Systemic Family Therapy

A therapy service for individuals, couples and families

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About Esther

Qualifications and background

Esther Usiskin Cohen (BA Hons, Manchester, MA, CQSW, Sussex, and MSc, London) is a fully registered Consultant Systemic Family Psychotherapist.  In her NHS practice, she was the Head of the Systemic and Multi-Modal Training Portfolio in the Tavistock Centre, which is a world-renowned centre for the treatment of children with emotional difficulties, and a prestigious training institution. She is registered with the AFSP as a systemic supervisor, and  supervises qualified and trainee therapists, in the NHS and privately. Esther practises independently in North London.

Family practice

Esther has more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience working with adults, families, couples, young people and children in difficult relationships and in a variety of settings.  

She works with a comprehensive range of adult, child, adolescent, family, couple and relationship issues; for example: complex grief, addictions, anxiety, and separation. She is fully professionally insured and operates within the codes of practice laid out by the professional registering bodies: AFSP, UKCP and HEA.

Work with schools and organisations

Esther also delivers training and consultation to organisations such as schools, GP practices, local authorities, social workers and the third sector,  training and supervising health and social care professionals in a wide range of settings and client groups. Her interests include voices, positions and discourses in training and supervision, art, health, music, mindfulness and the application of systemic ideas in organisational contexts. See the website: http://www.eucconsulting.co.uk/index.html

Court work

Esther provides assessments and reports for the Courts in child care and contact cases and specialises in post-court therapeutic work. She has worked in the statutory and voluntary sector with children and families in different contexts, including court-mandated assessment and treatment work in complex child protection cases. She has appeared as an expert witness in Court proceedings. See the page on Court work.

Mindfulness

Esther is trained as a teacher in Mindfulness (through the University of Bangor) and incorporates this into her therapeutic practice when indicated. Mindfulness has a strong evidence base in helping with anxiety, depression, stress and pain.

Teaching

Esther was a tutor and lecturer on the Graduate Certificate in Systemic Practice with Families and Couples at Birkbeck College, University of London, and the Institute of Family Therapy and  currently continues to present lectures and workshops at the Tavistock Clinic.  She provides systemic consultation to social workers, family lawyers, schools and GPs. Esther has worked in both the criminal and family court systems as an expert witness and has delivered training to lawyers and the judiciary.

Pro-bono work

For many years Esther worked in Calais and Dunkerque on a pro-bono basis as part of the Refugee Resilience Collective (AKA Calais Resilience Collective - Tavistock group) - a team of experienced therapists and clinical psychologists who developed approaches to enhance the resilience, capacity, coping strategies and skills of refugees, staff and volunteers in the camps. She has also worked with asylum seekers here in London and continues to support any refugee work.

If you have any questions about Esther’s  experience and qualifications, or if you would like documentary evidence of police checks, insurance and qualifications, please contact her at: contact@systemicfamilytherapy.co.uk.

Copyright Esther Usiskin Cohen