Anna Sergent

My work is psychoanalytic in orientation and informed by contemporary Freudian and Lacanian thought. This means I am less interested in symptom management than in understanding - in what a symptom might be saying, what it is organised around, and why it persists despite a person’s best efforts to be rid of it. I take seriously the idea that much of what shapes us operates outside our awareness, and that this unconscious dimension is not an obstacle to be overcome but something to be listened to with care. Sessions are unstructured by design. I do not set agendas or work through frameworks. Instead, I follow what the person brings - the associations, the hesitations, the things that come up unexpectedly, the things that are difficult to say. Over time, patterns become visible. Connections emerge that were not available before. This is slow work, and deliberately so. I work well with people who are curious about themselves - who have a sense that something is not quite right but cannot fully articulate what, who find that certain difficulties follow them from one context to another, or who feel that previous attempts at therapy have not quite reached what matters. I am also well-suited to people who are sceptical of easy answers, or who have found more structured approaches unsatisfying. Expat life often brings a particular kind of difficulty to the surface: questions of identity, belonging, and what we carry with us when we move. The experience of being unknown - of having left behind the relationships and contexts in which one was legible - can be both liberating and quietly destabilising. These are not problems to be solved so much as territories to be explored, and psychoanalytic work is well suited to exactly that kind of exploration. I am registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP), work under regular clinical supervision, and engage in ongoing professional development within psychoanalytic and Lacanian clinical communities.

University Mental Health and Wellbeing Practitioner I currently hold the sole practitioner role within the student wellbeing and professional support service providing individual psychotherapeutic support to students alongside developing the service’s clinical infrastructure and partnerships strategy. Clinical Committee Member AGIP (Association for Group and Individual Psychotherapy) A voluntary clinical role involving the clinical assessments and formulation, contributing to the governance and standards of a longstanding psychoanalytic clinic. Private Practice: London I have maintained an independent psychotherapy practice in London for over four years, working with adults individually in open-ended, longer-term work. Senior Counsellor and Assessment Worker: Highbury Counselling Centre A clinical role encompassing direct therapeutic work with clients alongside responsibility for initial assessments, contributing to the clinical pathway and intake process of the centre. Volunteer Therapist PTP (Psychosis Therapy Project) Early clinical experience gained through voluntary therapeutic work, providing individual therapy under supervision as part of a structured training placement. Leadership and Organisational Development: Social Care and Private Sector Prior to my formal training as a psychotherapist, I held roles in both public and private sectors in UK, with responsibility for team leadership and development.

Clinical Training in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy: AGIP (Association for Group and Individual Psychotherapy) Postgraduate clinical training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy, completed under the auspices of a UKCP-accredited training organisation. The programme encompasses supervised clinical practice, theoretical seminars, and personal therapy, with a grounding in Freudian and Lacanian traditions. Certificate in Media Psychology: British Psychological Society Certification exploring the intersection of psychological theory and media, communication, and digital environments.

Master’s Degree in Psychology (equivalent) — Jagiellonian University, Department of Philosophy, Kraków An extensive postgraduate programme in psychology undertaken within the Faculty of Philosophy. The programme comprised over 300 ECTS credits, reflecting the depth and breadth of study across psychological theory, research, and practice. Equivalent to a Level 7 qualification under the UK’s national qualifications framework.