Debbie Lovell Therapy
Helping with a broad range of psychological difficulties and specialising in sexual issues
Debbie Lovell Therapy
Helping with a broad range of psychological difficulties and specialising in sexual issues
A little bit about me
I am a practitioner psychologist and clinical sexologist/sex therapist, currently practicing in-person in London and globally online. 'Practitioner psychologist' is a protected title in the UK (unlike psychologist, counsellor or psychotherapist) and can only be used if registered with the Health and Care Professions Council which requires completion of a doctorate (a total of 6-8 years training from undergraduate to post-graduate).
I am also one of a small number of practitioner psychologists in the UK additionally registered as a clinical sexologist/sex therapist (sometimes called psychosexual therapist). My specialist work in sexual difficulties evolved from my multidisciplinary background. Before training and working in 'talking therapy' my professional time was spent in exercise and nutrition science. Sexual difficulties, like many of the areas I work with such as anxiety, trauma and sleep disturbances, married my psychology and biology disciplines.
What I do
I work as a psychologist and sex therapist exclusively in private practice. I offer talking therapy to adult individuals and couples, either online or in-person at Harley Street, Central London.
Talking therapy provides a confidential space and a unique relationship within which clients can voice without concern of judgment, expand their understanding, and potentially find pathways of change.
Research
My doctoral research was in my specialist clinical field of sexual difficulties. Many women who experienced pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia) were typically referred through medical routes and therefore came to therapy on their own. However, sexual difficulties occur mostly within the context of a relationship which spoke to the importance of involving partners who both influence the woman's experience and are impacted themselves. There was very little reference to partners' experiences in the academic literature so naturally this became the focus of my own research. I explored the experience of cis men in different-sex relationships with women with dyspareunia.