Dr Helen Damon

• "[One] who has a why to live for can withstand almost any how" - Friedrich Nietzsche
• "Find out who you are and do it on purpose" - Dolly Parton
• "You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs" - French proverb

Above all else, I’m interested in what it means to be human, and in the uniqueness and complexity of people’s inner worlds. This interest has been the common thread running through my degrees in Classics and Philosophy, Psychology, Play Therapy, and Counselling Psychology. I’m drawn to knowing people at the depth that the therapeutic relationship makes possible and supporting them to navigate the big questions and challenges we face as humans and to discover what it would mean for them to live authentically and well. Working with people in this way is profoundly authentic and meaningful for me.

Building a positive relationship with yourself

Do you feel, or have you been told, that you’re somehow unacceptable or not living as you “should”? Are you a “people-pleaser” who fears others’ judgement? Perhaps you’ve experienced criticism, doubt, or disapproval that’s left you feeling guilty, ashamed, or disconnected from parts of yourself. 

We can work together to identify and challenge critical thoughts and feelings that don’t serve you. I’ll support you to recognise, express, and assert your own thoughts, feelings, needs, and boundaries. We can cultivate an internal sense of your inherent worth, enabling you to treat yourself with compassion and respect.

Clarifying your identity and values and living more authentically and meaningfully

Are you questioning who you are, what matters to you, or what gives your life meaning? Perhaps you’re feeling stuck or unfulfilled, or living at odds with your values. 

I’ll support you to identify your core personal values and challenge inherited values that don’t serve you. We’ll use these values to make sense of feelings of stuckness, meaninglessness, and conflict, and to guide your decisions and actions.

Navigating loss, change, and big decisions

Have you experienced, or are you anticipating, a significant loss, change, or decision? Perhaps someone in your life has died, or you’re contemplating the meaning of life in relation to death. Perhaps you’re navigating a change in your relationship status or career, wondering or worried about the next stage of your life, or at a crossroads and uncertain how to proceed. 

You can speak freely about your experience with me. We’ll take time to honour its significance and understand how it’s affecting you and your sense of self. I’ll support you to disentangle yourself from external expectations and narratives that don’t serve you and identify how to live in relation to this experience.  

A relationship that helps you grow

Much like plants, people have an inherent capacity for authentic growth, given the right conditions. My role is to create the relational conditions that facilitate this growth.

Therapists often present themselves as either warm and validating or direct and challenging. I’m both, because both are necessary: constructive challenge enables meaningful change, and relational safety creates the conditions that make change possible – the safety net that enables the leap.

I’ll understand and value you as you are and encourage you to express yourself fully and freely. I’ll regularly check in with you and welcome your feedback about how you’re experiencing our work.

I’ll also actively raise thoughts, questions, interpretations and different perspectives about the topics you bring.

I’m not a “blank slate” sort of therapist: I’ll engage actively in our work and use imagery, metaphor and humour where appropriate to express myself clearly and help us develop new ways of understanding your experiences.

How will we work together?

We’ll work collaboratively, engaging in open and exploratory discussion in response to the topics you raise. We’ll follow and examine the thoughts, feelings and memories that emerge for you and identify links and patterns between them.

Together, we’ll develop a deep understanding of the roots of your experience, and how your past echoes in your present and may limit your future. Equipped with this understanding, we’ll identify positive changes for you to make.

Increasing your capacity, not your dependence

The purpose of our work isn’t confined to what happens in the room. Rather, it’s to enable you to become your own therapist—to apply the insight, skills, confidence and capacity you develop through our work throughout the rest of your life, enabling you to attune to, support and direct yourself.

I may be the right therapist for you if you want to:

• Develop a deep understanding of yourself and the roots of your current experiences, rather than simply managing symptoms;
• Engage with important topics you’ve previously avoided;
• Identify and challenge ways of thinking and being that no longer serve you;
• Identify what genuinely matters to you and make meaningful changes in your life.

I invite you to bring curiosity, openness, and readiness to engage actively in our work together.

Everyone is welcome!

I value the natural diversity of human identities and experiences.

Everyone deserves to be met with openness and respect and to feel free to be themselves.

I invite you to be yourself and will welcome you as you are. I am affirming of gender, sexuality, and relationship diversity (GSRD), including LGBTQIA+ identities and consensual/ethical non-monogamous and polyamorous relationships.

Equally, I recognise that our capacity to be ourselves is shaped and often restricted by others’ reactions to us and wider sociocultural norms and narratives, which we may have internalised.

I won’t assume the place of any aspect of your identity in relation to our work. Rather, I’ll follow your lead in exploring what feels important to you.

How long will we work together?

You can work with me for as long as feels helpful for you. Most people choose to work with me for at least three months, up to a year or more. Therapy is an investment in yourself and an act of self-care, so please take all the time you need.

What’s my next step?

Please complete the initial enquiry form on my website (https://www.drhelendamon.com/contact) or email me ([email protected]) if you have any questions. We can then book a free Zoom call, lasting up to 50 minutes, to decide whether to book a first therapy session. I look forward to hearing from you!

Deep teal