Paul Atkinson

Paul Atkinson has been working in private practice in London, as a counsellor and a Jungian psychotherapist, for more than 30 years. He was a political activist during his 20s, involved in community and trade union action, the men’s movement and sexual politics, and ‘radical’ group psychotherapy. In his 30s, he worked with school refusers in north London. He has always seen psychotherapy as a social and, in a subtle way, political profession.

At the heart of the work, for him, is the encouragement of people to live more fully – with less fear and more love. He sees people’s internal and external worlds as always intertwined, reflecting and affecting each other. He is a member of the Free Psychotherapy Network, one response to his need to be socially engaged as a therapist and has started organising free psychotherapy on his local housing estate. He also works for the Refugee Therapy Centre. He has recently become involved in a new wave men’s therapy group.