About Deborah Bowman
I work with people who want to understand their inner worlds more deeply and live with greater freedom through psychodynamic psychotherapy.
We live in a world where advice, suggestions, opinions and recommendations abound, yet finding a trusted space to sit with someone who is curious, committed, and stays with what may be difficult is rare and precious.
I offer that space to people seeking psychotherapy, and to psychotherapists and healthcare professionals interested in clinical ethics.
Deborah Bowman
Psychodynamic Psychotherapist in London Victoria & London Bridge
My training and background have prepared me to work with a wide range of concerns and difficulties. I am particularly interested in the experience of illness, including serious and terminal diagnoses, caring, the intersection of the mind and body, and transitional phases of life, including young adulthood, parenthood, ageing, and bereavement.
Psychotherapy Practice
My practice has been shaped by many years working in clinical ethics and academia, and my clinical training in psychodynamic psychotherapy at WPF Therapy and the British Psychotherapy Foundation. I have spent my career with people facing difficulty, uncertainty, emotional conflict, and profound questions. These experiences have shaped my appreciation of the light and shade of our lives and my understanding of human complexity.
I believe that meaningful change happens when we are met with care, seriousness, and thoughtful attention. I offer a space to notice, to feel, and to think, including about what may lie out of awareness - work that is individual, reflective, and deeply attentive.
Teaching, Research & Ethical Practice
As well as my clinical practice, I have a longstanding commitment to teaching, to research, and to ethical practice within psychotherapy, medicine, and healthcare. I am an Emerita Professor at City St George’s, University of London, and have published widely for both specialist and general audiences about illness, care, ethical practice, and education.
For many years, I contributed to public discussion of complex ethical questions, particularly for BBC Radio 4. I have served on a number of national committees and advisory boards concerned with clinical ethics, training, and professional standards, including work with healthcare regulators, arm’s-length bodies, and third sector organisations. I continue to contribute to ethics committees and to teach and facilitate clinical ethics groups in medical schools, mental health services, psychotherapy training organisations, and hospices.