Dr Ruth Vivar, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist

About me

I am a highly qualified registered child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapist.I work with children,

adolescents and young adults up to 25. I offer individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, parent work,

parent-child sessions and clinical supervision. I have an interest in trauma related work; looked after children

and adopted children. I have worked extensively with children with neurodiversity such as ASD, ADHD and

anxiety related OCD, eating disorders, school refusal and self-harm. I specialise in therapeutic parental

sessions with emphasis on the reflective capacity and developing a strong parental stance.

I offer individual psychoanalytic psychotherapy, parent work, parent-child sessions and clinical supervision. I

work in person in South East London and online.

Doctorate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy at the Tavistock and Essex University. MA in Social work and

BA(honors) in Social Sciences.

Assessment appointments are needed to gain an understanding of the problem and to gauge how best to help.

The aim is to get as broad a picture as possible of how your child/young person is doing in all aspects of his or

her life, in the present day as well as in the past, at home and at school. Sometimes clues to where difficulties

lie are buried in previous experiences , sometimes problems occur due to the current situation you find

yourselves in. Appointments are tailored to your particular circumstances and the age.

Therapeutic Principles.

I work in a psychoanalytic way using the internal model to unlock what lies underneath the symptoms. I pay

close attention to the relationship between the patient and the therapist (transference) and unconscious

communications. My approach uses my experience and knowledge of complex mental health, in-depth

knowledge of child and adolescent development and the influence of environmental factors and identity

including cultural aspects on the development of the self. I may ask you to complete psychological screenings

to assist further understanding as I use mixed methods from other disciplines.

I have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service, hold a professional registration with the Association of

Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists (ACP) and Psychological Professional network. In order to practice

privately I have specific case supervision as per ACP guidance. The Code of Ethics and Professional conduct

for each of the regulatory bodies can be accessed online including the complaints procedure. I have

Professional Liability insurance

-Psychoanalytic individual session: £125 per session

-Parental therapeutic session: £140 per session

-Initial extended assessment: £170 per session (up to 70 minutes) with both parents to initiate the assessment

includes reading previous assessments/documents.

BA(Hons), MA, PgDip, Mpsych

Last reviewed: 5 August 2026