Jake Freedman, BACP

Jake Freedman is a counsellor and psychotherapist registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). He has seven years of experience working in community mental health and addiction services, and he lists anxiety, stress, relationship concerns, trauma and social anxiety among his core areas.

He completed an MSc in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy and a Postgraduate Diploma in the Philosophy of Mental Disorder. Early in his career he worked for five years providing long-term psychotherapy for people with histories of addiction and childhood trauma. That work shaped his interest in how early experiences affect adult behaviour and relationships.

Since qualifying he has undertaken further training in developmental trauma and dissociation and keeps up to date with research on treatment approaches. He has a particular interest in depersonalisation and derealisation and in how these experiences affect daily life.

In sessions he draws on psychodynamic ideas to help people notice recurring patterns in their relationships and feelings. He pays attention to how those patterns may have helped someone cope before, and how they might now be causing problems. This approach foregrounds exploring emotional experiences and repeated ways of relating.

Jake also uses trauma-focused methods to address the longer-term effects of abuse and overwhelming experience. He aims to help people make sense of painful memories and responses so they can consider different ways of living and relating.

Psychodynamic and trauma-focused online work