Marcus Gottlieb
Counsellor & Therapist in West London
I am an experienced psychotherapist of humanistic and integrative orientation. I am registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy and accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, both of which require annual renewal. My therapy practice is in Notting Hill, West London.
About one-half of my practice is working with boarding school survivor issues, an area in which I have special interest and training.
I also have a practice providing supervision to other psychotherapists and counsellors.
What brought me to becoming a Therapist?
A desire to find the most rapid, powerful and effective routes to helping people who are struggling or in difficulty led me to train in humanistic psychotherapy under Terry Cooper and Jenner Roth at Spectrum, North London. I continue to regularly explore dreams and dreamwork with Terry. Through Spectrum I discovered and worked with Stanley Keleman, who teaches Somatic Education and Formative Psychology at the Center For Energetic Studies in Berkeley, California.
Via Stanley’s work I met and came under the influence of Gerhard Zimmermann, who practises as a stress management and behavioural therapist in Mainz, Germany. In turn, Gerhard has introduced me to the trauma therapy approach of Peter Levine, which he calls ‘somatic experiencing’.
My work as a Cognitive & Behavioural Therapist
My way of working has evolved to become more bodywork-oriented and increasingly behaviourist. This has given me the tools to work more deeply more quickly with a broad range of issues. One of the areas where this type of method most obviously supports us is in addressing what are described as ‘psychosomatic’ or psychogenic physical symptoms, such as migraines, sexual difficulties, chronic fatigue or chronic digestive and skin conditions, which medicine either cannot treat or can only treat with a ‘sledgehammer’.
Body – Mind Therapist using the Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP)
I studied with Al Pesso and Lowijs van Perquin (whom I met indirectly through Spectrum), and trained for several years in Pesso-Boyden Psychomotor therapy, which has been termed ‘fast tracking the unconscious’. Along the way, I have also done training in psychodrama, psychosynthesis and gestalt therapy, all of which bring creativity, spontaneity and a feeling of almost unlimited possibility into the therapy room. Now I am working with a bioenergetic therapist – bioenergetic analysis was the creation of Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen who were the primary influences on Stanley Keleman, so in one way I have come full circle.
Working as a Therapist with Trauma and Abuse
I trained in boarding school survivor syndrome therapy when I recognised that ex-boarders were coming to me with characteristic patterns and behaviours that ordinary psychotherapy training hadn’t prepared me to work with at all. My learning around this ex-boarder syndrome is ongoing, supported by Nick Duffell and Helena Løvendal Duffell of the Man-Woman Project, Creative Couple Work and The Centre for Gender Psychology.
My work with LGBTQ people has been greatly influenced by another mentor and colleague, Charles Neal, one of the principal pioneers in the field of pink therapy in the U.K.
I am also a solicitor though have not practised as one since 2001. During my therapy training I volunteered for ChildLine, Victim Support, PACE and a domestic violence intervention project, and now I do outreach work with the ultra-orthodox Jewish community. I am qualified and work as a teacher-practitioner of the Alexander Technique.
