About · Matt Robbins, psychotherapist
From the boardroom to the therapy room
I trained as a psychotherapist at Goldsmiths, University of London, and have since worked as a counsellor with the addiction charity Change Grow Live and the online service Choose Therapy.
My training was psychodynamic, which means I'm interested in how the past shapes the present, and the things we find hard to say out loud. Over time I've learned that what helps most is a real, human relationship, so I combine that depth with warmth, honesty and plenty of plain talking. No couches, no jargon, no judgement.
I also bring 25 years of working internationally with brands including Adidas, Puma, Dr. Martens and Nike. Leading teams, managing big egos and hitting impossible deadlines taught me a lot about how people really work.
Today I work with men who've had enough of being 'fine'.
- Trained
- Goldsmiths, University of London
- Approach
- Psychodynamic and relational
- Experience
- Change Grow Live · Choose Therapy
- Member
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
- Sessions
- Online, 50 minutes, weekly
On disclosure
Why I'll tell you a little about me.
"Opaque to his patients and, like a mirror…"Freud, 1912
There is a traditional way of working in psychotherapy that I believe is something of a myth. It dates back to 1912, when Freud suggested the analyst should be "opaque to his patients and, like a mirror" reflect back only what the patient brings (Freud, 1912, p. 118). Even Freud didn't stick to it.
My view is that acknowledging a first-hand understanding of what someone is going through can lower the barrier to that first conversation, build trust more quickly and show a client that what he's feeling is human, not shameful. For many men, knowing their therapist has been somewhere similar is what makes it possible to walk through the door at all.
Used carefully, and always in the client's interest, a little honesty about who I am can open the work up rather than close it down.
Freud, S. (1912). Recommendations to Physicians Practising Psycho-Analysis. Standard Edition, Vol. 12, p. 118.
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