Emmy van Deurzen
Emmy van Deurzen is a counselling psychologist, psychotherapist and philosopher. She is an international authority on existential psychotherapy and established existential therapy in the UK. She founded, directed and developed both Regent’s College School of Psychotherapy and Counselling and the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling in London. She is Professor of Psychotherapy with Schiller International University, Honorary Professor with the University of Sheffield, where she co-directs the Centre for the Study of Conflict and Reconciliation and Visiting Professor with Middlesex University, for whom she directs two masters and two doctoral programmes at NSPC. She founded the Society for Existential Analysis (SEA) and its Journal Existential Analysis in 1988 and co-founded the International Collaborative of Existential Counsellors and Psychotherapists (ICECAP) in 2006. She was the first chair of the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.
Amongst her books are the bestseller Existential Psychotherapy and Counselling in Practice (2nd edition Sage, 2002), which was widely translated as well as her book Psychotherapy and the Quest for Happiness (Sage, 2009). A co-edited book on Existential Supervision came out in 2009 and the second edition of her textbook Everyday Mysteries was published by Routledge in 2010, whilst Sage have also published her new co-authored book on Skills in Existential Counselling and Psychotherapy, also in 2010.
Digby Tantam
I am a psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist with interests in autism spectrum disorder, existential philosophy, and group psychotherapy. I am currently working on three book projects: a neurodevelopmenttal approach to psychiatry currently called 'Psychiatry's disease'; a part-biography, part philosophical commentary on selected female existentialist philosopers; and a book on intelligent design and evolution entitled 'why is the sky blue?'
Digby Tantam is the author of Emotional Well-Being and Mental Health (Sage, 2014) for which Emmy provided a Foreword.
Claire Arnold-Baker
Claire is an experienced existential psychotherapist and counselling psychologist, maintaining a small private practice in Reading, where she specialises in working with mothers. She has been involved in the training of practitioners for over 20 years and is now both Academic Director of NSPC and Course Leader of the DCPsych programme.
Claire is also passionate about research and she specialises in researching motherhood, which was the topic of her own doctoral work and has gone on to supervise more than 12 research students in this area as well as supervising students who have investigated other topics.
As an author Claire has co-edited Existential Perspectives on Human Issues with Emmy van Deurzen in 2005 and more recently she co-authored Existential Therapy: Distinctive Features in 2018, also with Emmy van Deurzen. Claire’s edited book on Motherhood, The Existential Crisis of Motherhood (2020), brings together maternal research that has been conducted by graduates and staff at NSPC. She has also written a number of chapters and journal articles on existential therapy or motherhood.
Ania Capaldo
Ania is the Course Leader for the Foundation and Short Courses. She is a lecturer, EMDR therapist and an existential psychotherapist working with individuals, couples and families.
Her clinical background includes work across the NHS, charities, hospices, and private practice. Since 2022, she has been part of the Dilema Consultancy Low-Cost Existential Clinic, contributing to its community of practice dedicated to making existential therapy more accessible. She also teaches existential psychology at the Existential Academy.
Before retraining in psychology, Ania spent many years in the corporate sector across Europe — experience that informs her understanding of the pressures and transitions shaping both professional and personal life.
As the current Course Leader for Foundation and Short Courses at the Existential Academy, Ania brings both professional and personal insight to the role. Having completed the Foundation course herself during her own transition from a business career into psychotherapy, she understands what it means to enter the field from another profession. This lived experience enables her to support students with clarity, realism, and empathy as they navigate their own pathways.
She holds an Executive MBA, a BSc (Hons) in Psychology (First Class), and a PG Dip in Mental Health Science (Distinction). Ania is a full clinical member of the UKCP, registered with the BACP, and a graduate member of the British Psychological Society and EMDR Association UK.
Neil Gibson
At the Existential Academy, Neil is the course lead for the Existential Psychotherapy Training (EPT), a clinical programme leading to full UKCP registration as a psychotherapist. Neil is passionate about making psychotherapy training accessible to as many people as possible. The EPT attracts a huge diversity of people from across the globe looking to pursue a career in psychotherapy, and Neil is proud to be an integral part of that exciting journey that starts at the Existential Academy.
Outside of psychotherapy, Neil is a keen cyclist, skier, tennis player, and (very) amateur pianist.
Nancy Hakim-Dowek
Nancy is the course leader at NSPC for the DProf Programme. She is a lecturer and the doctoral programmes and provides clinical research supervision to both doctoral and masters students. She completed her doctoral degree in Existential Psychotherapy on ‘The lived experience of the bi-rooted migrant’.
Nancy's research interests include: Identity, Migration, Belonging, Roots, uprooting, Bi-Rooted, Cosmopolitanism, Dualism in Self and Identity, Life Crisis and Life Transitions, Existential and Human Issues and Limited Situations.
Ruth Millman
Ruth is an existential psychotherapist specialising in working with autistic and neurodivergent individuals and families. Ruth has worked within the NHS, charity and private sector, providing clinical services and staff training. Ruth oversees the Existential Academy's courses in autism and ADHD. These modules provide students with in-depth training about the presentation, aetiology, and lived experience. The course is particularly helpful for professionals wanting a short, but thorough, training to enhance their practice.
Danny van Deurzen-Smith
Danny is the lead on the community hub where they often run workshops on gender fluidity, existential coaching and working with autism. They cofacilitate the monthly LGBTQ+ autism group with Ruth Millman, and oversee the administrative processes at the academy.
Danny has an MA in Existential Coaching and has been working in private practice for over 10 years. They specialise in working with autistic adults, creativity and LGBTQ+ issues. Danny is also the course leader on the MA in Existential Coaching at NSPC where they also teach.