Dr Ylva Baeckstrom

Individual and Couples counselling and psychotherapy – face to face, Online or Phone.
With over 10 years experience as a psychotherapist / counsellor located in London Islington (N1) I offer talking therapy for individuals and couples with a focus on relationship problems in your personal lives or in business. I am an accredited member of both British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT).

Your emotional well-being is very important and deserves being nurtured. The most important aspect for our happiness is the social relationships that we form with others around us. Yet, relationships can sometime be very difficult and cause anxiety, depression and other problems. Counselling can be very helpful to gain a different perspective on the problems you face and to help find a better way forward.

I specialise in relationship and psychosexual therapy for individuals and couples with a focus on the problems you may face within your relationships, or issues around creating successful and healthy relationships with others. I see people regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or ethnical background and offer help from an entirely non judgmental perspective. I have experience of working with a diverse range of backgrounds.

Most of us experience relationship problems at some point in our life and I am used to working with a wide range of different problems and understand that most relationships can be difficult at times. These can be relationships with a partner, at work, with family, friends or in other situations.

My stance is to try to understand who you are based on your background and initial family relationships as I believe that our personal histories inform who we are today and how we relate to others. For couples, I try to help you understand how you fit together as a couple, the patterns of the difficulties you face and where these come from. We then work on ways to improve how you interact and increase the understanding between you. I am experienced in working with couples regardless of where you are in the lifecycle or the nature of the problems you are facing.
Individuals often come to me because they would like to break a certain pattern of relating, get over a relationship, change the type of partner they attract or want to end a relationship. Sometimes people come because they struggle with self-esteem, depression, abuse, anxiety, stress or other problems, which affect how they feel about themselves and their lives. Additionally I help those with psychosexual problems.
Couples may seek help when they encounter a problem that affects the quality of the relationship or how they feel about each other. Couples might experience problems when going through a significant change or transition in their relationship. This transition can be getting married, becoming parents, struggling to conceive, career changes, relocating, dealing with infidelity, drug or alcohol abuse, career changes, retirement, sexual problems and other matters. In addition to working with heterosexual couples, I also have experience of working with same sex couples and trans.
Working with an experienced therapist can help couples gain insight and understanding into their issues, how these have arisen and find a joint way to deal with them.
The sessions are tailor-made to suit the particular situation of each individual or couple. I draw from all my previous training and experience when working together (psychodynamic therapy, relationship therapy, psychosexual therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy and person centered counselling). I work in time limited and open ended therapy face to face, via Skype or over the phone. I tend to offer regular weekly sessions, but also work flexibly to allow for busy life styles. Face to face sessions are near Angel in Islington, London N1.

When you first contact me I offer you the opportunity to ask me questions via email or over the phone prior to making an appointment. During the initial appointment we explore the problems you face and think about the best way to work together. We agree on what you would like achieve: the goals for counselling, and discuss the best way to achieve those. It is my aim to help you feel better and work together with you to try to make this happen. We will continually evaluate the progress you make. If we decide not to continue working together I will do my best to help you find other suitable help.
I help with a wide range of issues including:

Relationship issues within the couple: marital and couples issues, constant arguments, cross cultural problems, differences in political and religious beliefs, commitment issues, drug and alcohol abuse, unresolved past problems, fertility problems, pregnancy, affairs and betrayals, postnatal depression, disagreements, lack of desire, sexual problems, lifestyle changes, becoming parents / parenting, retirement, separation and divorce and other problems affecting the relationship.
Relationship problems: Trying to change the type of partners you attract, meet the right partner, be more confident in relationships, deal with an abusive relationship, narcissism, getting over a past relationship.
Communication difficulties.
Cross cultural relationships.
Improve or change the way you act in relationships.
Managing difficult family and extended family relationships.
Parenting / single parenting.
Stress.
Depression and sadness.
Anxiety.
Same sex relationships.
Trans and non-binary.
Issues around sexuality and gender.
Sexual problems.
Insecurities and concerns about your body and appearance.
Problems at work or with your career.
Past or unresolved trauma and loss.
Abuse (past or present).
Breaking unwanted patterns of behaviour.
Change the types of partners you attract.
Low self-esteem, lack of confidence.
Anger and frustrations.
Life transitions and changes.
Addictions.
Unresolved childhood and family issues.
Phobias.
Eating disorders.
Panic attacks.
Suicidal thoughts and self harm.

My qualifications include Master of Science in Relationship and Psychosexual Therapy, Postgraduate Diploma in Marital and Couples Therapy, Certificate in Person Centered Counselling Skills. PhD Cass Business School with a focus on the relationship between those who give advice and their clients.

I currently only offer sessions online or over the phone.