Sebastiana Black
Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
I am an Internal Family Systems Therapist (level 3) and Integrative Counsellor, supporting and empowering adults and adolescents (16+) to understand their inner world and find their own unique pathways to wellbeing.
Challenges I can help with:
I draw on Internal Family Systems Therapy to help people to work through challenges around anxiety and low mood, such as feeling not good enough, being hard on oneself, struggling with resentment, self-doubt, over-working, perfectionism and people-pleasing.
I support adults and teens with a range of issues and specialise in working with people who have complex early histories and struggle with the impact of childhood trauma on their current relationships and how they relate to themselves.
Life can be complex and challenging. We can't always choose our circumstances or our experiences. Sometimes we need additional support, beyond what our partner, friends or family can offer. My therapeutic work with both adults and adolescents focuses primarily on establishing a trusting relationship and a confidential, non-judgmental space. From here, you can explore and make sense of your past and present experiences, including different parts of yourself, at a pace that suits you and your goals.
Being an immigrant, I am interested in supporting those who are impacted by multicultural living and other challenges.
Finally, having trained in Ecotherapy, I love encouraging people to form nourishing relationship with the natural world to support their healing and wholeness. This includes working through eco-anxiety and climate distress. I offer sessions outdoors alongside indoor sessions.
I enjoy guiding others to grow a greater sense of peace, clarity and compassion. This means they can feel safer to be themselves, more self-compassionate and accepting of who they are.
To get started, just send me an email stating whether you are looking for in-person or online sessions and where you are located. I will reply to let you know about my availability. I offer an introductory free 15-minute Zoom call - an opportunity to meet and explore further.
Training, qualifications & experience
I trained in Internal Family Systems Therapy, Integrative Arts Child and Adolescent Counselling, Ecotherapy and as a Mindful Self-Compassion teacher. I am a registered member of British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
I primarily draw on Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy, which is a non-pathologizing and trauma-informed approach. IFS allows you to get to know the different parts of you that help you through life, protect you or who are hurt. Various parts of you make you behave in ways that cause conflict, distress, or unhappiness in yourselves or those around you. Traumatic experiences in particular can cause protective parts and behaviours to develop in response. IFS helps you to become more curious and accepting of those experiences and help parts to transform.
In my sessions, your challenges can be worked with in a variety of ways – through talking, creativity or in the body. Being able to use creative ways to explore your internal world using the arts and imagination can be especially helpful for those who may struggle to find words for their experiences or find it overwhelming.
I have over 10 years of experience working as a therapist with young people who suffered trauma, abuse and neglect and their families, carers and staff. I worked in schools, children's homes and guided support workers and managers to bring more therapeutic and trauma-informed care into their role. I worked with adopted children and adopters, children in foster care and foster carers supporting them with a variety of issues, including developmental trauma.
I have facilitated therapeutic groups for over a decade in the field of Expressive Arts and Ecotherapy. As a trained Mindful Self-Compassion teacher I have delivered a number of 6 and 8-week long courses for charities, such as Mind and Break and for writers and therapists. I integrate Mindful Self-Compassion into my individual counselling sessions with clients because of its very practical resources and simple psychological framework.
I support both adults and adolescents to develop more self-compassionate, mindful relationship to themselves and to recognise their needs, positive qualities and strengths. I can guide you to connect with your body, understand your nervous system and how to respond to stress, anxiety or low mood.
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
Eco-anxiety
Therapies offered
Fees
£55.00 - £65.00
Free initial online session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My fees for therapy sessions are on a sliding scale, depending on your income and circumstances.
When we first meet for an initial introductory Zoom call, we can discuss this further.
When I work
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | |||||||
| Afternoon | |||||||
| Evening | |||||||
| Night |
I currently have spaces on Wednesday and Thursday for weekly sessions.
Further information
Having done training in Ecotherapy, some of the sessions can take place outdoors if you are interested in exploring how the natural world can support you in therapy and beyond. Outdoor sessions work well alongside indoor sessions or our work can be done purely outdoors.
