Attachment-Based Psychotherapy in Central London
Exploring your emotions and attachment patterns
within a calm, confidential therapeutic space.
Damien Kelly, Attachment-Based Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, MBACP
Psychotherapy offers a calm, confidential space to explore your emotional world. Together we look at your feelings, relationships and patterns to make sense of longstanding struggles and develop a clearer understanding of yourself.
My work is rooted in attachment theory and psychoanalytic ideas, and unfolds at your pace within a consistent, supportive therapeutic relationship.
I offer sessions from my practices in:
Marlybone / Islington / King's Cross
About Psychotherapy
Therapy provides time to speak about whatever feels painful, confusing or difficult.
By paying close attention to your emotions and relational patterns, we can begin to understand how earlier experiences shape how you feel and connect today.
This insight can ease emotional distress and open up new ways of relating to yourself and others.
About Me & My Approach
I offer a warm, steady presence where your story can be explored with care and curiosity. My training at the Bowlby Centre emphasised how early relationships shape emotional life and the capacity to feel safe. The therapeutic relationship becomes a reliable place for deeper feelings and patterns to be understood.
I also draw on psychoanalytic thinking to explore the parts of your inner world that may be harder to articulate.
Across my three practice locations, I aim to provide a thoughtful, consistent space for reflection, healing and growth.
Areas of Interest and Specialities
Many people I work with carry longstanding emotional pain, complicated relationship patterns or the impact of difficult early experiences. These struggles may show up as shame, anxiety, intense emotions, feelings of disconnection or relational dynamics that repeat.
I have particular experience supporting people who have lived through trauma, including childhood sexual abuse, as well as those who have felt misunderstood or unsupported in mental health services. I also work with individuals who identify with traits often associated with EUPD or who have grown up in environments where emotional needs were overlooked.
We take time to understand these experiences at a pace that feels safe, allowing new possibilities for emotional clarity and connection to develop.
Background
My path into psychotherapy has been shaped by a longstanding interest in how early relationships influence emotional life.
I first trained in psychology at Trinity College, Dublin and later completed an MSc in Clinical Psychology at Goldsmiths, where I deepened my understanding of human development and emotional distress.
Before qualifying as a psychotherapist, I worked across NHS and voluntary-sector services supporting people living with trauma, intense emotions, and experiences sometimes diagnosed as EUPD. This work highlighted how often emotional pain is rooted in lived experience rather than pathology.
I went on to complete four years of UKCP-accredited training in attachment-based psychoanalytic psychotherapy at the Bowlby Centre.
Across all my roles, the thread that connects my work is a commitment to understanding each person’s emotional world with depth, care and respect for their lived experience.
Services
I offer a thoughtful and supportive in-person therapeutic process for adults, beginning with an initial meeting and moving at a pace that feels right for you. Each stage of the work provides a consistent space to explore your emotional world and the patterns that shape your relationships.
Initial Consultation
The initial consultation is an opportunity for us to meet and discuss what has led you to seek therapy. We will explore your goals and what you hope to achieve through our work together. This session also gives you a chance to ask any questions you may have and to determine whether we might be a good match.
Preliminary Sessions
After the initial consultation, we will begin with five preliminary sessions. These give us time to understand your history, emotional patterns, and what you’re seeking from therapy.
This early phase lays the foundations for deeper work and helps us establish a pace and rhythm that feels right for you.
Psychotherapy Sessions
Ongoing psychotherapy sessions take place weekly. This consistency creates a reliable space where deeper feelings and patterns can emerge and be explored with care.
The work unfolds gradually within a supportive therapeutic relationship, offering the opportunity for lasting emotional insight and change.
Memberships
