Marsha Oza
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This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
This professional is accepting new clients but may have a waitlist. Please enquire with them directly to discuss availability.
About me
Individual and Relationship Counselling & Psychotherapy in South East London (SE16/ SE1) and online.
At Southwark Counselling & Psychotherapy I work with adult individuals, couples and people in multiple partner relationships.
There’s no “right” reason to seek therapy. My clients come for many varied reasons including conflict, stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, body image issues, disordered eating, addiction, compulsivity, issues around identity, anger, meaning-making, isolation, relationship challenges, life transitions, bereavement, trauma, and the effects of past trauma.
I recognise the disproportionate challenges and barriers faced by minoritised ethnic and racialised people, migrants, refugees, disabled people, survivors of child sexual abuse, and people who are LGBTQ+ or otherwise marginalised in terms of their gender, sexual or relationship diversity. I actively welcome people from these groups into my practice.
Informed by my client work, my own experiences, and a body of supporting literature, I take a relational trauma-informed approach. This means I understand “mental health issues”, “illnesses”, “disorders” and “diseases” as manifestations of distress in response to circumstances and experiences which may be happening now, or may have happened in the past. Suffering is not a sickness, and it’s not abnormal. Neither is finding it difficult to cope with adversity. Relational therapy offers an opportunity to work things out, grow and heal through human connection.
Training, qualifications & experience
I’m an accredited member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society (NCPS) and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), both of which operate Professional Standards Authority accredited registers so you’re safe in the knowledge that I’m properly qualified to practise as a counsellor and psychotherapist.
I’m also a professional associate member of the College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT) which supports my work with couples and people in multi-partnered relationships.
Apart from my independent practice, I have worked at the Metanoia Counselling & Psychotherapy Service and at Cambridge Counselling Service, from whom I continue to take referrals as part of their network of independent practitioners.
I’m a founding member of the Campaign for Universal Access to Counselling and Psychotherapy (uACT).
Member organisations
Being registered/accredited with a professional body means an individual must have achieved a substantial level of training and experience approved by their member organisation.
The National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society
This Not For Profit association of counsellors and psychotherapists aim to support the counselling profession, members and training organisations.
In 2013 the NCS register was accredited by the Professional Standards Authority under the Accredited Voluntary Register Scheme. Accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
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.
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
Fees
£80.00 - £130.00
Free initial in-person or online session
Additional information
- Initial meeting (up to 30 mins): no charge
- Individual therapy session (60 mins): £80
- Relationship therapy session (60 mins): £130
When I work
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Sessions are available between 12pm and 8pm Tuesday to Thursday, and between 9am and 2pm on Fridays.
Further information
What's a relational trauma-informed approach?
Typically, we think of trauma as the result of big, catastrophic experiences. In fact, any distressing experience we haven’t fully processed – one-off or ongoing – might result in trauma. These experiences can ‘stick around’ in our systems and affect us physically, emotionally and psychologically – sometimes in ways that are obvious to us, sometimes in ways we don’t fully realise. That’s what trauma is.
Taking a relational trauma-informed approach means I understand “mental health issues”, “illnesses”, “disorders” and “diseases” as manifestations of distress in response to circumstances and experiences which may be happening now, or may have happened in the past. Suffering is not a sickness, and it’s not abnormal. Neither is finding it difficult to cope with adversity. Relational therapy offers an opportunity to work things out, grow and heal through human connection.
If you have a mental health diagnosis that you want to talk about, I’m interested in what it means to you, and how it impacts you. My focus will be on you, not your diagnosis.
Individual or relationship therapy?
Work with couples and multiple partners tends to be focused on the relational dynamics between partners. It’s not unusual – and can be very beneficial – for one or more partners to be in individual therapy as well (usually with a different therapist).
If you’re not sure what’s best for you, or whether to see me alone or with your partner/s, get in touch and we can talk it through.
