Sonia is an adult psychoanalytic psychotherapist with 24 years post-qualifying experience treating adults with a range of emotional difficulties within the NHS and as a private practitioner.  She also has a background in working with children and their families within health, local authorities and court proceedings, including adoptions.

Sonia has coaching experience via her work in the banking sector, including Coutts, and as a senior manager within child and adolescent mental health services.

David is an expert educational consultant and published author who works with many of the country’s leading independent schools. He inspires excellence in leadership, teaching and learning. He also runs unique motivational study-skills workshops in schools for pupils and/or parents facing the demands of 11+, Common Entrance, Scholarships, GCSEs and A Levels.

His involvement with Rafan House allows him to work with individual families on a more personal basis, ensuring that the planning and experience of schooling is rewarding for all. In his current role, he has accumulated the experience of working as a consultant with over 140 independent schools. As a successful business owner for fourteen years, David understands the pressures of the wider commercial world within which families often find that demands, questions and difficulties can arise.

Having taken his MPhil at St John’s College, Cambridge and having sung as a Choral Scholar in St John’s College Choir, David later became Deputy Headmaster and Academic Director at the College Preparatory School, as well as Tutor to the world-famous St John’s College Choristers.

In these latter roles, working in the space between families and school, he closely supported all involved to ensure that the children flourished in the challenging mix of care, stimulation and demand that is life in a high-calibre boarding prep school. He also conducted independent school inspection as a team member of the independent schools’ inspection service, ISI.

Previously, he spent four years directing and publishing a national research study on examination grading standards and completed other research projects at the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate. His teaching career, which has covered all ages and phases, began in 1980.

David has run his own business, Futuremind, since 2001 and in addition to schools, he works in companies and NHS settings on leadership development, change management and, having begun his career in banking, on financial decision making.

Sue is a Tavistock-trained psychoanalytically-informed adult psychotherapist registered with both the BPC and the UKCP, with a background in integrative psychotherapy. She has worked in Adult NHS Mental Health Services including St. Bartholomew’s Hospital School of Psychological Medicine.  Her professional body memberships include: ADIP; UKCP Registered Adult Psychotherapist; BPC Registered Adult Psychotherapist; Member of the Tavistock Society of Psychotherapists; Advanced Dip. Special Needs, Dip. BDA; Associate in Parent Infant Psychotherapy (PIP) at the Anna Freud Centre

Her first career was in Secondary teaching and, after further training, she specialised in dyslexia and dyspraxia, later going on to become a Further Education Lecturer. She has long experience of assessing and teaching children, adolescents, and adults with dyslexia and dyspraxia, and was Deputy Head of a small dyslexia unit in North West London. Her particular interest lies in the emotional impact of learning and special needs.

Sue is a fully qualified Parent-Infant Psychotherapist, having trained at the Anna Freud Centre.  She worked therapeutically in a London NHS hospital Mother and Baby Inpatient Unit, and is a visiting lecturer at the Tavistock Centre.

She leads Parent-Infant Observation seminars on the UCL/Anna Freud Centre Masters Degree in Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology and also on the CYP-IAPT training.  In addition, she is an Infant Observation Seminar Leader on the Sino-British Project, a collaborative programme offering training in child and adolescent psychotherapy in China.

Poppy started working with individuals and couples experiencing relationship or sexual difficulties, following successful careers as an Investment Banker and Director of a digital television business. She gained her Master’s degree at the internationally renowned Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships (TCCR) in London.

She has worked in both NHS settings and private practice and within the context of Rafan House is available to work both with psychodynamic therapy and short-term behavioural therapy as appropriate. She also lectures to post-graduate students at TCCR, illuminating the theoretical and practical fundamentals of psychosexual therapy. She has a particular specialisation in internet addiction.

Margaret is a highly qualified registered child and adolescent psychotherapist with experience in the NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, as well as various education settings, including most recently a therapeutic school for children with social emotional and mental health difficulties.

As well as being committed to in-depth clinical work with individual children and parents, her interests include promoting psychoanalytic understanding in schools and therapeutic work with groups.

Margaret teaches on several clinical and non-clinical courses and supervises research doctorates. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Child Psychotherapy and book reviews editor.

She is a member of the Association of Child Psychotherapy.

Ines is experienced in working in private practice offering short to long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy to individuals.

She obtained her qualification in Clinical Psychology at the University Paris V Descartes-La Sorbonne in 2000 and is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist (CPsychol) registered with the British Psychological Society (BPS) and with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

She also has fifteen years of experience working with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, helping people with a broad range of psychological difficulties such as depression, anxiety, addiction, self-harm, childhood abuse, trauma, work related difficulties, loss, adjustment, past and present relationship problems, family, health and social difficulties.

In addition to her clinical experience, Ines has been a lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, at Salomons University and at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, as well as years of experience of supervising other clinical psychologists and other health care professionals in the NHS.

She has an interest in attachment and objects relation theory and has carried out research in the field of addiction and attachment theory.

Ines is also an accredited coach with the Academy of Executive Coaching (AOEC) and is a member of the British Psychological Society Special Group of Coaching Psychology (SGCP).

Robert is a Senior Member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation, a member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists, the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association and the British Psychoanalytic Council.

He teaches regularly on the BPF Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy clinical training and supervises intensive psychotherapy cases. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Child Psychotherapy.

Originally from Scotland, Robert Fleming consulted in South London before working in a Child Guidance clinic in the United States. He returned to the UK and trained as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Tavistock, and later as an Adult Psychotherapist at the British Psychotherapy Foundation.

Throughout his professional life he has had an interest in the care of children unable to live with their birth parents. He completed his doctoral research in this area.

Robert spent 28 years in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, most of it as a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist with South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. He now works independently with children, adolescents, adults and their families.

Sara is a child and adolescent psychoanalytical psychotherapist. She trained at the Tavistock Centre on the clinical doctorate programme. She is a member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and the Association of Dance Movement Psychotherapists.

Sara has considerable clinical experience with children and adolescents having worked in tier three (NHS) and tier four services (Inpatient hospital ward) and in private practice. She is an experienced supervisor, currently supervising individual professionals and groups. She is also a dance movement psychotherapist and has taught and supervised extensively at Goldsmiths University on the MA Dance Movement Psychotherapy Professional Training Programme.

Dr Amidon is a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist.  Over the past 20 years, she has worked as a clinical consultant to a number of residential therapeutic units, both for adolescent and primary aged children, as well as working as a clinician in a variety of settings including CAMHS and inpatient services.

She has also worked as an expert witness since 2001, with experience as a case consultant organising family assessments and regularly attending court.

Before training as a child psychotherapist she completed a PhD in Modern European History.

Dr Amidon is a Member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and the Tavistock Society of Psychotherapists.

Tara Harrison is an adult psychoanalytic psychotherapist.  She has studied at the University of London, the London Centre for Psychotherapy and the British Psychotherapy Foundation. She is a member of the British Psychoanalytic Council and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association.

Following her work in the NHS at a London hospital, she now works as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist and supervisor in private practice.  In addition to her patient work, she teaches and supervises at the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Training in Sofia, Bulgaria.  She enjoys working with translators to provide a mutual therapeutic environment.

Tara has an interest in writing and she presents papers at seminars and conferences, including the recent International Meltzer Conference. She contributed a chapter in the book ‘Doing things differently: The influence of Donald Meltzer on Psychoanalytic Theory and Practice (Tavistock Clinic Series)’. Tara regularly contributes to the psychoanalytic magazine New Reflections, sometimes reviewing operatic and theatrical productions from an analytic perspective as well as other analytic topics.

Sarah is an adult psychotherapist and has a wealth of experience having worked in private practice for many years and in various training and teaching institutions. She is a psychoanalytic psychotherapist member of the Severnside Institute for Psychotherapy and is registered with the British Psychoanalytic Council. She is a member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology.

She also has an interest in early development and has run Infant Observation seminars in higher education settings and for psychotherapy trainings, and has taught on Supervision trainings in London and Dublin.

Sarah previously trained and worked as an occupational therapist and manager within mental health NHS and social care settings, including in therapeutic community. She has also studied at the Institute of Group Analysis.

She is ordained and has worked for several Anglican dioceses, and for the Methodist Church, in the areas of discernment and assessment of vocation.

She is a Jungian analyst, training analyst and supervisor at the British Jungian Analytic Association, and Senior Member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation, where she trained and remains a member. She has an MSc in The Psychodynamics of Human Development from Birkbeck, University of London.

Hamish is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist who has been working with parents, carers, children and young people since 2009. Prior to entering independent practice in 2017, he held positions within specialist child and adolescent teams in Australia and in the UK.

Hamish has experience supporting children, young people and families with a wide range of mental health concerns including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress reactions, obsessions and compulsions, and interpersonal problems arising from early adversity or complex trauma. He also often works with young people who are struggling with their mental health in addition to having challenges arising from a neurodevelopmental condition such as ASC. In addition to his previous roles within child and adolescent mental health services, Hamish has worked in a service specialising in the treatment of post-traumatic stress and developmental trauma, a public adult mental health team, an organisation supporting refugees and asylum seekers, a telephone crisis line and a family support team.

When working with families, Hamish first seeks to develop a shared understanding of the concerns they bring to therapy, as well as agreeing on the goals and tasks of the work. In the context of a safe therapeutic relationship, children, young people and their families are able to reconnect with their own capacities and strengths, as well as make use of ideas, practices and skills from evidence-based treatments. Hamish’s aim is to help families create and sustain the conditions which allow children and young people to recover and thrive. To this end, while he often offers a confidential therapeutic space for young people, Hamish sees his role as involving parents and other supportive adults wherever possible.

Hamish draws on a range of psychotherapeutic models in his work with families, including Mentalization-Based Treatment, Attachment-Focussed Family Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma-Focussed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Non-Violent Resistance and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. He also has an interest in practices that integrate psychotherapy with contemporary knowledge about the brain.

Hamish is registered as a Clinical Psychologist with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (registration number PYL33168) and is a Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (member number 431819).

Ana practises psychoanalytic psychotherapy with individual adults, and she is registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy.

As a graduate psychologist, she began her professional life working with those experiencing severe mental health problems. She undertook further training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy which she completed in 2002. She ran a Therapeutic Community for individuals struggling with various forms of emotional distress for 15 years.

She has extensive experience in working with individuals who might have been hindered by past or present trauma, as well as those functioning well in their lives, who seek therapy as a means of self-development.

Steve is an experienced Child, Adolescent and Family Psychodynamic Psychotherapist. He qualified from the Tavistock and Portman in 2015.  He has extensive experience working in NHS CAMHS teams with a broad range of children and adolescents. He has a particular interest in working therapeutically with young people who have experienced a mental health crisis. Steve has an excellent reputation of working with adolescents who are reluctant to engage in therapeutic work. His warmth and compassion often make extremely difficult conversations more bearable.

Steve continues to work at a London NHS CAMHS crisis service alongside working with Rafan House.

In 2023 we are delighted that Steve will begin his Doctorate in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy & Clinical Practice with BPF & University of Exeter. 

Ben has some 10 years’ experience as a child & adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapist both in private practice and for the NHS. Ben works therapeutically with children and young people across the age span, from infancy to adolescence and young adulthood. For the NHS he has worked in specialist teams including an Under 5s & Parent Infant Relationship Team, Learning Disability and Neuro-Developmental Team in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Ben trained, and now teaches, at the Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Association (IPCAPA), and for the NHS he delivers training for early years practitioners. Ben is currently undertaking doctoral research about fathers and their children. Prior to training as a psychotherapist, Ben worked for the Children’s Commissioner for England, and with children and families within the community, including facilitating support groups for fathers, parents/carers of children with Autism Spectrum Condition and for children at the point of secondary school transition.

Ben is a trained Circle of Security Parenting facilitator, a member of the Association of Child Psychotherapists and the Association for Infant Mental Health.

Laura is an Adult Integrative Psychotherapist and a Clinical Psychologist  with over 20 years’ experience in offering psychological and therapeutic treatments for a wide range of emotional difficulties in a variety of clinical settings, including the NHS, residential care and private practice. Laura also has experience in working with children and adolescents and their families within mainstream and alternative Education provisions, and as a Clinical Supervisor for Psychotherapy Training institutions and in private practice.

Laura has been trained in several models of therapy and draws from the psychodynamic, the person-centred and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) approaches. Her integrative practice allows her to offer the type of intervention, or combination of interventions, that is most appropriate for the particular needs of each client.

Laura is a Member of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a Practitioner Clinical Psychologist.

I specialise in relationship and sex therapy for couples and individuals. I also work with individuals who are trying to get over a break up or have difficulties in forming or ending relationships. I offer an empathetic, safe, and professional environment within which we can work together to facilitate the potential for change in the relationship and work towards sexual health, happiness and well-being.

I am an experienced relationship and psychosexual therapist, having trained in various psychotherapy approaches (systemic, psychodynamic, CBT). I apply my knowledge and experience to tailor a unique intervention to each client to meet their specific needs. By combining elements drawn from different schools of psychological theory and research, I have a flexible and inclusive approach to treatment.

I have trained at the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships and I continued my professional development with Relate Institute (MA in Relationship Therapy, PGDip in Psychosexual Therapy). I am registered with BACP and COSRT.  I am also trained as a clinical supervisor with The Grove Practice.

Naomi is a Psychodynamic Psychotherapist and Psychosexual Therapist. She holds an MA in couple and individual psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy and a Diploma in psychosexual therapy. Naomi has undertaken specialist mentalisation-based therapy training to work with high-conflict couples. She completed her training at Tavistock Relationships – internationally renowned for its advanced practice, training and research, and an operational unit of the Tavistock Institute of Medical Psychology.

Naomi specialises in working with couples and individuals to offer support on matters including anxiety and depression, divorce and separation, infidelity, addiction, sexual difficulties, cross-cultural difficulties and poor communication, amongst other concerns. She provides an open-minded, confidential and safe environment for you to say what’s on your mind and explore an alternative way of understanding and communicating with each other.

Naomi is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) – the UK’s largest professional association for members of the counselling professions, and the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT).

Linda’s role is to be the nexus between educational establishments and Rafan House, and to advise on education choices.  She splits her time between Rafan House and being a writing adviser at one of the Cambridge University colleges, where she is a Fellow Commoner.  After reading English at Cambridge University, she became a teacher and has worked in international and British schools in France and the UK, gaining extensive experience of secondary and tertiary education.  Previously, she worked as an editor and has had her own work published.

Hadil Aloloum is a Systemic Psychotherapist who has been working therapeutically with people within the US and UK since 2002. She works with families, couples, children and individuals. Areas of expertise include family and relationship difficulties, mental health problems in children and adults such as depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, anger management and parenting.

Hadil is accredited with the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapy (UKCP) and is currently working within the National Health Service (NHS) in the Royal London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. She also works privately.

Trained at the Institute of Psychiatry, Hadil delivers evidence based practice as prescribed by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). Evidence based practice along with her warm interpersonal skills ensures clients receive a gentle, non judgmental service of a high clinical standard. Hadil is also trained in EMDR and is currently working on her doctorate at the Tavistock and Portman Clinic. Her research topic is exploring the social construction of mental distress within the Middle Eastern culture.

Hadil is bilingual and delivers therapy and consultation in both Arabic and English

Sabina is a child and adolescent psychotherapist who trained at the Tavistock Centre and has worked in both NHS and private practice settings.

She has extensive experience in working with children, young people and their families. In particular, she has worked with children and young adults living outside either their biological or birth family, which has brought her into contact with schools, colleges and other associated professionals.

Sabina also supervises other practitioners working with young people and facilitates discussion groups in the workplace for a range of practitioners, where the focus is on the state of mind of the young person. She also teaches on the Tavistock clinic’s MA course.

Maggie is a highly specialist systemic family and couples therapist. She has 20 years’ experience of working in both the NHS and voluntary sector. She is a lecturer and a supervisor in the family therapy department at the Tavistock. In addition, she runs a family therapy service in the voluntary sector for young people at risk of depression, self-harm and other difficulties associated with adolescence.

She previously worked at the Anna Freud Family Assessment Service writing in depth reports for children in care proceedings and appearing as an expert witness on behalf of the Centre.

Maggie has a specialist training in mentalisation based therapy with is an approach with helps with emotional dysregulation (for example family members becoming stuck in distressing patterns of anger and recrimination or of avoiding talking about the inevitable difficult feelings involved in parenting or long term relationships). The therapy promotes more considered and compassionate communication.

This is a very helpful model which she draws on in her work with families to help them through the challenges and stresses of separation.
Additionally, Maggie has a particular interest in working with LGBT young people and their families.