Integrative Therapy Sessions in Fitzrovia & Online
Session length
50 minutes
Location
Fitzrovia, W1, Central London
Frequency
Weekly, open-ended therapy
Sessional Fee
£90-£120 · sliding scale available
Format
In-person or online
Framework
Integrative, relational psychotherapy
OVERVIEW
WHAT IS IT
Individual therapy - what does it actually mean?
Individual therapy is a dedicated, confidential space for you to explore whatever may be weighing on you, your thoughts, feelings, patterns and experiences, with a trained professional. It can be a place to bring anxiety, trauma, low mood, grief, addiction, relationship difficulties, questions of identity, or a more general sense of feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected.
As a relational integrative psychotherapist, I see therapy as more than simply talking through problems. The quality of attention, the professional training behind it, and the fact that it is entirely focused on you, without the need to manage another person's feelings, provides an opportunity to make sense of your inner world, understand the patterns shaping your life and relationships, and work towards change that feels meaningful and lasting. Whether you are in crisis, facing a particular difficulty, or wanting to understand yourself more fully, therapy can offer a place to begin.
There is no agenda imposed from outside, no checklist to work through, and it is not about being told what to do or how to feel. Instead, individual therapy invites you to slow down, pay closer attention to yourself, and begin to understand the forces, conscious and unconscious, that are shaping your experiences. It can help you explore both what is happening in the present and what may have shaped you in the past. At times, that may mean working with painful experiences, recurring emotional patterns, or difficulties in relationships. At other times, it may mean finding words for something you have never fully been able to name. The process is collaborative and shaped around you, rather than following a rigid formula.
WHO IT'S FOR
You might be a good fit if...
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You have been carrying something quietly for a long time and want to finally look at it
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You are feeling overwhelmed, struggling to cope, or finding that life feels harder to manage right now
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You keep finding yourself in the same painful patterns, in relationships, at work, or in how you relate to yourself
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You are carrying the impact of trauma or earlier experiences that still affect you in the present
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You are finding it hard to cope with anxiety, self-doubt, low mood, shame, or a persistent sense of unease
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You are going through a significant life transition and need space to process it
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You are struggling with addiction, eating difficulties, or ways of coping that no longer feel sustainable
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You want to understand yourself more deeply, not just manage symptoms
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You have tried therapy before and are looking for something more relational and depth-focused
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You are not entirely sure why you are here, only that something feels off
"Many people come to therapy already knowing a great deal about themselves. And yet the same dynamics return. This is not a failure of insight, it's a sign that understanding alone is rarely enough to change things."
MATTHEW FRENER
COMMON STARTING POINTS
What brings people to therapy
People come to therapy for all kinds of reasons. There is no threshold you have to meet to deserve support. Some of the most common starting points include:
A persistent sense that something is wrong, even when life looks fine from the outside
Difficulty or painful relationships, past or present
Eating difficulties or a troubled relationship with your body
Questions about identity, sexuality, or gender
Anxiety, panic, or an ability to switch off
Trauma, including childhood experiences that continue to surface
Shame, self-criticism, or chornically low self-worth
Grief, loss, or major life transitions
Low mood, depression, or loss of meaning
Addiction and compulsive behaviours
ADHD and the emotional weight that often comes with it
A general sense of being stuck and wanting to move
If you don't see your experience here, please reach out anyway. This list is illustrative, not exhaustive. See the full Areas of Support page for more.
OUTCOMES
What clients often gain from therapy
Therapy is not a linear process and outcomes vary from person to person. But these are some of the things people describe gaining over the course of our work together.
Greater self-understanding
Coming to recognise the patterns, needs, and histories that shape how you respond, in relationships, in work, in your own mind.
A changed relationship to the past
Finding a way to hold past experiences without being defined or limited by them, not forgetting, but no longer being held back.
Relief from acute distress
A reduction in the intensity of anxiety, low mood, shame, or overwhelm, and more capacity to manage when things become difficult.
Clearer sense of self
A more settled and grounded relationship to your own identity, values, and what actually matters to you.
Healthier relationships
An increased ability to relate to others with more openness, honesty, and less reactivity, including with yourself.
New ways of coping
Practical tools and internal resources for navigating the situations, triggers, and feelings that used to feel unmanageable.
MY APPROACH
Relational integrative psychotherapy
Rather than working within a single fixed model, I draw on a range of approaches depending on what you bring and what seems most useful. These include:
Greater self-understanding
Coming to recognise the patterns, needs, and histories that shape how you respond, in relationships, in work, in your own mind.
A changed relationship to the past
Finding a way to hold past experiences without being defined or limited by them, not forgetting, but no longer being held back.
Relief from acute distress
A reduction in the intensity of anxiety, low mood, shame, or overwhelm, and more capacity to manage when things become difficult.
Clearer sense of self
A more settled and grounded relationship to your own identity, values, and what actually matters to you.
Healthier relationships
An increased ability to relate to others with more openness, honesty, and less reactivity, including with yourself.
New ways of coping
Practical tools and internal resources for navigating the situations, triggers, and feelings that used to feel unmanageable.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Fees & Payment
Sessional Fees
I offer individual therapy on a sliding scale of £90 to £120 per 50-minute session. Longer sessions are charged on a pro rata basis.
We can agree a fee at the outset of therapy based on your circumstances, or those of the person funding your sessions. This scale is intended to make therapy more accessible, with higher-fee sessions helping to support the availability of lower-fee and concessionary spaces.
Invoices are issued monthly in advance, usually on or around the 15th of each month, and are payable by bank transfer before the 1st of the upcoming month. Payment secures your regular weekly session time.
Concessions & Insurance
I keep a limited number of concessionary spaces for NHS workers and those on a low income. If this may apply to you, you are welcome to mention it in your enquiry form, and I will let you know whether I currently have any reduced-fee availability.
I currently accept Aviva, WPA, Cigna, and Vitality insurance. If you are with another provider, I can provide an invoice or receipt for possible reimbursement.
As policies vary, I recommend checking directly with your insurer in advance. If there is any difference between what your provider covers and my fee, you will be responsible for paying the shortfall.
HOW WE MEET
In person & online
In person - Fitzrovia, Central London
My practice is based at 12–12a Margaret Street in Fitzrovia, a short walk from Oxford Circus.
In-person sessions offer a dedicated, private, and grounded space that many clients find valuable.
Well served by multiple tube lines. See location details below.
Online - via secure video
Online therapy takes place via a secure, encrypted video platform and is available to clients throughout the UK and internationally. Many clients choose online therapy for greater accessibility and preference.
You will need a private space and a stable internet connection.
LOCATION
Fitzrovia, Central London
12-12a Margaret Street, London, W1W 8JQ
Conveniently located in the heart of Central London, Matthew Frener Therapy is easily accessible with multiple transport routes nearby. On-street parking is available.
Closest Tube Stations:
Oxford Circus
4 min walk
Bakerloo · Central · Victoria
Great Portland Street
11 min walk
Circle · Hammersmith & City · Metropolitan
Goodge Street
7 min walk
Northern
Bond Street
11 min walk
Central · Elizabeth Line · Jubilee
Tottenham Court Road
9 min walk
Central · Elizabeth Line · Northern
Piccadilly Circus
12 min walk
Bakerloo · Piccadilly
HOW IT WORKS
Getting started
If you are interested in working together, here's what to expect during the process:
01
Complete the enquiry form
If you are interested in starting therapy, the first step is to complete my enquiry form. It is a more detailed form, designed to give me a fuller sense of what is bringing you to therapy, what support you are looking for, and whether I may be the right fit for your needs. This helps me respond thoughtfully and prioritise genuine enquiries. You will have the option to book a free introductory call (Step 02), or we can move straight to registration and agreement (Step 03)
I aim to respond within 48 hours. If you have not heard back from me within that time, please check your junk or spam folder in case my reply has landed there.
02
Introductory call
If you choose to book a free introductory call, we will arrange a time for a 15-30-minute call, either by phone or via Zoom, depending on your preference. This gives us a chance to discuss your enquiry form in more detail, talk about what is bringing you to therapy, and consider what you are hoping for from the work. I will also explain how I work and answer any questions you may have.
This call is not a therapy session, but a space for us to begin getting a sense of whether working together feels like the right fit. There is no fee for this call and no obligation to continue.
03
Registration, agreement and confirming your weekly slot
If we decide to work with one another, I will send you a New Client Registration Form and my Therapeutic Agreement to complete through my practice management software. These documents set out the practical and professional framework for our work together, including confidentiality, cancellations, and the terms of therapy.
I will ask you to select a sessional fee on my sliding scale that best reflects your, or the bill payer's, household income. Then, once the registration form and therapeutic agreement have been completed, I will issue the invoice for your first set of sessions, and your regular weekly slot is confirmed once payment has been received.
04
Initial assessment sessions
The first few sessions are a space for us to begin building a fuller understanding of what is bringing you to therapy. We may explore your current difficulties, the broader context of your life, earlier experiences that may still be shaping you, and what you are hoping for from therapy, whether clearly formed or not yet fully known. This can help us co-create a path forward.
I see assessment as more than a process of gathering background information. It is also the beginning of the therapeutic relationship. As we talk, I will be listening not only to the content of what you bring, but also to how you experience yourself, how you relate, what feels difficult to say, and what may already be unfolding between us. Often, these early sessions begin to reveal something important about the patterns and relational ways of being that therapy can help make sense of over time.
It is also completely normal to feel apprehensive, uncertain, or nervous during the first few sessions. After all, you may be sharing deeply personal parts of your life with someone you do not yet know well. Even having read my website or spoken with me in an introductory call, I am still, at this stage, a stranger. Part of the early work is allowing enough time and space for trust to begin to develop at a pace that feels manageable for you.
Just as importantly, these sessions allow you to get a sense of me, and of whether this feels like a space in which you can begin to do meaningful work. The assessment is not separate from therapy, but the beginning of it.
05
Ongoing weekly sessions
We meet at the same time each week for 50 minutes, creating a regular and dependable space for the work to unfold. Weekly sessions provide the consistency therapy needs for trust to grow and for the work to deepen over time. I do not usually offer sessions less frequently than this, as longer gaps can affect the continuity and containment of the process. Where appropriate, and where availability allows, twice-weekly sessions may be offered during more challenging periods when additional support is needed.
My approach is non-directive, which means I do not follow a fixed agenda or work through a set programme. Instead, we attend to what feels most important, difficult, or alive for you. At times this may be something immediate in your present life. At others, it may be a recurring pattern, a relationship, a feeling, or something harder to name that begins to emerge between sessions or within the therapy itself.
Non-directive does not mean distant or passive. I will be actively engaged in thinking with you, helping us make sense of what you bring, what may remain outside awareness, and how past and present can become linked in meaningful ways. You do not need to arrive with things neatly worked out. Therapy can hold confusion, ambivalence, uncertainty, and change.
06
Review and endings
We will regularly check in on how the work is feeling for you. These reviews are usually informal rather than structured, and may sound like: How has this been for you? What has felt useful? What has not? I want to understand how you are experiencing me, the therapy, and the process we are in together. Your sense of what is helping, what is not, and what you may need more or less of matters. Therapy is collaborative, and I cannot meaningfully adjust how I am working if I do not know how it is landing for you, so I encourage this kind of honesty throughout our work. Using your voice in this way can be an important part of the therapy itself.
I work in an open-ended way, which means there is no fixed number of sessions. Therapy continues for as long as it feels meaningful, needed, and useful. This allows the work to unfold at depth and at a pace that respects the complexity of your experience, rather than forcing it into an arbitrary timeframe.
At the same time, I always encourage clients to plan their ending where possible, rather than bringing therapy to a sudden stop. A great deal often becomes visible in how someone approaches endings, including how they relate to separation, completion, loss, and change. Because of this, endings are part of the therapeutic process in their own right.
Planning an ending gives us space to reflect on what has been helpful, what has felt less helpful, what you are taking with you, and what may still need thought or support. Where needed, we can also consider what structures or resources may help you feel supported once therapy comes to an end.