Kate Nicholls Psychotherapy
Helping You Navigate Family Conflict, Difficult Relationships, and Estrangement
I'm Kate Nicholls, a psychotherapist specialising in the impact of complex family relationships. I help people make sense of painful family dynamics, recover from the effects of criticism, control and emotional manipulation, and reconnect with their own voice, values, and identity.
Do you feel stuck in long-standing negative family patterns?
Do you find yourself carefully choosing every word, over-explaining your decisions, or walking on eggshells to avoid conflict within your family?
Have you noticed that when you challenge family dynamics, or speak honestly about your experience, the people you love turn against you?
Over time, constantly managing the needs of those around you can leave you disconnected from yourself. Your own values, boundaries, hopes and sense of identity can become harder to recognise beneath the pressure to keep everyone else comfortable.
You may have spent years trying to keep the peace, only to find yourself questioning your own reality. After being told you're "too sensitive", "overreacting", or somehow "the problem", it can become difficult to trust your own thoughts, feelings and instincts.
This can leave you feeling torn between loyalty to your family and the need to protect your own wellbeing. The result is often a persistent sense of anxiety, self-doubt, inner conflict and emotional exhaustion.
I offer a space to untangle these dynamics, understand their impact, and reconnect with your own voice.
Together, we can clarify your boundaries, explore your options, and support choices that fit who you are today.
The aim is to help you navigate family relationships in ways that feel clearer, safer, and more empowering for you.
If this resonates with you, I offer a free 20-minute introductory consultation so we can explore how we might work together.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Kate
About Me
I specialise in working with people who are experiencing difficulties within their family relationships.
I hold an MSc (Distinction) in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy from Birkbeck College, the University of London, and a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology.
I am a fully clinically trained and insured Senior Accredited Psychodynamic Psychotherapist and Counsellor.
I am a member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists), the BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council), and the BCA (Birkbeck Counselling Association).
Blogs
How We'll Work Together
Sessions take place online via Zoom
and each session lasts 50 minutes
at the same time each week.
All you need is a quiet, safe space for our sessions.
Session Fee
Each session £150
Payment via bank transfer.
Professional Bodies, Training, and Regulations
I hold an MSc (Distinction) in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy from Birkbeck College, University of London, and a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology.
I am a fully clinically trained and insured Senior Accredited Psychodynamic Psychotherapist as a member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists).
I'm also registered with the BPC (British Psychoanalytic Council) and the BCA (Birkbeck Counselling Association).
All professional activities are governed exclusively by the applicable laws, regulations, and professional standards of the United Kingdom, notwithstanding the geographic location of service delivery or the client.
Client themes outlined in the blogs are an amalgamation of some of the typical situations clients may find themselves in. They are fictional and not based on actual client work. All client work is protected by client confidentiality.
How psychodynamic therapy works
Our earliest relationships shape the way we relate to others, and ourselves. When our early bonds were marked by criticism, control, neglect, addiction, often around family members struggling with their own mental health battles, a life-long sense of emotional confusion can arise, and often unconsciously drive a desire for work-obsession, success, and validation.
Together, we’ll explore how the past still lives in the present, the impact this is having on you personally and professionally, and how you can free yourself from it.
Working psychodynamically (bringing the unconscious into your awareness), our sessions will illuminate the patterns that drive your reactions and relationships. As you gain understanding, you’ll begin to feel more stable, self-assured, and emotionally grounded; enjoying life more, personally and professionally.
