, the less they set into the way the whole household runs. Here is where most parents start.
Defiance, tantrums and aggression that can leave parents feeling frustrated or even powerless. We look at what the behaviour is communicating and build practical, consistent responses that actually hold.
Emotional disconnection and miscommunication widen the gap over time and wear down trust. We work on repair, so communication and closeness can grow back.
Disagreements between partners or separated parents lead to inconsistent rules and added stress the children feel. We work towards steadier, shared boundaries, even when only one of you is in the room.
The relentless load of work, home and childcare leaves many parents emotionally drained. We make room for your own regulation, so support is not one more thing you have to carry alone.
Mood swings, rebellion and peer pressure make parenting teenagers particularly hard. We help you stay connected and set limits that still land during the adolescent years.
Sometimes a child’s difficulties sit alongside your own anxiety or low mood, or old family patterns resurfacing. As a psychotherapist I can hold both, or point you towards the right support.
Send a couple of lines about what is going on with your family. I will reply personally, usually within one working day.
This is regular, confidential space with a clinician who has spent 20 years with families, shaped around what your family actually needs. There is no worksheet and no certificate at the end.
Not generic advice. The specific moments that keep going wrong in your house, and what happens for everyone in them.
For your child and for you: stress, history, and the pattern you both fall into without meaning to.
Practical strategies you can use this week, reviewed together and adjusted, so support keeps pace with your family.
No packages to decode and no insurance panels. The first step is always a free call.
Starting from
£195
Studied CBT at King's College London
I am a UKCP-registered psychotherapist, and I have spent more than twenty years in NHS and private practice, a great deal of it with children, teenagers and families. I have worked in schools with children with neurodevelopmental conditions, in youth services with young people whose behaviour worried everyone around them, and in the NHS as a clinician and service manager.
I am also a father. My eldest son was diagnosed with autism when he was young, and plenty of people doubted him. He has since completed two Master’s degrees and now works alongside me. I know what it is to hold hope for your child when the professionals have run out of it.
Questions parents ask before getting in touch
It is usually for you, the parent. I work with parents and carers on the patterns at home, rather than seeing children directly for behavioural work. Much can change for a child when the adults around them feel steadier and more consistent. If your child needs their own therapy or a formal assessment, I will say so and point you to the right service.
Both. You will leave sessions with concrete strategies to try, around boundaries, communication and managing behaviour. Alongside that we look at what makes those strategies hard to keep up, so the change lasts rather than fading after a good week.
Yes. A great deal of co-parenting work is done with one parent. We focus on what is within your control: your responses, consistent boundaries across two homes where possible, and lowering the conflict the children are exposed to. You do not need the other parent in the room to make a real difference. If you are still together and want to work on the relationship itself, couples counselling can sit alongside this work.
Yes, by working with you. When a teenager has gone quiet, the most reliable route in is often through the parent. We work on how you stay connected, hold limits, and read what is behind the mood swings and withdrawal, so the door stays open even when they will not walk through it yet.
Many parents notice a shift within 6 to 12 sessions, though it depends on what you are bringing and how long it has been building. I review progress with you every few sessions, so the work keeps a clear shape rather than drifting open-ended. The pace and the depth are always your call.
No. I work privately rather than through insurance panels. You pay directly for each session or block, which keeps the work confidential and free of diagnosis-led restrictions.
My practice is planned support, not a crisis service. If you or your child are in danger right now, call 999, or the Samaritans free, 24/7, on 116 123. For under-18s, Papyrus HOPELINE247 is on 0800 068 4141. Once things are safe, I am here for the longer, steadier work.
In person at 96 Harley Street, in London’s established medical district, or at 335 City Road in Angel, a short walk from Angel station. Or online, wherever you are in the UK, with the same clinician either way.
Harley Street: 96 Harley Street, London W1G 7HY
London City Road: 335 City Rd, London EC1V 1LJ (Angel)
Online: Secure video sessions UK-wide and globally
American Academy of Pediatrics (2014). Bornstein, M. H. (2002), Handbook of Parenting. Cowan, P. A. and Cowan, C. P. (2002).
This page is for general information and does not constitute medical or legal advice, or a therapist-client relationship. Sabbir Ahmed is a UKCP-registered psychotherapist (Reg. No. 2011164676). If you are worried about a child's immediate safety, contact your GP, NHS 111, or emergency services.
