Dr Rachel Abedi

Rachel’s approach in the therapy room is very much child-led; she puts the child at the centre of her attention and thinking, in order to understand the reality of their experience and how their internal (emotional/psychological) and external worlds interact. Gradually, as trust and understanding develop in the therapeutic relationship, she seeks to help the child gently explore some of the issues that have brought them to therapy. This process can help the child feel heard, increase their self-confidence and support their emotional development.

Rachel trained at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, and has worked in a variety of settings including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS), primary and secondary schools, the Brent Centre for Young People and Place2Be. She works with children, adolescents and their parents.

Rachel currently works for the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where she is a lead therapist with the Outreach Programme in Primary Schools (TOPS), teaches and supervises postgraduate students (Psychological Therapies with Children, Young People and Families), and supervises doctoral research (Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy). Rachel also consults to third sector and community organisations on child mental health and emotional wellbeing.

In her CAMHS roles, Rachel has worked with children and young people aged 3 to18, including assessments, brief and long-term treatment and intensive psychotherapy, parentchild sessions and parent support. She works with children who have experienced complex trauma, including emotional and sexual abuse, family breakdown, bereavement, anxiety, low mood and depression, difficulties with eating or sleeping, obsessive or compulsive behaviours, and developmental difficulties including neuro- diverse presentations such as ASD and ADHD. Many of those she works with are trying to make sense of their identity, relationships and place in the world, and often feel overwhelmed by difficult feelings and struggle to regulate their emotions. Rachel is also experienced in working with adopted and looked- after children, and those from diverse cultural and faith backgrounds.

Rachel has also worked with children in Pakistan and Japan, which has given her a keen interest in the role of culture in children’s development and in attitudes towards emotional and psychological difficulties.