Martyna Kobiela
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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
Hello, I'm Martyna. I'm a BACP-registered person-centred counsellor and psychotherapist based in Edinburgh, offering in-person and online sessions.
About my way of working
I trained in Person-Centred therapy, which places the therapeutic relationship as central to healing. My therapeutic style is integrative, drawing on humanistic, experiential, relational, creative and somatic modalities. I have a background in psychology and mental health, and during our sessions I may offer different tools depending on what feels helpful in any given moment. I follow your lead, but I am not passive in my way of working, encouraging open dialogue and collaboration.
I often find that different ways of accessing experience can help - journalling, metaphor, images, poetry, body awareness, and I think there's room in therapy for the creative and the spiritual. I bring presence, genuineness, and curiosity while you explore at your own pace. I aim to offer a space that allows you to feel truly seen, so you can connect with all parts of yourself & so that change becomes possible.
Trauma-sensitive
Trauma isn't just about what happened, but it's about what continues to happen in how we experience safety, connection, and ourselves. Most traumas are relational and require a safe and consistent relational experience to be processed and integrated. We start by building safety in our relationship, and we move at your pace, respecting your autonomy and choice. Trauma often makes us disconnected from our bodies, so I pay close attention to your body responses and what you can attend to in any given moment. Ultimately, trauma therapy doesn't require coming back to painful memories nor reliving them, but processing their aftermath, so you can restore your capacity to be present, to feel, and to choose.
Non-pathologising and neuroaffirming
Often, what gets labelled as symptoms or disorders is actually understandable responses to living in harmful environments. Working from an anti-oppressive perspective means I'm curious about context: the ways culture, identity, power, and experience shape us. Any difficulty rarely exists in isolation, and ableism, racism, sexism, classism, and prejudice based on religion, culture, disability, or gender identity all shape how we experience the world and ourselves within it.
Neuroaffirming practice means I recognise neurodivergence as a natural variation in how human brains function, and I aim to honour the strengths and the challenges that come with it - holding the space for the real difficulty of navigating a world built around neuronormative expectations, and the ableism that neurodivergent people can encounter and internalise.
Is this for you?
I work with people grappling with life transitions, relationship difficulties, and questions about meaning and identity. Many of my clients face systemic pressures and harmful contexts, and carry the weight of that in ways that show up as anxiety, depression, burnout, or a persistent feeling that something is wrong with them. I often connect well with people who carry a sense of "otherness" - whether that's tied to cultural background, neurodivergence, sexuality, chronic illness, or other layers of difference - although I welcome clients from all walks of life.
If you resonate with my way of working, I'd be happy to have an introductory call to explore working together. Feel free to get in touch if you're unsure or have questions.
Warmly,
Martyna
Training, qualifications & experience
Qualifications:
- MSc in Psychotherapy and Counselling (BACP accredited, University of Strathclyde)
- BSc in Psychology with Counselling (BPS accredited, Open University)
- PgCert in Counselling (Edinburgh College)
Experience:
- I have several years of experience working in the charity sector, supporting people with anxiety, depression, trauma, and relational difficulties. This has included roles at Penumbra Self Harm Project, Thrive, Health in Mind, Women's Aid, Edinburgh University, and PF Counselling.
- I have extensive experience working with all forms of gender-based violence, including coercive control and sexual violence.
- Worked extensively with issues around immigration, expat identity, cultural displacement, neurodivergence, chronic illness, invisible disability and internalised ableism.
- Before training as a therapist, I studied culture and literature, which shaped how I think about our stories and the meaning we make of our experiences.
- I've been living in Scotland for 10 years, and I am originally from Poland.
Qualifications:
- MSc in Psychotherapy and Counselling (BACP accredited, University of Strathclyde, with distinction)
- BSc in Psychology with Counselling (BPS accredited, Open University, with distinction)
- PgCert in Counselling (Edinburgh College)
Additional training:
- All Kinds of Minds in Therapy – Neurodivergence training with Dr Sarah Haywood
- Trauma Informed Practice – Health in Mind (Emily Steedman)
- Trauma Skilled Practice – Health in Mind (Jean Budge)
- Trauma and Domestic Abuse – Scottish Women's Aid
- Understanding the Dynamics of Domestic Abuse and Coercive Control – Scottish Women's Aid
- Understanding Suicide and Domestic Abuse – Scottish Women's Aid
- Digital Abuse, Stalking and Harassment – Scottish Women's Aid
- Victim Blame: Not About Victims, Not About Blame with Amy Beddows
- ASIST: Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
- Eating Disorders Training with CAPS Advocacy
- Unseen Eating Disorders with Kel O'Neill
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
Photos & videos
Fees
£45.00 - £65.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I offer sessions on a sliding scale basis - please refer to my website for more information about the model and where you might be on the scale.
I also offer a free 20-minute call via my online calendar on my website. There is no pressure or commitment at this stage - the aim is to get a sense of whether I am the right therapist for you, check if our schedules are compatible and for me to answer any questions you might have.
In-person availability is currently very limited, with single slots opening up on some days of the week. If you're thinking about starting therapy, or would like to be added to the waiting list for a specific day or time, please get in touch via my calendar on my website or by emailing me.
When I work
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