Ellen Yun

You might be here because something in your life or relationships feels difficult to make sense of. Perhaps you understand why you struggle, but knowing hasn’t changed how you feel.

You may appear capable, responsible or high-functioning to others, while inside you feel exhausted, disconnected, anxious, restless, resentful or numb. Perhaps you are used to looking after everyone else, staying quiet or keeping going, while losing touch with what you need.

I offer space to understand yourself with more compassion, connect more meaningfully with yourself and others, and explore what flourishing could look like in your own life.

Therapy with me is not about becoming who other people needed you to be. It is about slowly coming back to yourself.

About me

I’m Ellen, a British Chinese psychotherapist with nearly 20 years’ experience. I am trained to Level 3 in Internal Family Systems (IFS), trained in Intimacy from the Inside Out (IFIO), and part of the IFIO staff team. I also work as a supervisor, experiential workshop facilitator, speaker, writer and podcast host.

I originally trained as an integrative counsellor in 2004 and continue to work in an integrative way, now working mainly with IFS. My practice is shaped by professional training, lived experience and an ongoing curiosity about being human.

I am British Chinese, with Hong Kong and Taishanese heritage. I understand how important it can be to find words for experiences you have carried for years, particularly when your family, culture or faith community has struggled to acknowledge them.

I am also a survivor of spiritual abuse and sexual assault. My understanding is informed by my own experience of leaving a spiritually abusive setting and the ongoing work of recovery and healing. This sits alongside my professional training and experience. Your story will be different from mine, and our work will centre your experiences, needs and choices.

How I work

We can sometimes feel pulled in different directions. One part of us wants closeness, while another keeps people at a distance. We might want to speak honestly, yet find ourselves going quiet. We may know we need rest and still feel unable to stop.

IFS helps us gently get to know these different parts of ourselves. Anxiety, self-criticism, perfectionism, people-pleasing, shutting down or staying constantly busy may have developed for understandable reasons. They may have helped you cope, belong, avoid conflict or manage situations that felt overwhelming.

Together, we can approach these responses with curiosity and care, understand what they have been trying to do for you, and explore what you need now. This can open up more choice in how you respond to yourself and the people around you.

Understanding yourself also means making sense of the world that has shaped you. We can explore the influence of family expectations, culture, racism, gender, faith, migration and power, alongside your personal experiences. These things matter, and there is room to speak about them here.

I work collaboratively and at a pace we agree together. You can bring uncertainty, mixed feelings and things you haven’t yet found words for. Your voice, choices and boundaries matter throughout our work.

What we can explore

I am an experienced therapist offering counselling for individuals and couples around a range of issues, including:

• Trauma and the lasting impact of frightening, overwhelming or painful experiences.
• Church harm and spiritual abuse.
• PTSD, CPTSD
• Sexual assault and betrayal.
• Grief and loss, including losses that others may not recognise.
• Anxiety, panic attacks, restlessness, overthinking and feeling unable to switch off.
• Depression, numbness and feeling disconnected from yourself or others.
• Obsessive-compulsive difficulties (OCD).
• Self-harm and suicidal thoughts.
• Eating disorders and addiction.
• People-pleasing, perfectionism, low self-esteem and difficulties with confidence.
• Painful relationship patterns, conflict and difficulties with closeness or trust.
• Family and cultural pressure, intergenerational trauma and expectations about who you should be.
• Racism, migration, belonging and British Chinese identity.
• Institutional silence and the impact of having your concerns dismissed or left unacknowledged.
• Unresolved past hurts and regrets.
• Life changes and transitions, including perimenopause and menopause.
  Stress and work-related difficulties.
• You do not need to have a clear label for what you are experiencing. We can begin with what life feels like for you.

Church harm and spiritual abuse

When harm happens in a place where you expected care, belonging or spiritual guidance, it can be difficult to recognise and name. You may find yourself questioning your judgement, feeling guilty for raising concerns or wondering whether leaving makes you disloyal.

Spiritual abuse can involve the use of religious beliefs, scripture, spiritual authority or the threat of losing community to control, shame or silence someone. The response when you speak about harm can deepen the hurt, especially when you are urged to forgive, protect a reputation or move on before what happened has been acknowledged.

I understand that leaving can bring relief alongside grief, fear and uncertainty. You may be mourning relationships, community, identity or a sense of trust in yourself and your faith.

There is room here to explore all of this, whether you remain within your faith, are questioning it or have stepped away. We can work at your pace, with respect for your beliefs and your right to decide what comes next.

Sexual assault and betrayal

After sexual assault, you may be carrying shame, anger, confusion, numbness or difficulties with trust and closeness. You may also have been hurt by how other people responded, or by having to carry the experience in silence.

We can gently make space for the parts of you affected by what happened, listening to what they carry and what they need now, without needing to relive the event itself. Your boundaries, consent and sense of choice remain central to our work.

Making room for grief

Grief is an important part of my work. We can grieve people, relationships, communities, lost opportunities or the care we needed and did not receive.

Trauma work can include grieving what happened, what was lost, what was never protected or acknowledged, and what younger parts of us had to carry alone.

Many families, cultures, churches and workplaces leave little room for this. We may be encouraged to move on, forgive, stay strong, be grateful or keep going. In therapy, there can be space to slow down and honour what has not yet been felt, named or mourned.

I sometimes think of my role as being a little like a grief or trauma doula: someone who accompanies you through a difficult process that is your own. I can be alongside you as you find your way, helping you reconnect with your feelings, your body and your own capacity to care for yourself.

Couples and relationships

I offer IFIO therapy for couples and close relationships, drawing on IFS. This helps us understand the patterns that arise between people, particularly when both are hurting and struggling to feel heard.

We can explore what happens within each of you and between you, develop more compassionate communication, and consider what meaningful repair requires. This includes attention to impact, responsibility, boundaries and whether there is enough safety for repair.

My values

My approach is gentle, steady and collaborative. There is room for compassion, truth, anger, grief, boundaries, accountability and choice. Healing takes time, and we will pay attention to what you have the capacity to explore.

My work is shaped by a liberatory understanding of therapy. In everyday terms, this means recognising that our pain is connected to the relationships, communities and conditions in which we live. Alongside asking, “What is happening within me?”, we may also ask, “What happened to me?” and “What have I had to carry?”

I am committed to an ongoing journey of working in an anti-oppressive and anti-racist way, with a decolonising approach. This includes examining whose experiences are recognised, whose voices are overlooked and how power operates, including within therapy.

My Christian faith informs how I understand and value human beings. I respect your right to your own beliefs and will explore faith, religion or spirituality with you if you wish to bring them into our work.

Consultation

I offer IFS-informed consultation for therapists, coaches, leaders and others whose roles involve supporting or influencing people. I completed my Diploma in Counselling Supervision in 2017 and have undertaken further training in integrating IFS into supervision and consultation. I am currently offering consultation rather than taking on new supervisees.

I have a particular interest in supporting practitioners who identify as Christian, including those exploring spiritual abuse and the relationship between faith, power and therapeutic practice.

Across all my work, my hope is to support greater understanding, meaningful connection and more freedom to live in ways that feel true to you.

I offer short (up to 6 sessions) and medium (6-12 sessions) term therapy, as well as long term open ended therapy.

• Unresolved past issues and regrets
• Change and transitions
• Identity and culture (I have experience of the issues a person might face when living in a culture or ethnicity different to one's own, and the impact that can have on one's identity)
• Other addictive behaviours

Adults

Complementary 20 minute Discovery Session:
Choosing a Counsellor who you feel comfortable with is important. This initial session helps us find out more about each other, and for us to decide if we would be a good fit to continue working together.

Fees
I use a structured, self-select fee model. This means there are different fee bands, and you are invited to choose the rate that best reflects your current circumstances.

I do this because I want my fees to be clear, thoughtful and transparent. I also want to hold access and sustainability together: making lower-cost spaces available where I can, while caring for the long-term health of the practice and the quality of the work.

The standard tier reflects the usual cost of working with me. The sustainer tier is for those with greater financial capacity who would like to support the wider accessibility of the practice. The access and supported tiers are limited, and are offered to make room for people with different financial realities.

Individual therapy
Individual therapy sessions are available for 50, 65 or 80 minutes.

I offer 4 fee bands, Access, Supported, Standard or Sustainer

Access Spaces
£60-£80 per 50 minutes
£80- £105 per 65 minutes
£95-£130 per 80 minutes

Supported tier
£90 to £110 per 50 minutes
£115 to £145 per 65 minutes
£145 to £175 per 80 minutes

Standard tier
£120 to £150 per 50 minutes 
£155 to £195 per 65 minutes
£190 to £240 per 80 minutes

Sustainer tier
£155 to £180 per 50 minutes
£200 to £235 per 65 minutes
£250 to £290 per 80 minutes

Couples therapy
I offer online IFIO-informed couples therapy.

Access / lower-cost couples spaces
£95 to £120 per 60 minutes
£140 to £180 per 90 minutes

Supported couples therapy

£125-£135 per 60 minutes

£185-£205 per 60 minutes

Standard couples therapy
£140 to £170 per 60 minutes
£210 to £255 per 90 minutes

Sustainer couples therapy
£180 to £210 per 60 minutes
£270 to £315 per 90 minutes

Couples work often involves a different level of holding, complexity and preparation. The fee reflects the specialist nature of this work, while still making room for lower-cost spaces where possible.

Equitable pricing and radical trust
My fee structure is rooted in radical trust.

I do not ask people to prove hardship, disclose unnecessary financial details, or justify why they need a lower fee. I know that for many people, having to prove need can feel exposing or undignifying.

Instead, I ask clients, couples, supervisees and consultees to choose the fee that genuinely reflects their circumstances, capacity and context.

If your circumstances change, we can review the fee together. For some people, this may mean needing a lower fee for a time. For others, it may mean being able to move into a higher band when financial capacity increases.

This approach is part of my commitment to social-justice-informed practice. I do not believe therapy, supervision or consultation should only be available to those with the most financial ease. At the same time, I do not believe equity should depend on a practitioner overworking, undercharging or becoming exhausted.

My hope is that this fee structure feels clear, dignified and transparent: one that honours different financial realities, protects the quality of the work, and supports the long-term health of the practice.

How Does Therapy 'Work'?

If you have never had therapy before, and even if you have, it can be a daunting experience. Telling a complete stranger your issues can feel surreal and unnatural.

Therapy is process. It is a journey of discovery for you, and for me, because I believe that everyone is individual and unique and that no two peoples experience or therapy process is the same. I respect who you are, the individual and unique experience that you bring and want to hear and understand your story, in your words.

From getting to know you I can offer different ways of helping to you to understand the issues that are concerning you and to figure out a way forward. I offer a client led approach; therefore no two peoples experience, content or time taken in therapy is comparable. It is your process, your journey, your time and I walk that with you.

Testimonials

Here is a flavour of what therapy with me was like for one person I worked with:

"It took me years and years to get the courage to go to my GP and tell him I believe I suffered from depression and anxiety. Years of panic attacks, dark thoughts, loneliness and denial. 5 minutes later, I was leaving with a prescription for anti-depressants and advice to go to counselling. It took me another 6 months to arrange counselling. I struggle to talk about my feelings and to ask for help generally and I was still kind of in denial.

I found Ellen through a review website and she seemed to be down to earth. Ellen's profile stood out to me but I can't now put a finger on why. We exchanged emails and then a phone call and set an appointment date. I was pleased with myself but also terrified. When I turned up I was so nervous. Ellen was so calm and relaxed and I spent the next hour throwing up negative life events that I had self diagnosed as the cause of my issues. It made little sense but Ellen listened attentively and an hour flew by. At no point did I feel judged which is a big thing for me.

I walked out and was consumed with anxiety for sharing all those things but also for my non-sensical approach. Ellen wasn't phased. Over the next 6 weeks I would come to look forward to our chats and by the last week, it was genuinely the highlight of my week. I am far from an expert about techniques but I feel the most comfortable and happy with who I am than I have ever felt in my life and I'm 31. I had the confidence to move aboard on my own a few months after our sessions and I previously didn't like doing anything on my own.

Ellen has given me a belief system, an outlook and a calmness to my life that I've never had before. A way to not be consumed and to step back and appreciate. I discovered what the panic attacks were and how to identify the feeling before they start. I now have a whole tool box of ways to deal with the black fog and can identify that also even when I'm in deep. All this and I can't say one specific thing that Ellen told me because that's not her approach. It's not a lecture, it's not listen to this and you'll be cured. I should note that I was open and willing to read what was suggested and work on the techniques. As a result, I no longer need the anti-depressants.

I feel like I've woken up to life and what Ellen has made me realise is that it was there all along, I just wasn't being present in it. I had a moment on London Bridge midway through our sessions. I'd spent years powerwalking to my office , absent-mindlessly planning my day or being grumpy about something or someone. That moment, I wasn't thinking, I was just there and I could feel the sun on my shoulders and my face and I looked around for the first time on my commute and the view was beautiful, I'd seen it a thousand times but I'd never appreciated it until that moment. It was that moment that I knew I could feel free."