Rachel Abedi
Rachel Abedi
Principal Clinical Psychologist specialising in working with autistic children and young people
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 explore some of the issues that have brought them to therapy. This gentle process helps the child feel heard, increases their self-confidence and supports their emotional development.
In addition to her private work, Rachel has many years of experience working with children, adolescents and parents in a variety of settings including CAMHS, the Brent Centre for Young People and Tavistock Outreach in Primary Schools. She also runs a charity improving mental health support for children from marginalised communities.
Rachel is an Associate Lecturer at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, where she teaches and supervises postgraduate child psychotherapy students, and supervises doctoral research in Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.
As a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, Rachel’s expertise includes brief and longterm weekly treatment, intensive psychotherapy, parent-child 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, developmental difficulties and neurodiverse presentations such as ASC and ADHD.
Rachel is also experienced in working with adopted children and children in foster care. Many of the children 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 works with children from diverse cultural and faith backgrounds. She appreciates the importance of these aspects of identity and how they shape our understandings of emotional and psychological difficulties.
