Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in London

  Psychotherapy that helps you move forward

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There are times when life becomes difficult in ways that are hard to understand or change.

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You may be struggling with anxiety, depression, dissatisfaction or difficulties in your relationships. You may find yourself repeating familiar patterns, reacting to situations in ways you would prefer not to, or feeling that you know what you want to change but somehow cannot make it happen.

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Sometimes we spend considerable energy trying to control our thoughts and feelings, avoid uncomfortable situations or make sense of why we feel the way we do. Yet, despite our best efforts, the same difficulties can persist.

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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) offers a different way of approaching these difficulties.

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Rather than trying to eliminate every uncomfortable thought or feeling, ACT helps you develop a different relationship with your inner experience, so that it has less influence over how you live your life.​​

The aim is not to change who you are, but to help you find greater freedom in how you respond to the situations you face.

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Understanding what keeps us stuck​

There are many reasons why we can find ourselves struggling.

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Our experiences, relationships and expectations can shape the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Over time, we may develop familiar ways of responding to anxiety, disappointment, uncertainty or conflict.

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These responses may once have served a purpose. But sometimes they begin to restrict our lives.

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We may avoid situations that make us anxious, become caught up in self-critical thoughts, struggle with uncertainty or find ourselves repeating patterns in our relationships.

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We can come to believe that we must first feel differently before we can do something differently. We wait for the anxiety to disappear, for confidence to arrive or for uncertainty to resolve itself.

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ACT explores another possibility: that we can learn to make meaningful choices even when difficult thoughts and feelings are present.

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Through therapy, we can begin to recognise the patterns that keep us stuck and develop greater flexibility in how we respond to them.

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How ACT can help​

I work with adults experiencing difficulties in different areas of their lives, including:

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Anxiety and worry

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When anxious thoughts, anticipation or fear begin to influence your decisions and restrict what you feel able to do.

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Depression and low mood

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When life feels difficult, motivation is reduced, or you find yourself withdrawing from activities and relationships that matter to you.

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Work-related stress

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When professional responsibilities, expectations or concerns about performance become difficult to manage.

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Relationship difficulties

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When familiar reactions, conflict or uncertainty affect the way you relate to partners, family members, friends or colleagues.

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Feeling stuck or dissatisfied

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When you recognise that something in your life needs to change but find it difficult to identify a way forward.

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Difficult transitions

When changes in work, relationships, family circumstances or other aspects of life leave you feeling uncertain about what comes next.

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You do not need to have a clear explanation of your difficulties before beginning therapy. We can use our conversations to understand what is happening and what you would like to be different.

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What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?​

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a psychological approach that helps people develop greater flexibility in responding to difficult thoughts, emotions and circumstances.

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An important part of ACT is recognising that trying to control or avoid unwanted thoughts and feelings can sometimes make our lives smaller. The more we struggle to get rid of anxiety, for example, the more attention and energy it can demand.

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ACT does not ask you to like difficult experiences or simply put up with them. Instead, it helps you learn to make room for what you cannot immediately change while becoming more deliberate about what you do next.

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The work involves learning to recognise thoughts without automatically treating them as facts, making space for uncomfortable emotions, clarifying what matters to you and taking practical steps in that direction.

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This may involve doing something you have been avoiding, approaching a relationship differently, changing how you respond to self-criticism or making a decision that reflects your priorities rather than your fears.

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The purpose is not to achieve a life without difficulty. It is to develop the ability to live more fully, even when life is difficult.

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A personal approach to therapy​

I do not believe that psychological difficulties can always be understood through a set of techniques or a predetermined programme.

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Each person brings a different history, a different set of circumstances and a different understanding of what is troubling them.

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My approach combines the principles of ACT with an interest in understanding the individual behind the problem. We consider not only what you would like to change, but also the patterns of thinking, feeling and responding that may be making change difficult.

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The work is collaborative. We explore what is happening in your life, identify what matters to you and consider how you might respond differently to the situations you face.

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ACT is a practical approach, but it is not simply a collection of coping strategies. It involves developing a different way of relating to your inner experience and using that flexibility to make choices that are more consistent with the life you want to lead.

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Progress is not measured solely by whether anxiety or sadness disappears. It can also be seen in the things you become able to do, the relationships you develop, the situations you face and the choices you make.

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About Barry Florin​

I have been practising as a psychotherapist for 17 years.

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My professional training includes psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the William Alanson White Institute in New York, alongside training in other approaches to psychological change.

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My work is informed by an interest in the relationship between our thoughts, emotions, experiences and behaviour. I believe that understanding our difficulties is important, but that understanding alone does not always make it easier to respond differently.

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ACT provides a way of translating that understanding into action: learning to respond more flexibly to difficult experiences and to make choices that reflect what matters to us.

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Having lived and worked internationally, I also have considerable familiarity with the experiences of people from different cultural backgrounds and those navigating the demands of professional and personal life in London.

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Therapy Sessions

I offer both online and face-to-face therapy for adults who would like help with anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, work-related stress or a sense of being stuck.

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Online sessions provide an opportunity to work together from the privacy of your own surroundings, or at my garden office in Mill Hill.

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Sessions last 50 minutes. The frequency and likely duration of therapy can be discussed together, depending on your circumstances and what you hope to achieve.

 

Fees and initial consultation

Sessions are £75 for 50 minutes.

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I offer a free 20-minute online consultation. This gives us an opportunity to discuss what has brought you to therapy, what you are looking for and whether my approach seems appropriate for you.

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There is no need to have everything worked out beforehand. The first conversation is simply an opportunity to begin.

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Beginning therapy

Deciding to start therapy is a personal decision.

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You may have been struggling for some time, or you may have reached a point where you feel ready to approach things differently.

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If you would like to explore whether ACT might be helpful, I invite you to arrange a free 20-minute online consultation.

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Contact Barry Florin to arrange your initial consultation.