About me
Hi, I’m Meliha, a BACP Registered Counsellor. Have you ever felt anxious, uneasy or that something just doesn't feel right, without really knowing why? Sometimes our bodies are responding to experiences and emotions that we haven't yet made sense of. We are shaped by our experiences, relationships, environments and the things we have had to navigate along the way. You don’t need to arrive knowing exactly what you want to work on; we can start with what is happening for you now, explore things together, at a pace that feels right for you.
My approach and experience
I bring warmth, calmness, compassion and genuine curiosity to our sessions. My aim is to understand the person in front of me, including the parts that may feel messy, complicated or difficult to make sense of. My approach is integrative where I use a range of techniques and methods to support you in what you are currently experiencing. I do have a passion for somatic therapy as I have personally experienced how effective it can be in creating a deeper understanding of what we feel and who we are. So, I will often use somatic methods. Exploring the relationship between our experiences, emotions, minds and bodies. Sometimes this means talking; at other times, it may involve slowing down and noticing what you are experiencing physically or emotionally. I may invite you to notice a sensation in your body or stay with an emotion a little longer, at a pace that you are comfortable with. My aim is to support my clients to develop the skills and knowledge to track their own nervous system and manage their own emotions.
I work with a range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, burnout, relationships and family difficulties, parenting challenges, emotional overwhelm, life changes and the effects of cumulative and single incidents traumas.
My own experience of somatic therapy has influenced the way I work. It helped me process experiences in ways that talking alone hadn’t achieved and deepened my understanding of resilience. It changed how I understood resilience and how I wanted to work with others.
I don’t believe therapy is about becoming a different person. I believe it can be about understanding yourself more deeply, making sense of what you have lived through and finding a different way of being with yourself. I’m interested in the whole person, including the parts that may feel messy, contradictory or difficult to understand.
This is what inspires me to help others understand themselves more deeply and find new ways of responding to life's challenges, so our past experiences become part of our resilience and growth.
Working with children and young people
I have been working with children and families since 2004. Alongside my private practice, I work with the Cambridge Acorn Project, supporting children and young people. I understand that younger clients may not always have the words to express what they are feeling, so I adapt my approach to their age, developmental stage and individual needs.
I work with children and young people aged eight and over, with online sessions available from age 14. I adapt my approach to their age, developmental stage and individual needs. This may involve creative approaches such as play, sand story, drawing and movement, offering different ways to express feelings, explore experiences and develop a better understanding of themselves.
If you feel we might work well together, please get in touch. I’d be happy to hear from you and discuss what you’re looking for from therapy.
Training, qualifications & experience
Experience:
2019 - ongoing: Assessment Coordinator and Therapeutic Practitioner for a mental health charity working with adults and children who have experienced trauma.
Qualifications:
- CPCAP Level 5 Qualification Working Somatically with Trauma
- 2009 – 2011: Master in Social Work
- 2000 – 2004: Degree in Counselling 4 years F.T
- Registered Sandstory Therapist
- Certified Complex Trauma Therapist- Complex trauma certification training level 1& 2.
- Safeguarding training
- NSPCC post sexual abuse intervention,
- Developmental trauma for professionals
- Reducing parental conflict
- Eating disorders awareness -PEDS
- Tavistock Centre, Early relational trauma in infant parent therapy
- Solution focused therapy
- Anger in teenagers
- Brain injuries in children
- CAMHS, ‘Attachment and Mental health’
- CAMHS, ‘Autistic Spectrum Disorder’
- CAMHS, ‘Working Together Mental Health Training’
- Place 2Be, Volunteer Counselling training program,
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
£60.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
When I work
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Further information
Online or session can be held in Northstowe, Cambridge
