Therapy Place Bristol Counselling & Psychotherapy with Duncan E. Stafford

Counselling, psychotherapy and sex therapy in central Bristol (BS1), North Somerset and online

I offer psychotherapy, counselling and coaching in Bristol (BS1) and North Somerset (BS48) that is thoughtful, relational and shaped around individuals. My work is grounded in over 25 years of clinical experience and is informed by creative, reflexive ways of working with the whole person.

While I continue to maintain a general practice for counselling and psychotherapy, my work currently tends to centre most on two areas:

• ADHD and neurodiversity, with individuals and couples
• Sex, relationship and couples therapy, including working with those who struggle with compulsive sexual behaviours.

Although distinct, these areas often overlap — through attention, regulation, anxiety, trauma, intimacy, attachment and meaning. However, whatever your label might be, the focus is always on you as a person, not a diagnostic template of you.

Working with individual and relationship complexity 

I work with adults and couples who are trying to make sense of themselves and their relationships, often in the context of ADHD or other forms of neurodivergence, or where sexual and relationship difficulties are problematic. My practice is kink-aware and poly-friendly.

People who find their way to me are thoughtful, often creative and even if they don’t always acknowledge it, capable. However, people who come for sessions arrive often weighed down by patterns of relating and self-understanding that no longer make sense or no longer work. Therapy with me offers a space to slow things down, think together and find ways of living that feel more workable and less punishing.

What brings people to work with me

People come for many reasons. These commonly include:

• Depression and anxiety
• Difficulties with attention, emotional regulation or impulse control
• Past or current trauma
• Relationship strain, repeated conflict or emotional distance
• Compulsive patterns around sex, often as a coping strategy
• A persistent sense of being out of step with the world.

Sometimes there are diagnoses in the background — ADHD, dyslexia, ASD, Trauma – PTSD and CPTSD or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). Sometimes there aren’t. What matters is how these experiences are lived and how they shape your inner world and relationships.

How I work

My work is relational, reflective and reflexive. I shape therapy around your needs rather than around a fixed model.

I draw on psychotherapy, counselling and coaching frameworks, working creatively and collaboratively with the individual or couple in front of me. I am interested in understanding patterns over time, rather than forcing change before there is understanding.

The therapeutic relationship itself matters. It is within a steady, thoughtful connection that people begin to notice what has been happening - and discover what might shift.

ADHD, neurodivergence and couples 

Much of my current practice involves working with individuals and couples where ADHD or neurodivergence plays a significant role. This may be formally diagnosed, self-identified or simply suspected.

Neurodivergence can shape attention, emotion, intimacy and communication in powerful ways. Therapy can help make these dynamics more visible and less emotionally costly, both individually and within relationships.

You can read more on my ADHD page and Couples page.

Where sexual issues arise, my work is largely focused on compulsive or problematic sexual behaviours, approached through a specific and structured way of working.

Working modes

I work with individuals and couples:

• in person in central Bristol (BS1)
• online throughout the UK and EU countries
• using blended approaches where helpful.

I have worked online for many years and am comfortable adapting the work to different attention styles, nervous systems and practical constraints.

Availability

My practice is typically fully booked. Enquiries are welcome, and I review potential work carefully to ensure a good clinical fit.

I aim to respond to professional enquiries within a week.

This work is not about fitting you into a category. It is about creating a space where something meaningful can be understood - and allowed to change.

If what you have read here resonates, you are welcome to get in touch.

Professional membership and registration

I am a registered member of the General Psychotherapy Council (GPsyC) and a registered and accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

I hold graduate and postgraduate qualifications in psychotherapeutic counselling from the University of Cambridge and my first degree included developmental psychology.

My own therapeutic background includes nine years of personal therapy, including an intensive Jungian analysis over six years, which continues to inform the depth and approach of my work. 

I currently offer:

• an Online practice
• an in room practice at 13-14 Orchard Street, Bristol, BS1 5EH
  
• Therapy Place Bristol
• a couples service – (based in Bristol BS1 and online)

Therapy Place Bristol is the website for Duncan E. Stafford GPsyC registered psychotherapist and MBACP registered and accredited counsellor / psychotherapist. My serivce offers face-to-face and online counselling, psychotherapy, sex-therapy (psychosexual counselling), walktalk therapy, ADHD coaching and supervision for people of all genders. I work as a counsellor and psychotherapist with men, women and individuals of other gender identities all over the UK, Europe and face-to-face in Bristol (BS1), North Somerset (BS48), Nailsea and Backwell (BS48). People working or living in Central Bristol, South Bristol, Long Ashton, Backwell, Wraxall, Nailsea, Congresbury, Cleeve, Yatton, Clevedon, Portishead and Barrow Gurney, will find my practice easy to travel to. This page was last updated on 18 February 2026.