About me
i know from the inside how frightening it is to be seemingly coping on the outside while quietly running on empty.
i am here to meet you in that space between longing and fear.
hello, i am kristina chapala barker - a psychotherapist, former city lawyer, parent and someone who arrived in this country alone at thirteen.
for a long time i mistook fitting in for belonging. i have spent years finding my way back to the difference, and that is at the heart of how i work.
we do our best to keep going. and then one day the struggling starts to feel like proof of something. about who we are. about what we are worth. about what we deserve. about what others seem to manage that we cannot. about whether we are even struggling enough to ask for help.
something can begin to change in that uncomfortable space. it shifts when there is someone willing to stay in it with you. we are not meant to do it alone. no one is.
together, we can begin to get to know you. we can explore how your past experiences continue to shape the way you feel and respond now. we can question whether the stories you’ve come to believe about who you are are still serving you. we can make room, slowly, for a different way of living and loving and being in the world, one that feels more like yours.
i offer a free 30-minute online conversation with no obligation, and online and in person therapy sessions in London (chiswick).
you can get in touch here or via my website: kcbpsychotherapy.co.uk
Training, qualifications & experience
i am here to meet you in that space in between longing and fear.
through my own experiences of not knowing, of being on the outside, of starting again, i've come to know how frightening it is to lose yourself, and how much more frightening it can feel to be found. i am here to learn about what happened to you, how you adapted, and how those adaptations made sense at the time.
what we know from research is that how we relate to ourselves and others as adults - how we respond to difficulty, and what we believe about who we are - is deeply rooted in our early experiences and the meanings we came to make of them. we didn’t chose those meanings, but we can, with time and the right conditions, begin to question whether they are still serving us.
our capacity to change is not fixed.
new experiences and new relationships, including the one we build together, can reshape the ways we feel, respond and understand ourselves. we can chose to rewrite our stories to reflect the version of ourselves we get to become.
i value therapy as a collaborative process, a dynamic relationship where you feel heard, understood, and acknowledged, while also gently challenged to feel more alive, more connected, more yourself. i value curiosity over certainty, compassion over blame, and hope that slowly emerges through experience of trust, rather than being imposed.
it was my own experience of struggling, and finding my way to therapy, that brought me to retrain as a therapist. before that, i spent years as a corporate lawyer at a city law firm after completing my law degree at Cambridge University. i know from the inside how frightening it is to be seemingly coping on the outside while quietly running on empty.
i am here to meet you in that space in between longing and fear.
i hold a postgraduate diploma in integrative psychotherapeutic counselling (accredited by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body), am a registered BACP member (390138), attend regular clinical supervision and undertake ongoing professional development to support my practice.
we would begin with a free, no commitment conversation. for many people this is the first chance to notice what it feels like to talk to someone about their struggle.
if we decide to work together, we would meet weekly for 50 minute sessions, online or in person in chiswick. sessions are from £90, with a limited number of reduced rate places available for those on low income.
i tailor my approach based on your individual needs, while guided by a consistent interest: what happened to you and how you came to understand yourself along the way.
i work with adults and young adults experiencing a range of difficulties, among them anxiety, depression, burnout, grief, relationship difficulties, low self-esteem, emotional regulation, body image, parenting and questions of meaning and belonging.
if you are unsure whether what you are carrying is something i work with, the free conversation is a good place to find out.
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
From £90.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
we would begin with a free, no commitment conversation, a chance to meet, ask questions, and see whether the ‘fit’ feels right.
if we decide to work together, we would meet weekly for 50 minute sessions, online or in person in chiswick. sessions are from £90, with a limited number of reduced rate places available for those on low income.
When I work
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