psychotherapy
in person: Yorkshire
online: Across the UK, Ireland & Europe
matthew henson: UKCP and ICP registered psychotherapist and supervisor
individual therapy
The causes of psychological distress are never only within the individual. Every difficulty is relational. Problems usually arise through complex dynamics within our relationships; with ourselves and with our wider environment, including family, friends, education and work.
​
Through a gentle but rigorous process, my role is to support you in exploring your situation so that you can make informed and meaningful life choices. I do not diagnose or pathologise feelings or behaviours, and you can expect to be met with respect at all times.
​
We usually begin with one or two initial consultation sessions. During these meetings, I will invite you to say something about what has prompted you to seek therapy, and I will encourage you to ask any questions that may help you decide whether I am the right therapist for you to work with.
​
If we agree to continue, the therapeutic process remains open and responsive, developing organically at a pace that feels right for you. I aim to provide a safe and thoughtful space in which whatever needs to emerge can find expression. Sessions are offered online, and in person in Yorkshire, with the possibility of working outdoors when appropriate and mutually agreed.
​
Some difficulties can be worked through relatively quickly; others take more time. Therapy is offered on an open-ended basis and usually comes to a planned ending when it feels right for you to stop.
intimate relationships and families
I offer relationship therapy to people in all kinds of families, partnerships and relational constellations, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation or family structure. I also work with other relationships where therapeutic support may be helpful. As the name suggests, relationship therapy focuses on a particular relationship or set of relationships, with all those involved taking part in the work.
Additional time is allocated to the initial session (75 minutes) to ensure that everyone has space to be heard, and to support informed decisions about whether relationship therapy feels appropriate, and whether I am the right therapist for you to work with. From there, we will agree a structure together, which typically involves a combination of individual sessions (50 minutes) and joint sessions (75 minutes). Sessions can take place online, or in person in Yorkshire.
​
It often takes considerable courage to attend relationship therapy, particularly where relationships have become strained or where hurtful or regrettable behaviour has occurred. Blaming, shaming and fault-finding rarely help, and are actively discouraged. Instead, I invite you to consider how difficulties in relationships are often co-created over time.
​
My role is to support a collaborative and respectful exploration in which responsibility can be taken, needs can be expressed, and sense can be made of complex relational dynamics. Where possible, this work can create the conditions for understanding, repair and change.
​
This is careful, sometimes challenging work, undertaken at a pace that respects both individual and relational boundaries.
supervision, training and resources
I offer one-to-one supervision to psychotherapists, counsellors and other professionals, at a frequency that meets your needs. Supervision is available online, and in person in Yorkshire (Hebden Bridge). Monthly online group supervision is also available.
​
My UKCP supervisor registration meets the requirements of most psychotherapy and counselling accrediting bodies across the UK, the island of Ireland and Europe.
​
I approach supervision as a non-hierarchical conversation between professionals. While guidance may be appropriate for students and newly qualified practitioners, the focus is always on exploring your way of being a practitioner, your relationship to your client work, and how you wish to develop your practice over time.
​
I also offer bespoke services to organisations across a range of sectors, including one-to-one and group supervision, reflective practice groups, and facilitated team or away days.
​
Alongside supervision, I offer psychotherapy training, including CPD workshops and contributions to substantive training programmes. Information about upcoming training events is shared via LinkedIn. You may also wish to explore my writing and public work page, which brings together journal articles and other professional contributions.
boundaries across borders
Now in my fifties, I have spent my adult life studying and working in the human sciences, across voluntary, statutory and private sectors in the UK, Ireland and Europe. Alongside this professional experience, I have known my own share of highs and lows in my personal life.
​
Together, these experiences have guided me to a belief in boundaries rather than borders; in therapy, in professional ethics, and in how we understand one another across difference. This allows for depth, responsibility and care, without unnecessary rigidity or exclusion. I offer thoughtful, relational spaces in which we can slow things down and attend to what really matters.
I began my training in existential psychotherapy at Regent’s College, London (now Regent’s University), in 2001. I chose an existential training because it aligned closely with my values around respect, autonomy and personal responsibility in both the provision and receipt of therapy. Twenty-five years on, I remain as passionate as ever about existential approaches to psychotherapy, and I am currently Chair-Elect of the Society for Existential Analysis.
​
Since first accrediting with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy in 2007, I have continued to develop my practice through ongoing professional learning. This has included a twelve-month postgraduate diploma in supervision and reflective practice, a two-year apprenticeship in psychotherapy training, and a twelve-month training in ecopsychology.
​
I have provided psychotherapy, supervision and training in a range of voluntary and private settings in the UK, Ireland, Poland and Lithuania. I have a strong interest in ecologically aware, ethical and socially responsible service provision, and have undertaken related professional roles, including serving on fitness-to-practise panels for the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, and on the governing body of the Irish Association of Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy.
​
I have published a number of journal articles, including work as a co-author in the International Review of Psychiatry.
​
Rooted in Yorkshire (Hebden Bridge), I am also available online across the UK, the island of Ireland, Europe and internationally.
​