Dr Elena Xenophontos

I am a qualified Clinical Psychologist with 15 years of experience working in mental health services both in the NHS and privately. 

I remember growing up, I loved the stories my grandmother would share with me, she always had a story to share, whilst all her ‘teachable’ moments were through stories.  

As an adult and a professional psychologist, I’m still interested in people’s stories, what makes people choose to share some stories and not others, as well as the power these narratives have on our lives. Narratives are fundamental in therapy, with the core principle of therapy being to support people to re-author some of them by identifying their strengths, values, and principles.

At the core of my practice is the recognition that the context in which we live can be traumatising and the systems we operate in can also be contributing to the difficulties people are experiencing such as experiences of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, culture, religion, sexuality, etc. 

I can offer exploratory therapy, based on Relational, Psychodynamic, and Attachment-based principles as well as present-focused approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. 

I have also trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing) therapy and I’m currently working towards a practitioner's accreditation. EMDR is a type of psychotherapy that aims to help people reduce the distress they are experiencing which is linked to some of their past experiences. It was initially developed to help people with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but more recently it has been used with a variety of presentations such as Anxiety, Depression, Interpersonal Difficulties, OCD, Substance Misuse, Bereavement, etc. 

Outside of work, I love hiking and at the moment I'm preparing to hike to Machu Pichu next year. I am interested in Arts and Literature but I'm neither an artist nor a writer. I'm a keen learner and from September I will embark on a Group Analytic Training and hopefully, I will finally learn how to play the flute. If you see me around, I’m probably distracted by nature, listening to the birds or smelling flowers. 

I offer therapy to adults, in English and Greek.