Psychotherapy & Counselling -
Charley Shults

Counsellor, Consultant, Psychotherapist

Hi, and thanks for checking out my site. This page will tell you a little something about me and my work and how to get in touch if you want to schedule an appointment or find out more. The next page, "About Psychotherapy," will tell you about the techniques that I use including my own Attachment Centred Therapy. "Qualifications," the third page, is my vita, as it does seem appropriate to let you know what my training and experience has been. Finally comes "Frequently Asked Questions" which is information that I thought many of you might want to know. Again, thanks for checking out my site, and let me know if I can help you.

I am a member of the UKCP (UK Center for Psychotherapy) and certified by them as an Integrative Psychotherapist through the Metanoia Institute. I am also a member of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) and I am a Licensed Professional Counsellor through the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counselling, providing counselling, consulting, and psychotherapy services in Guildford and London. I am also a National Certified Counselor through the National Board for Certified Counselors in the U.S.A. I work with addictions, co-dependency, relationships, family of origin, issues of trauma, abuse or neglect, developmental and personality problems, lifestyle development, personal growth and development and other life issues.


My practice is in London at 12 Harley Street and in Guildford, by appointment only.

Phone:
(+44) 1483 539 759
(+44) 7507562864

Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information or to arrange an appointment.

Addiction Counselling in London and Guildford

I have worked in addiction treatment since 1988. I began my treatment experience working with chemical addictions, such as alcoholism, cocaine, marijuana, narcotics, prescription drugs and other drugs of addiction.

I have extensive training and experience in treating these problems, and I served on the board of directors of the Alabama Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association.

I have been certified as a Masters Level Addiction Professional, a Certified Criminal Justice Addictions Professional, and I was certified by the International Counseling and Reciprocity Consortium.

These certifications are not current, as I found that I just had too many certifications to keep up with them all, especially now that I am concentrating my work and training in Attachment.

Sexual Addiction Counselling

Next I moved into treating sexual addiction in 1992 when I entered private practice. I also treat relationship or romance addiction (sometimes referred to as "love addiction").

I have trained extensively with Dr. Patrick Carnes, the leading researcher and writer in the field of sex and relationship addiction. I am a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist and a supervisor for counselors seeking certification.

I also served on the Advisory Board for Certified Sex Addiction Therapists, and am a past board member of the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity (now known as the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health).

Relationship, Couples and Marriage and Family Counselling

We have long known that addiction is a family illness. Most people who develop problems with addictions come from families where addiction or co-addiction is present. In addition, the addiction has a grave impact on families where it is present.

It quickly became apparent to me that a knowledge of family dynamics and the best skills available for couples and family work were an important part of the recovery process. Many relationships survive the addiction only to fall apart during recovery.

I have trained with Dr. John Gottmann, the leading researcher in the U.S. in the field of marriage, relationship, and family counselling. I am an associate member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Counselling.

In addition to doing therapy with addicts and their relations in recovery, I also provide marriage and family and couples counselling to others who do not have problems with addictions.

Co-dependency counselling

Many people who grow up in dysfunctional or addictive families become what we call "co-dependent". That is, they are excessively dependent on others for their own sense of self worth, or they compulsively caretake others, often getting into dysfunctional relationships that either they can't get out of, or if they do, they soon find another dysfunctional relationship to take it's place.

Because much of my work is done with people in later stage recovery when co-dependency issues begin to emerge, this field became a natural outgrowth of the other work that I do.

Eating Disorders

While I do not deal with these problems primarily, I have seen many clients who have had these issues since addicts often have more than one addiction to deal with.

Gambling Addiction

Again, some addicts have these issues to deal with as well, especially now with the advent of online gaming and the institutionalization of gambling in state sanctioned and promoted gambling activities.

Attachment Centered Therapy

These days my work is centered on attachment. The reason for this is that I believe there is convincing evidence that almost all of the above problems stem from disruptions in attachment in childhood, and sometimes later years. For this reason I have undertaken to educate myself regarding attachment. To that end I have read hundreds of articles and books about attachment theory and research. I'm even working on a book of my own about it.

Currently I am training with Dr. Patricia Crittenden, who was a protégé and student of Mary Ainsworth, who was herself the student and protégé of John Bowlby, the originator of Attachment Theory. Dr. Crittenden has created the Dynamic Maturational Method of attachment analysis. You may visit her website to learn more about this.

I use the Adult Attachment Interview as a way to get started in therapy. This assessment provides a dynamic and revealing way to quickly identify what went wrong and why, and also immediately begins to provide the healing necessary to fix it.