Linsey Blair

 

Linsey Blair  (Associate)

Couple/Individual Psychotherapist & Psychosexual Therapist 

Background

Linsey gained her broad education in psychology with a BA (Hons) in psychology from Strathclyde University followed  by a postgraduate certificate in Counselling Psychology from University of Ulster. She won a scholarship to fund her Masters in Gender  and Development at the University of Sunderland, which fermented her interest in sex, gender and sexuality. She  decided to train as a psychosexual therapist and was encouraged by the renowned Tavistock Relationships in London to first complete their rigorous training  in Couple and Individual Psychotherapy.  By 2009 she had completed their four year post graduate diploma, which she followed with their MSc in Psychosexual and Relationship Therapy, graduating in 2012. She lived and worked in London for over 12 years and now has over 10 years of clinical experience working with couples and individuals in a variety of private and public settings.

In addition to clinical work, Linsey is interested in teaching and training; she worked for the Tavistock as a clinical lecturer delivering seminars on their MA in Couple Psychotherapy and the MSc in Psychosexual Therapy. She also trained a variety of frontline workers and practising psychotherapists in the skills and theory behind working with sex and relationships.

Clinical Experience

Linsey worked in Tavistock Relationships for a number of years following her training as a clinical staff member and then faculty staff. One of her roles in this centre was as an assessing clinician, which meant she was first point of contact for a range of clients and was part of a team that decided what sort of therapy might work best for the clients and in particular what therapist they would work best with. This is a very specific role around ‘matching’ clients to therapists that she now carries out at Evidence-Based Therapy Centre.

In 2012 she completed a four-day training in Mentalisation Based Therapy, which is based on helping individuals think through their difficult emotions rather than acting too fast on their feelings. This training allowed her to work with couples presenting with high conflict and/or domestic violence. Her  original NHS experience in Hackney, London was working with couples presenting with high conflict linked to parenting disputes.

By 2013 she had a thriving private practice in Central London as well as NHS experience as the Lead Psychosexual Therapist in Croydon University Hospital, which was a service she devised and developed and worked in for four years. She has experience in working in long-term analytical psychotherapy and short term behavioural work. She continues to work online with some of her UK clients and has completed online therapy training via the Tavistock. She also gained a certificate in supervision from the Society of Analytical Psychology, London and she remains the supervisor for the new psychosexual lead in Croydon.

Areas of Specialism 

As a psychosexual therapist Linsey works with sexual pain, low sexual desire, premature ejaculation, erectile disorder, delayed ejaculation and hypersexuality, but rather than only focusing on the symptomatic individual, where possible she works with helping the couple to reshape their sexual relationship by providing behavioural exercises that are designed to bring play and sensuality into their sex lives.

As a couples therapist Linsey works with relationship problems like arguing, poor communication, affairs, parenting difficulties, divorce and separation. She is particularly interested in the overlap between sexual and relationship problems and if appropriate can switch from couple work to psychosexual work and vice versa. She also works with individuals who are struggling with relationships and or sexual issues.

You can learn more about Couples Therapy with Linsey’s helpful guide here.

Therapeutic approaches

Linsey’s approach is based on psychodynamic principals that looks for patterns that are repeated throughout the individuals life and seeks to understand more about why people get stuck in arguments, or sexual problems, or negative relationships even though they consciously want to move forward. She has a non-judgemental, open attitude and is experienced in working with a variety of cultures, genders and sexualities . She completed a brief training with Pink Therapy around working with the LGBT community and within the sexual health clinic in the NHS she worked particularly with the impact of HIV+ diagnosis on sexual functioning. Croydon is an area in London that has one of the highest immigrant populations and so Linsey enjoyed working with clients from different religious backgrounds and was open to learning about how sex and relationships were thought of within different religions and how sexual issues can be addressed while respecting individual’s religious boundaries.

Publications & Papers

Linsey is interested in developing research in the field and she enjoys writing papers and presenting at European Conferences.

Blair, L, 2017: The Meaning and Management of Parents in Dispute. Paper presented at The Resolution Workshop for Meditation and Divorce Lawyers, London, March 2017

Blair, L, 2017: How Difficult is it to treat Delayed Ejaculation within a Short-Term Psychosexual Model? In The Journal of Sex and Relationship Therapy, October 2017

Blair, L, 2018: Intimate Sex and Sexual Dysfunction: The Role of the Third Space and the Couple State of Mind, Journal des Psychologies, March 2018

Blair, L, 2018: ‘How Much Sex is there Sex?’ Paper presented at Psychoanalytical Society of Warsaw’s Annual European Conference, April 2018

Blair, L & Mucha, D, 2022: The Fear of Difference and the Desire to Differentiate: working with two transitioning couples. In McCann, D (Ed): Same-Sex Couples and Other Identities. Psychoanalytic Perspectives, Routledge, London

Blair, L, 2021: Sex Through the Psychoanalytic Frame. Paper presented at the Society for Psychoanalytic Couple Therapy, Warsaw.

Media

Linsey also contributes her expertise to mainstream media channels. Below is a link to her appearance on Today with Claire Byrne on RTE Radio 1:

Cancer, Intimacy & Sexuality: Today with Claire Byrne

Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/ie/podcast/the-answers-for-cancers/id1548337766?i=1000624499505

https://anchor.fm/mathieu-norry/episodes/Female-pleasure–intimacy-and-communication-in-sex-e1sf2fn

Blogs

Sex: what a pain!

Penetration: why is it hard to get hard?

Memberships

Linsey is a full accredited member of UKCP (linked member to ICP) and 

COSRT (College of Sex and Relationship Therapy)

Appointments

Linsey is available for appointments on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you would like to book an appointment you can call the clinic on 091 727777 or get in touch via the contact page.

Supervision for Couples Therapists

Linsey offers supervision for therapists working with couples. You can find out more about Linsey’s Supervision service here.

For supervision appointments with Linsey, please contact our clinic on 091-727777.