Joanna Chrzastowska


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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Joanna Asia Chrzastowska - psychotherapy & counselling in East London & online.
Welcome, I am an experienced, UKCP and BACP accredited psychotherapist. I work with adults aged 18+ in both short and longer term therapy.
I offer culturally sensitive therapy through an intersectional lens to individuals, couples and groups.
My approach to therapy is first to create a safe space where one is accepted and valued for who they are, as they are, without judgement. I acknowledge each person as a multifaceted, unique being. With this in mind, I welcome all experiences you may bring into the therapy room.
I work with wide range of psychological and emotional issues, be that stress, anxiety, relationship issues, depression, shame, self-esteem issues, anger, issues of power & oppression, trauma, and others. I have particular expertise dealing with issues of identity, sense of self, and adverse childhood experiences, such as developmental trauma.
If you don't identify with any of the issues listed here, we can first discuss what you need as well as what your hopes and expectations are for our work together.
As we are all unique and diverse the reasons for reaching out for emotional support or deciding to take a step in life towards personal healing, growth and change vary significantly.
You might be dealing with something specific, seeking emotional wellness, or would like to come into deeper relationship with yourself and others. Often people seek therapy as they have reached a turning point and come with a feeling that their life is not quite right; they want to learn how to live more intentionally, with a sense of freedom and harmony within themselves.
I hope there may be ways in which we can work together, suited to you wherever you are right now in your journey.
I offer a free approx. 15-minute phone assessment so that we can discuss your reasons for seeking therapy and how we might work together.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
At our first session, we can discuss the issues that are of concern to you and your hopes and expectations for our work. This first meeting might help you get a sense of who I am as a person and how I can support you. I believe that it is important that you find a therapist that you feel at ease with, who you get the sense of being able to trust and build a relationship with over time. There is no obligation to continue after this first meeting.
Therapy is a very private and personal experience. All discussions with your therapist are handled sensitively and are confidential.
I aim to respond to all voice messages/texts/emails within 24 hours.
Areas I work with include:
-Stress, burnout and feeling like you can’t cope
-Depression, and low mood
-Anxiety, and panic attacks-Relationship challenges and relationship breakdown
-Childhood adverse events (CAE) such as abuse and neglect
-Issues of power, oppression and privilege
-Cultural identity and issues of belonging
-Issues of sense of self, trauma
-Difficulty relating to others
-Issues of self-esteem
-Mood issues
-Shame
-Grief and loss in its many forms
-Repeating patterns of behaving, feeling and thinking
-Sense of lack of purpose or lack of direction
-Sense of emptiness and meaninglessness
Training, qualifications & experience
I am a qualified, registered and accredited counsellor & psychotherapist. I am qualified at Master’s Degree level and hold both UKCP Registration and MBACP Accreditation.
My approach incorporates aspects of humanistic (Transactional Analysis), psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). My style is relational. I have integrated some ideas and techniques from mindfulness and embodied approaches to life and therapy.
Memberships:
- BACP (Registered Accredited Member)
- UKCP (Registered Psychotherapist)
- UKATA
- EATA
- ITAA
Fully insured
Data Protection Registered
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
I also offer online sessions.
Therapies offered
Fees
£70.00 per session
Free initial telephone session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
From £70 upwards, fees for sessions at the end of day are higher. Sessions last 50 minutes.
When I work
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Further information
I structure my work by ideas from Transactional Analysis (TA). TA therapy draws on the belief that we all have natural tendency towards growth and wellness. Yet, old patterns of relating, feeling and thinking, as well as layers of emotional defences can create blocks interrupting the natural cycle of wellness. The role of psychotherapist is to create the right conditions to remove those blocks.
TA offers a framework within which we can explore how we have been shaped by our experiences. As we come into this world, we gradually learn how to be and act in ways that allow us to best meet our needs and stay safe. Often we continue to replay the old strategies in grown up life. However, the strategies, that were once useful, can become self-defeating, painful, or problematic.
If we work together, I will offer curious and compassionate perspective and will help you put your experience into a wider context. This, I hope, will enable you to gain fresh insight in yourself. Insight in yourself makes choice possible. By becoming aware of your patterns of being in this world, and past adaptations or defences, you can decide to change them and release that which no longer serves you.
At the core of my practice is a philosophy of inclusiveness, through embracing the difference and acknowledging the importance of identity and belonging. I celebrate the diversity of human experience. I honour your journey.