Liz Specterman
Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist
I am a psychotherapist with over 25 years’ experience, specialising in working with children, adolescents, and their families. I have a Master’s in Child, Adolescent & Family Therapy, along with training in Art Therapy and Play Therapy. I worked for two years as an honorary child psychotherapist in the CAMHS unit at Eastbourne District and General Hospital and have trained psychotherapists, counsellors, and healthcare professionals in the UK, Norway, Sweden, and the USA. Additionally, I am a staff member at the Centre for Counselling & Psychotherapy Education in London.
I have been practising meditation for many years, along with mindfulness and breathwork, and was fortunate to be taught and guided in my practice by Dan Brown, Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. While supporting my own well-being, it also provides me with the tools to take a holistic approach in my work with young people.
I aim to facilitate a warm, child-centred, informal space where, through listening sensitively and taking a creative approach, children and young people are given the space to explore and articulate their inner world and express what’s troubling them or feels difficult to talk about. Engaging children and young people through therapeutic play or creative interventions provides optimal conditions for healing, developing emotional intelligence, building skills, and discovering ways of living more happily and resourcefully.
I take a systemic and collaborative approach, offering parents space to share concerns and discover relationship styles and strategies that further support their child or young person’s emotional development.
From my perspective, regardless of the perceived difficulty, all children are gifted children; therefore, my work supports the child or young person in connecting with their unique qualities to discover how to express those qualities to lead more enriching lives.
As Christopher Robin in Winnie the Pooh said, “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”