About me
Are you facing one of life's biggest decisions: whether to become a parent, who to become once you are one, or how to build a new identity after leaving home?
I trained first as a neuroscientist, then as an existential psychotherapist — and both continue to shape how I understand and work with people.
Much of my practice — and my current doctoral research — centres on the deliberate, identity-altering decisions people make: whether to become a parent, often shaped by anxiety about the climate and the future; who to become once you are a parent; and, as someone who migrated to the UK by choice myself, what it means to build a life and identity in a new country.
My PhD examined the adolescent brain in young people with ADHD and conduct disorder. It gave me a grounding in neurodevelopment that I still draw on, but it also showed me that no amount of brain science fully captures what it's like to be a person, making sense of a life. That's what drew me into existential, and phenomenological work.
I also work with people affected by ADHD and conduct-related difficulties, and with family members trying to understand and support someone with behavioural difficulty — an area I researched for over a decade before training as a therapist.
I offer a warm, non-judgemental space, in English or Spanish, where we can slow down and explore what's really going on beneath the surface. I work integratively, primarily from an existential and ontological perspective, combined with psychodynamic, phenomenological and ACT-informed approaches — because I don't believe one framework fits every person or every struggle.
Sessions are available in person at headroom in Forest Hill, or online.
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Training, qualifications & experience
I completed my undergraduate psychology degree in Mexico City. During my studies, I worked with young people in young offender institutions providing assessments and counselling to individuals with complex psychological trauma.
I wanted to deepen my understanding of the development of our behaviour and I decided to pursue an MSc in Neuroscience at King's College London with the goal of understanding more about how our brain works and how it influences what we do.
I then pursued a PhD at the University of Southampton that looked at brain differences between boys and girls with behavioural problems (conduct disorder and ADHD). Although I found the research fascinating, I felt that our humanity is too complex to be understood by only studying brain processes and needs to be complemented with an understanding of our subjective world experience. I wanted to understand what makes us human on a more subjective level.
Thus, I started my Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at the New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling. As part of this programme, I have learned to work as a psychotherapist using an existential-phenomenological perspective. My current research is on the impact of the climate crisis on our mental health, and specifically on women that chose not to have children because of climate change. The journey of women choosing how and whether to mother can feel exhausting. Those that have climate concerns can cause feelings of extreme anxiety and hopelessness about the future resulting in a choice not to mother.
My qualifications
- Undergraduate degree in Psychology at Universidad Iberoamericana
- Masters in Neuroscience - King's College London
- PhD in neurodevelopmental psychology - University of Southampton
- Ongoing Doctorate in Counselling psychology and psychotherapy - New school of psychotherapy and counselling and Middlesex university
- Ontological Coaching- Newfield Network Institute
My Academic Publications include:
- González-Madruga, K., Rogers, J., Toschi, N., Riccelli, R., Smaragdi, A., Puzzo, I., . . . Fairchild, G. (2019). White matter microstructure of the extended limbic system in male and female youth with conduct disorder. Psychological Medicine, 1-10. doi:10.1017/S0033291718003951
- Sidlauskaite, J., González-Madruga, K., Smaragdi, A., Riccelli, R., Puzzo, I., Batchelor, M., … Fairchild, G. (2017). Sex differences in risk-based decision making in adolescents with conduct disorder. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, pp. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-017-1024-9
- Smaragdi, A., Cornwell, H., Toschi, N., Riccelli, R., Gonzalez-Madruga, K., Wells, A., … Fairchild, G. (2017). Sex Differences in the Relationship Between Conduct Disorder and Cortical Structure in Adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 56(8), 703–712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2017.05.015
- Raschle, N.M., Menks, W., Fehlbaum, L., Steppan, M., Smaragdi, A., Gonzalez-Madruga, K., Rogers, J., Clanton, R., Kohls, G., Martinelli, A., Fairchild, G., De Brito, S., Konrad, k., Freitag, C., Stadler, S. (2017). Callous-unemotional traits and brain structure: sex-specific effects in anterior insula of typically developing youths.Neuroimage:Clinical.
- Puzzo, I., Smaragdi, A., Gonzalez, K., Martin-Key, N.A., & Fairchild, G. (2016). Neurobiological, Neuroimaging, and Neuropsychological Studies of Children and Adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorders. Family Relations, 65(1), 134-150. doi:10.1111/fare.12182.
Book Chapter
- González-Madruga, K., Staginnus, M., & Fairchild, G. (2022). Alterations in Structural and Functional Connectivity in ADHD: Implications for Theories of ADHD. In S. C. Stanford, & E. Sciberras (Eds.), Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences (pp. 445-481). (Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences; Vol. 57). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2022_345
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
Childless by choice
Therapies offered
Fees
£90.00 - £120.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I offer a number of different sessions, please see below for the option that best suits your needs. Sessions can occur in English or Spanish.
I see clients at headroom in Forest Hill. You can learn more about the practice at https://headroom.org.uk/ or online.
Therapy sessions cost £90 per session.
I also have some concessionary rate spaces available. Please get in touch and explain your need for the concessionary rate.
One on one double session - £145
Sometimes 60 minutes can feel too short for everything you need to work on. In this case we could work in a double session which lasts for 90 mins.
One to one Coaching face to face or online - £120
I offer coaching sessions. Here we would clarify your values, self-reflect and move forward in a way that feels more authentic to you. Coaching sessions usually last 60 mins and usually occur once a month.
Concessionary rate for coaching spaces available. Please get in touch and explain your need for the concessionary rate.
*I see individuals from the age of 18yrs+.
What to expect
Once you are in contact, we will schedule an initial free telephone discussion. Typically this call lasts 30 minutes and we can discuss what brings you to therapy, as well as what your expectations are. This is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and assess your needs. You can also get a sense of how I work and how you feel about me. Research has shown that the type of therapy a person receives is less important than the relationship between client and therapist.
We will also discuss what type of session (face-to-face, online, short/long term, coaching) most suits you. This will take into account many different factors, and I will make suggestions, but this will always be a decision we make together.
Further information
My therapeutic approach
I believe that each individual has unique experiences, with unique needs and wants, and these can be tackled in different ways. I work primarily from an existential and ontological perspective, and I also combine phenomenological, psychodynamic and ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) principles. I would be better described as an integrative counsellor; this means that I believe that there isn’t just one therapeutic approach to help you in every situation, and as such I use several different approaches to help you explore and cope with your struggles. In my therapy I aim to create a strong therapeutic relationship through validation, acknowledgement and empathy. I offer a non-judgemental space where you can feel safe so that healing can take place and new choices can be explored.
Below you can find a description of the different frameworks that I work with:
Existential therapy: This is a type of therapy that focuses on helping clients explore and make sense of their experiences of the fundamental dilemmas of human existence, such as death, meaninglessness, and freedom.
Ontological therapy: This is a type of therapy that focuses on helping clients explore their sense of self and the nature of their being. It aims to help clients gain insight into how they are creating their experience of themselves and the world around them, and to make conscious choices about how they want to live.
Phenomenology: This is a branch of philosophy that emphasises the study of subjective experience and consciousness. In therapy, a phenomenological approach involves exploring a client's subjective experience of their thoughts, emotions, and sensations in order to gain insight into their unique perspective on the world.
Psychodynamics: This is a theoretical framework that emphasises the role of unconscious thoughts and feelings in shaping behaviour. Psychodynamic therapy aims to help clients uncover and work through unconscious conflicts.
ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy): This is a type of therapy that emphasises mindfulness, acceptance, and values-based action. ACT encourages clients to accept difficult thoughts and emotions rather than trying to control or eliminate them, and to take action in line with their values rather than being driven by anxiety or avoidance.
