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Psychotherapist & Lecturer

Alexander Morriss

About Suffering

Some lives are easier than others, no doubt, but no one wholly escapes suffering. Old age, illness and death are sources of suffering we must all face, but there are plenty more besides. Traumas of all sorts can befall us, big and small. Some of these can be absolutely devastating to our ability to cope, the worst typically involving someone hurting us with apparent intent. Yet even if there’s no specific person to blame, it can seem as if fate itself conspired to harm us: the unexpected loss of a loved one; a debilitating accident; a pandemic, and so on.

At least in these instances we feel we can point the finger at some obvious event and say “that’s why I’m unhappy”. Yet it’s often the seemingly small but frequent cuts that hurt the most: growing up in a home where no-one said “I love you”, in words or otherwise; living with a spouse who never asks how your day was; the job that provides enough to live on, but sucks the life from you on a daily basis. Day in and day out we become blind to these things and the harm they cause. What compounds our suffering is we think we aren’t supposed to complain: this is how it’s supposed to be, so get on with it; everybody suffers.

Finding a Way Through

As well as specialising in addiction, particularly alcohol, drug and sex and love addictions, I work with many forms of suffering, including anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, bereavement, and so on. Over the years I have worked in a variety of settings including the NHS and Priory Group. Experience has shown me that as human beings we can suffer for a whole host of reasons, and what we often need is not a label (‘mentally ill’, ‘addict’, and so on) but to be met and acknowledged in our struggle. In this meeting, one human being to another, a way through the suffering can be found.

Psychotherapy (meaning ‘healing or attending to the soul’) is where we work to understand what’s really at the root of your suffering, and what needs to be done. I focus on building a strong, trusting relationship with clients, as it is from this place of security that we can safely explore whatever difficulties are present, and seek solutions.

Having trained in an integration of psychoanalytic, humanistic (person-centred) and existential approaches, I adapt to the individual’s needs, both in the moment and over the course of therapy.  In particular, I specialise in existential psychotherapy, an approach that considers all aspects of a person's life in thinking about their difficulties: their individual history, present experiences and future aspirations, and how all of these influence their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. I work with clients to understand what it’s like to be in their unique situation and how they exist within it.

In sum, together we work to uncover whatever difficulties are present and in doing so open up new possibilities for living, with the hope that life becomes more fulfilling and satisfying. In this way, suffering passively is transformed to a meaningful struggle for a better life.

DIRECT CONTACT DETAILS:

DAYS AT PRACTICE:

Tuesday to Friday, 8am to 9pm.

EXPERIENCE:

I have worked with men and women struggling with a range of issues, including:

  • addiction, notably drug, alcohol and sex and love addictions;

  • anxiety;

  • depression;

  • relationship issues, including separation and divorce;

  • bereavement, loss and limitation;

  • historic abuse (physical, sexual, emotional) and its legacy;

  • family of origin relational trauma;

  • personality disorders, including borderline presentation;

  • work issues;

  • meaninglessness and apathy.

positions held:

  • Sep 2021 - present - Regent’s University London - Lecturing on Foundation, MA and Post Grad. Certificate courses in Psychotherapy and Counselling.

  • May 2019 - present - Farah Therapy & Coaching Centre

  • April 2018 - present - Priory North London Hospital - working with clients suffering from anxiety, depression and addiction on a long- and short-term basis

  • March 2018 - April 2019 - Claremont Project Islington - offering long-term existential-phenomenological therapy to adults

  • November 2015 - January 2018 - NELFT NHS Trust - offering long-term psychodynamic psychotherapy within the Secondary Psychological Service.

training MODALITIES:

Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic, humanistic (person-centred), and existential psychotherapies.

My training is therefore broad, having covered: attachment-informed therapy, relational approaches, embodiment, phenomenological theory and practice, philosophically-informed approaches including meaning-orientation and cultural situatedness, emotion-focussed work, gestalt.

Who Do I work with:

Individuals from 18 years old.

TYPES OF SESSION:

  • Short Term & Long Term

  • Face to Face, Online Therapy & Telephone.

Professional memberships:

  • UKCP, Full Clinical Member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy - Reg Number 2011166822

  • MBACP, Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - Reg Number 374253

I am bound by and adhere to the ethical requirements of both the BACP and UKCP, and undertake continuous CPD as required by these memberships. You can learn more about these organisations, the requirements for membership and so on, by clicking on the logos above.

QUALIFICATIONS:

  • Advanced Diploma in Existential Psychotherapy, from Regent's University London

  • MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling (Grade: Distinction), from Regent's University London - Dissertation topic: “The Meaning of Being in Recovery from Addiction for Individuals Attending a 12-Step Fellowship”;

  • Foundation Certificate in Psychotherapy and Counselling, from Regent's University London

  • BSc (hons) Physics with Astrophysics, from the University of Leeds.

VOLUNTARY POSITIONS:

  • January 2020 - present - Secretary for the Society for Existential Analysis

    You can learn more about the Society for Existential Analysis here.

some QUOTATIONS:

  • “I am looked-at in a world that is looked-at. …Anyone may recognise in this abstract description that immediate and burning presence of the Other’s look which has so often filled him with shame. …I am plunged by this look into the heart of a world complete with its distances and its instruments.” - Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness

  • “…it is in despair that we find the most acute pleasure, especially when we are aware of the hopelessness of the situation... ...everything is a mess in which it is impossible to tell what's what, but that despite this impossibility and deception it still hurts you, and the less you can understand, the more it hurts.” - Fyodor Dostoevsky, Notes from Underground

  • "It is perfectly true… that life must be understood backwards. But… it must be lived forwards." - Soren Kierkegaard, Journals.

  • "We become free by transforming ourselves from unaware victims of the past into responsible individuals in the present, who are aware of our past and thus able to live with it." - Alice Miller, The Drama of the Gifted Child

video:

THOUGHTS ON ADDICTION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY

Here, after a slightly shaky start, I discuss what draws me to working with addiction. In particular, I offer some thoughts on what addiction is and how psychotherapy can help. I conclude with perhaps the most important aspect of therapy: building trust.

Email Alexander now on: alex@farahtherapycentre.co.uk