About me
Sometimes nothing dramatic has happened, and yet inside you feel tired, anxious, lonely, or quietly overwhelmed. You may still be functioning, still taking care of others, still doing what needs to be done. Somewhere along the way, you have started to feel disconnected from yourself.
I am Dr Hsin-Shao Chang (MBACP, PsychD), a bilingual counsellor offering online counselling in the UK, based in Edinburgh. I work in both English and Mandarin Chinese, and I support adults who feel emotionally stuck, worn down by anxiety or low mood, carrying unresolved grief, or struggling with identity, belonging and life transitions. This may happen across cultures, or sometimes simply within a person’s inner world.
I offer online therapy across the UK and counselling in Edinburgh for adults who are living with anxiety, low mood, grief, emotional exhaustion, relationship difficulties, identity confusion and the quieter weight of life transitions. Many people who come to see me are not in acute crisis. They are reflective, responsible and often caring deeply for others. Yet inwardly they feel tired, self doubting or emotionally overwhelmed. Our work often begins not with dramatic events, but with what feels confusing, repetitive or heavy in everyday life. This can show up as the same relationship patterns, the same self criticism, or the same sense of being almost okay, but not quite.
People often come to see me when they are experiencing:
- ongoing anxiety, worry or emotional overwhelm
- a sense of low mood, numbness or quiet despair
- grief, bereavement or unresolved loss
- repeating relationship difficulties
- questions around identity, self worth and direction
- the emotional strain of cross cultural life and migration
As a Mandarin speaking counsellor and bilingual therapist, I also work with clients who feel more at ease expressing themselves in Mandarin, or who live between different cultural worlds.
My way of working is calm, thoughtful, gentle and emotionally honest. We begin by listening carefully to what has been quietly waiting inside you. I will not rush you, and I will not push you to change before you are ready. At times, I may gently reflect patterns that feel difficult to see alone, always with care and respect.
Therapy with me is not a quick fix. It is a space to slow down, to be met and to understand yourself more truthfully, at a pace that feels safe enough. Therapy, to me, is not about becoming someone else. It is about slowly finding your way back to what has quietly been waiting inside you.
I offer a free 20 minute consultation, and a reduced fee first session at £45, so you can gently sense whether this space feels right for you.
Training, qualifications & experience
I came to counselling not only through academic training, but also through lived experience of emotional change, loss and the inner disorientation that can come with cultural transition. I understand what it is like to appear capable on the outside while feeling uncertain, heavy or unseen within.
I have been working as a counsellor and psychotherapist for over ten years. During this time I have supported adults in university counselling services, in third sector organisations and in work focused on suicide prevention and suicide bereavement. I have experience accompanying people who are living with anxiety and low mood, long term emotional pain, grief after sudden or traumatic loss, relationship and attachment difficulties, and the emotional strain of living between cultures. I have also worked with women from ethnic minority backgrounds who carry the impact of discrimination, racism and complex family expectations.
Alongside this clinical experience, I hold a Doctorate in Counselling and Psychotherapy (PsychD) and a Master’s degree in Counselling Studies, and I am a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP).
My approach is integrative, grounded mainly in psychodynamic and relational therapy, alongside strong person centred values. This means our work is not only about managing symptoms, but about gently understanding the emotional patterns, early experiences and inner expectations that shape how you relate to yourself and others today.
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
£45.00 - £65.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
£65 per 50-minute session
This reflects the depth of the work, my clinical training at doctoral level, and my experience supporting clients through complex emotional, relational and identity-related difficulties.
Introductory first session: £45
This reduced rate offers a gentle way to begin and gives you space to sense whether our work together feels right for you.
Free 20-minute consultation
You are welcome to arrange a short, no-pressure conversation before committing to a full session. This can help you get a feel for how I work and whether it may be a supportive fit.
About my fee structure
Therapy is a meaningful commitment, and I want you to feel both supported and grounded as you begin. My standard fee of £65 reflects the level of clinical training I have completed, including doctoral-level psychotherapy training, along with over a decade of experience working with clients in depth.
At the same time, I recognise that taking the first step can feel uncertain. The £45 introductory session is offered to give you the opportunity to experience a session with me before deciding whether you would like to continue. It is not a long-term discount, but a gentle invitation to start at a pace that feels manageable.
The free 20-minute consultation is simply a space for us to meet, ask questions and begin to understand whether the therapeutic relationship feels safe and supportive for you.
If you have any questions about fees or the therapy process, you’re always welcome to get in touch.
When I work
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