Carlotta Lazzaro

Some people come to counselling because they are struggling with anxiety, self criticism, difficult emotions or relationships. Others arrive because they keep finding themselves in the same patterns, even when they understand them and genuinely want things to be different.

You may be experiencing emotions that feel difficult to understand or manage, finding yourself overthinking situations, or wondering why certain experiences affect you so strongly. Relationships may bring up feelings of rejection, insecurity, anger, guilt or fear, or you may notice familiar patterns appearing across different relationships.

You might find it difficult to express your needs or set boundaries, worry about disappointing others, or notice that you adapt yourself around the people in your life. Perhaps you are questioning your self worth, who you are within your relationships, or what you actually want rather than what you feel you should want.

Sometimes the difficulty is clear. At other times, you may simply feel that something isn't quite right and want a space to understand yourself and what you are experiencing more deeply.

I am Carlotta, a therapeutic counsellor with Level 7 training in psychotherapy and a Doctoral Trainee in Counselling Psychology (DCPsych) in London.

How I work
My approach is integrative and tailored to you. I am interested in how you experience yourself, your emotions and your relationships with others, and in understanding the connections between them.

Through reflection, curiosity and gentle challenge, we can explore what is happening in your life and consider different perspectives. This might involve staying with an emotion and understanding what it may be communicating, exploring what happens within a relationship, looking at a difficult decision or boundary, or becoming curious about a belief or pattern you find yourself returning to.

We might explore how you respond when you feel rejected, criticised, misunderstood or uncertain; what happens when your needs conflict with someone else's; or why particular relationships or situations bring up emotions that feel especially difficult.

Our work can also involve questions around identity and sense of self. We can become curious about who you are within and outside your relationships, the expectations you have learned to carry, the ways you may have adapted to others, and what you have come to believe about your own needs, worth and who you are.

The aim isn't simply to understand why something happens. Greater awareness can also create space to respond differently, communicate your needs, relate to your emotions in different ways and make choices that feel more aligned with how you want to live.

Childhood and inner child work
For some people, understanding what is happening in the present also involves becoming curious about earlier experiences.

Our childhood experiences and early relationships can contribute to what we learn about emotions, relationships and ourselves. We may learn whether our feelings can be expressed, how our needs are received, what closeness or conflict means, what we need to do to feel accepted or valued, and who we feel we need to be in relation to others.

Sometimes these earlier experiences continue to appear in adulthood through our emotional responses, relationships, boundaries, self worth or recurring patterns.

Inner child work can form part of our sessions when relevant. This may involve exploring earlier emotional experiences, unmet needs and messages you received about yourself, and becoming curious about how these experiences may still be present in the way you feel, respond or relate to others today.

Areas I work with

Anxiety, overthinking and feeling overwhelmed
Difficult or intense emotions
Understanding and expressing emotions
Self worth, self doubt and self criticism
Identity and sense of self
Relationship difficulties and recurring relationship patterns
Emotional needs and difficulties expressing them
Boundaries and difficulties saying no
People pleasing and adapting yourself around others
Fear of rejection, criticism or disappointing others
Expectations and feeling caught between what you “should” want and what you actually want
Childhood experiences and how they may relate to the present
Inner child work and unmet emotional needs
Recurring emotional or behavioural patterns
Life changes, decisions and periods of uncertainty

Sometimes people come to counselling already knowing what they want to explore. Others simply know that something doesn't feel right.

You don't need to have worked out where your difficulties come from before starting counselling. Whatever brings you, we can start with what is happening for you now and work from there.

Session fees
First session (online): £40
Ongoing sessions (online or face to face): Fees for ongoing sessions will be discussed during the initial consultation. Reduced fee spaces are available on a limited basis for students and those on lower income.

I don’t offer free introductory sessions, and here’s why: These are usually 15 or 20 minutes long, and in my experience, that’s simply not enough time to explore what’s going on for you or to get a real sense of how I work. The conversation often ends just as it’s starting. Instead, I offer a full session as the starting point. This allows us time to slow down, talk through what’s bringing you to therapy, and begin to get a feel for whether this is the right support for you. It’s a space for you to ask questions and see how it feels, without pressure or obligation to continue.

Concessions
Reduced rate £40 per session (online only) available for students, keyworkers and low income clients.