Emma Stewart
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is temporarily unavailable and will not be responding to enquiries until they return.
This professional is temporarily unavailable and will not be responding to enquiries until they return.
About me
Often, my clients aren’t new to deep thinking. Usually they’ve been doing it alone for a long time. What they struggle with is externalising these feelings. Knowing how they feel in the moment, asking for help, letting others in.
You might be someone who:
- finds it hard to open up, or worries about saying the wrong thing
- isn’t always sure what you’re feeling, where your feelings begin and end, or whether your feelings belong to yourself or someone else
- has spent a long time being independent, and finds it difficult to rely on others
- doesn’t feel fully seen or understood by the people around you
- feels quietly lost, though most people around you don’t know this
- knows something isn’t right, but struggles to explain why
Counselling with me is a space where we start exactly where you are, even if that place feels unclear or undefined. We talk about where you’ve come from, how that has shaped you, and practice feeling the feelings that come up. We explore coping techniques, strategies to manage symptoms, and ways to implement changes.
I stay alongside you for as long as you need me to, to support you through navigating changes and process the emotions that arise as a result of our work together, until you feel safe and equipped to go on without me.
I work with curiosity, care, and at your pace.
You don’t have to do this alone anymore.
I'm here to help you:
-
Understand and express what you’re feeling
-
Explore the parts of you that feel confusing or out of reach
-
Make sense of how past experiences and relationships are shaping you now
-
Separate what emotions belong to you, and what you may have taken on from others
-
Feel more grounded in yourself and your identity
-
Work through guilt, shame, or self-doubt
-
Navigate change, disconnection, and “in-between” phases
-
Explore relationships, boundaries, and ways of connecting
-
Work with anxiety, low mood, and feeling numb
-
Feel more comfortable with asking for help
-
Reframe and thrive within neurodivergence
About me:
I was born in London, brought up in Europe, and have spent most of my adulthood in Belfast. Living across different places and cultures has shaped how I try to understand people. I’ve developed a skill at connecting on a deeper level, and seeing people for who they are rather than how they present to the world.
I’m particularly curious about the parts of people that often go unseen. The parts that say, “I think something is off, but I don’t really know how to explain what’s wrong.” Or, “I’ve changed something big in my life, and I think I know it was the right decision, but I don’t quite know who I am now.”
I’ve also been on my own counselling journey. Through being deeply seen by my counsellor, I began to understand myself in ways I hadn’t been able to on my own. That experience shapes how I work. I know how healing it can be to feel seen, and I tweak my approach with each of my clients to ensure their counselling experience is as true to their story as possible.
I offer a space where you don’t have to have the right words straight away. We can go at your pace, and gently make sense of you.
Some other things about me:
- I'm a human and dog parent, so I understand a bit about the juggle 🤹🏼♀️
- I can work in French, si tu préfères 🥖
- I like plants, so you'll likely see a few when you meet me🪴
Training, qualifications & experience
I hold a Level 4 Foundation Degree in Integrative Counselling. This means that I draw from a range of approaches to support you and your experience, rather than expecting you to fit into a mould.
These include person-centred, relational, psychodynamic, CBT, and trauma-informed approaches.
Together, these allow us to explore both where you're at today, and how past experiences, relationships, and belief systems may still be shaping your thoughts, feelings, and sense of self. When we meet, we will agree on an approach that works best for your needs and wants.
Alongside my counselling training, I also have a BA in Social Anthropology and an MA in Creative Writing. This background helps me understand the complexity of leaving or redefining parts of yourself, and how culture, the stories we are told, and relationships shape who we are and how we heal.
I’ve also undertaken additional training in areas that often connect to this work, including trauma, religious trauma, intergenerational patterns, and working with LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent clients.
I was raised in a multilingual environment and educated in a French-speaking school, so I am in tune with the nuances of cultural identity, migration, and belonging, and can offer sessions in French if that feels more comfortable for you.
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
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Concessionary rates available on request
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early morning | |||||||
| Morning | |||||||
| Early afternoon | |||||||
| Late afternoon | |||||||
| Evening |
Further information
I am part of Era Counselling - a collective of counsellors working out of a space on the Ormeau Road.
Era is a space where life moves at a softer rhythm.
We’ve intentionally created a room that feels more like a living space than a clinic, a space where you can exhale, settle in, and be you.
So whether you arrive feeling overwhelmed, low, stuck, or simply needing space to think; you are welcome, just as you are.