Richard De Val

Richard De Val is a psychotherapist and addiction clinician with more than ten years’ experience working with addiction, relapse and the difficulties that often accompany them.

He has a particular interest in cocaine use, treatment fatigue and working with people who have struggled to make lasting changes through previous treatment. His work includes clients who are ambivalent about change, continuing to use substances or already established in recovery.

Richard also works with men who can find conventional therapy difficult to engage with, including those facing pressure, burnout, relationship difficulties and a disconnect between outward success and what is happening privately.

Professional Background & Qualifications

Richard holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Addiction Psychology and Counselling from London South Bank University and is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

His further training includes Brainspotting, Integrated Harm Reduction Psychotherapy, Motivational Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, trauma and dissociation, and interpersonal group therapy.

He is also studying Lacanian psychoanalysis at the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research.

Healthcare Leadership & Experience

Richard has worked across residential, outpatient and private settings with professionals, business leaders and creatives, often where discretion and a highly individualised approach are important.

His clinical work includes addiction, relapse, trauma, emotional regulation and the wider psychological pressures that can contribute to destructive or difficult-to-control behaviours.

He has particular experience working with clients who have been through previous treatment but continue to feel stuck, helping them understand the role that substances or behaviours have come to play in their lives.

Approach to Care

Richard’s approach is individualised, relational and pragmatic. Rather than focusing only on stopping a behaviour, he works with clients to understand what function it serves, whether through relief, confidence, escape, autonomy or coping under pressure.

His work draws on relational and psychodynamic psychotherapy, motivational and harm-reduction approaches, Brainspotting and contemporary thinking about addiction and repetition.

He places particular importance on maintaining a strong therapeutic relationship while helping clients develop greater choice, flexibility and control over behaviours that have become difficult to change.