About me
About me
I’m Christina, an integrative counsellor specialising in disordered eating and sexual abuse.
I work with people experiencing a range of mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, health anxiety, OCD, social anxiety, overthinking and persistent worry, as well as difficulties with eating, body image and self-esteem. I also work with those who have survived trauma in childhood and sexual abuse.
My approach is warm and compassionate, where together we build a safe counselling relationship based on trust, non-judgment and empathy. We all have our own personal struggles and are fighting our own invisible battles. We all deserve to be heard and supported as we work through our hardships. I offer you that space and time to feel that you matter and your voice is listened to. Every day I listen to brave people share their stories and feel honoured to sit alongside them.
However, counselling with me is also active and purposeful. We don’t just simply come to understand why you feel the way you do, together we develop practical ways of responding differently, so that what you might be going through no longer has such a powerful influence over your life.
How I can help
Depression, anxiety or trauma can gradually make your world smaller. You might avoid situations or people, need reassurance, repeatedly check things, overthink decisions. You may talk negatively to yourself and feel as though you’re never good enough.
Together, we'll identify the patterns keeping your mood and anxiety going and begin gently changing them.
Depending on what you need, our work might involve learning how to:
- manage intrusive and negative thoughts without becoming caught up in them
- understand and respond differently to physical sensations of anxiety and depression
- gradually face situations you've been avoiding
- step back from overthinking and rumination
- develop tools for regulating anxiety when your body feels overwhelmed
- build confidence in your ability to cope with difficult thoughts and feelings
- Work through self-esteem and beliefs that you’re “not good enough”
- Understand your past trauma and how your nervous system may be responding
I draw upon CBT, ACT, compassion-focused and person-centred approaches alongside trauma and nervous system processing, adapting our sessions to you rather than expecting you to fit into one particular model of therapy.
The aim isn't to eliminate every anxious or negative thought. It's to reach a place where those thoughts can show up without controlling what you do next.
Eating disorders & body image
I also have a particular interest in working with those experiencing disordered eating and negative body image. Many of my previous clients have had experiences of anorexia and binge eating disorder or feel consumed by disliking their appearance and their body.
Your relationship with food and your body is rarely just about food or appearance. We can explore the experiences, emotions and beliefs that have impacted how you see yourself and your worth.
We might work on reducing restriction and binge cycles, understanding emotional triggers around eating, challenging rigid food rules, reducing body checking and comparison, working with shame and your inner critic, and developing a more compassionate relationship with your body.
I understand how frightening it can feel to loosen behaviours that have provided a sense of safety or control. We therefore work collaboratively and at a pace that feels manageable, while still moving towards meaningful change.
Trauma and sexual abuse
I also work with those who have experienced trauma in childhood and sexual abuse. I am trained in the Rewind Technique to process deeply held trauma and can support you in reestablishing safety in your body through somatic techniques. I also use inner child work and parts work to support you in healing childhood trauma.
About my approach
You don't need to arrive at counselling knowing exactly what you need.
Alongside practical therapeutic techniques, there is always space for the deeper work. We may explore self-esteem, childhood experiences, relationships, attachment, shame, boundaries or the experiences that have shaped how you see yourself today.
At the heart of my work is compassion. I want you to leave therapy not only better able to manage anxiety or difficulties with food and your body, but also trusting yourself more and feeling more at home in who you are.
Practical information
I offer online and face-to-face counselling for adults and teenagers (12+).
If you're considering counselling but aren't sure whether I'm the right therapist for you, I offer an introductory call where we can talk briefly about what has brought you to therapy, what you'd like support with and how I might be able to help.
I offer discounts for students, NHS workers and have also supported many counselling students to obtain their own counselling hours and meet their course requirements.
There is no expectation to have everything figured out before you contact me. We can begin wherever you are.
Training, qualifications & experience
- MSc Psychology
- Advanced Diploma in Counselling and Psychotherapy
- Qualified Independent Domestic Violence Advisor
- Psychological Advocacy Towards Healing
- Transactional Analysis 101
- Suicide First Aid Trained (ASIST)
- Mental Health First Aid Trained
- Counselling for ADHD and Neurodivergence
- Rewind Training for Trauma
I worked for several years as an Independent Domestic Violence Advisor for charities including Women’s Aid, supporting women and men experiencing domestic abuse and sexual violence. This work encouraged me to pursue my counselling training and support people to recover from their experiences of abuse and trauma.
I also have a master's degree in Psychology. My research focused on individuals’ experiences of abuse and the onset and development of disordered eating and/or negative body image.
I previously worked within the NHS offering psychological interventions for anxiety, depression, panic attacks and phobias with several years experience in the Community Mental Health Teams working with self-harm and thoughts of suicide. I combined both my NHS and private practice experience to support my clients to make meaningful and lasting changes that improve their low mood and anxiety effectively. I have also worked for a local university offering psychological interventions for anxiety, depression and study stress. I also supported many students with neurodivergence and self-harm.
I currently run a busy full-time private practice specialising in anxiety, disordered eating and experiences of abuse. However, clients come to me with a variety of issues that they wish to talk about, so please feel free to reach out if you are unsure whether we would be a good fit together and we can discuss this in more detail.
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Other areas of counselling I deal with
Trauma bonds
Coercive control
Betrayal / ‘cheating’ trauma
Fees
£35.00 - £70.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I offer varying discounts to individuals in the following categories:
- Students
- NHS Staff
- People referred from a domestic abuse agency/charity
When I work
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