Vanya Semerdjieva
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This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
***New slots available - please see Fees & availability section***
What my clients say (shared with clients' permission):
"I have really loved having Vanya as my therapist. She is calm, understanding and genuinely a good listener. She was skilled at re-directing me or challenging my beliefs when needed, but it was always done in a gentle & intuitive way. She very quickly became my safe space, and I opened up to her much more than my previous therapists...She helped me realise all of my strengths and actually ‘hear’ what they are, in a way I haven’t before...She was also very compassionate about my concerns about being neurodivergent, which has encouraged me to reach out again for a diagnosis & help for that...I am so glad that I reached out to her for help, as it has made a massive difference to my quality of life... If you have gotten this far in the process of seeking therapy, then definitely make the final jump to start. Things will get better if you stick with it. Sometimes the progress feels small or not at all, then one day you’re looking back and seeing how far you have come. Finding the right therapist that you gel with really makes the biggest difference, so keep going until you find them. That was Vanya for me."
"After several failed attempts at getting help with my mental health over the past 10 years, working with Vanya has been an extremely positive experience. Learning about the principles of CBT and exploring how experiences link to beliefs which link to behaviours has been really useful. Vanya made me feel heard, accepted and validated. I feel like I know myself better and am looking forward to continuing to progress with the strong groundwork that we have worked together to build. Tackling specific issues in my life causing constant discomfort has actually led to improvements in pretty much all areas of my life, which has been amazing. I feel stronger, happier and am finding it easier to challenge unhelpful thoughts and beliefs in my day-to-day life."
"I feel there were many positive aspects of therapy...I was very pleased with the outcome of one of the exercises as I was very sceptical as to whether this would work and in fact, was initially against carrying it out. Having received reassurance and information on research of the success rate..., I am so glad I carried out the work. It has completely changed my thinking and my worst fear is now nowhere near as bad, I am able to sleep through the night now without worrying that my worst fear will happen...I'd just like to say thank you for all the help."
"therapy has been life-changing for me i have a learning disability and social anxiety, i’ve always felt overwhelmed and disconnected from others but through sessions wiyh Vanja i’ve gained confidence to manage my anxiety and believe in myself. every small step made a difference. i’m doing things i never though i could like making new friends and speaking up in social situations the world feels less scary i’m starting to live the life i’ve always wanted. i feel hope about the future and grateful for ttherepy that got me here"
A bit about me:
Welcome to Help2Cope Counselling and CBT and thanks for reading this far! My name is Vanya and I am a fully qualified Cognitive Behavioural and Group Therapist, based in Glasgow and offering in-person and online video therapy. I also offer the option of concessions as I believe mental health support should be accessible.
I understand how daunting it may be to take that first step as I’ve been there myself. My approach focuses on building a safe therapeutic relationship, where we can work together as a team to establish goals specific to your unique needs at this time, and to help you live your life more authentically and in line with your values. Through regular check-ins, we will ensure that our progress aligns with your expectations and aspirations.
In me, you will find an authentic human being first, and a therapist second, because I believe it’s important to be genuine, accepting, empathetic and warm, so you can feel comfortable and safe to explore your difficulties. I will show my personality in sessions and I hope to see yours, too. Something I am happy to share is that I am a pretty outdoorsy person, because I've found that it does wonders for my own wellbeing and self-care.
I have a professional registration with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which means I am on their Professional Standards Authority Accredited Register. This ensures that I work to the highest standard and practice in line with the ethical code of conduct. The therapeutic treatments and interventions I use are recommended by the National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) and supported by scientific research. This is because it's important to keep you safe in our work. By incorporating these proven techniques into your individually tailored treatment plan, we can effectively address your concerns and work towards sustainable positive change. If you would like to find out more, you're welcome to book a free 10-minute introductory call or drop me an email and we can arrange an initial assessment session. This will give both of us an opportunity to hear more about each other and see if we are a suitable fit.
Training, qualifications & experience
I am qualified as a CBT therapist and I work in an integrative way, drawing from a wide range of psychotherapeutic theories and methods. I have a compassion-focussed approach and specialise in anxiety, maladaptive perfectionism, low self-esteem, assertiveness, and boundaries. I also have a degree in comparative literature and a soft spot for linguistics. This ties in well with my work in the area of self-criticism and challenging unhelpful thinking as CBT research has found that the way we speak to ourselves, the way we word our thoughts, often has a significant impact on how we feel and behave.
Throughout my career, I have worked in student counselling, stepped-care models through NHS England Talking Therapies/IAPT, community counselling, and I have been running a successful small private practice since 2023. Before becoming a therapist, I worked in client-facing roles in Higher Education and in the Third Sector, so I also draw from my experience in student support and charity work. I currently still work part-time at a university supporting students throughout their academic studies.
Qualifications and training:
- Postgraduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Groupwork
- COSCA Certificate in Counselling Skills
- Master of Arts (Hons) Literature in a World Context
Specialised training and experience in:
- ADHD
- ASIST Suicide First Aid
- Assertiveness and Boundaries
- Attachment and Working with Couples
- Bereavement
- Compassion Focussed Therapy
- Depression and Low Mood
- Generalised Anxiety
- Health Anxiety
- Insomnia and Sleep Problems
- Intrusive Thoughts
- Low Self-Esteem
- Maladaptive Perfectionism
- Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
- Phobias
- PTSD / CPTSD (trauma)
- Self-Criticism
- Social and Performance Anxiety
- Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention
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 - £60.00
Concessions offered for
Additional information
Introductory Phone Call:
I offer a free 10-minute phone call, which can give us an opportunity to introduce each other and hear a bit more about why you're seeking therapy and how I might be able to help. In the comments box, please state a brief summary of what brings you to therapy and your preferred format (online or in-person) and session times.
Fees:
My fees are calculated on a sliding scale. This can be discussed with your circumstances in mind as it is important that the cost of therapy does not contribute further to your difficulties and stress.
Price per session: £60
Concession: £45-£55 depending on circumstances
All fees are per 50-minute session and payable a minimum of 48-hours in advance to ensure the session booking goes ahead.
Frequency:
Normally, we would meet weekly at the same time. In exceptional circumstances and if we're working online, we might agree to meet fortnightly for 90 minutes. The fee is calculated based on the appointment type.
Session times and format:
- Wednesday: 8.30am-12pm (online)
- Wednesday: 2-4pm (in-person, G41)
- Wednesday: 6-9pm (online)
- Thursday: 8.30am-12pm (online)
- Thursday: 12-5pm (in-person, G42)
- Thursday: 6-9pm (online)
Current availability:
- NEW SLOT: Thursday 2.50pm (in-person)
- NEW SLOT: Thursday 3.55pm (in-person)
For other times, please get in touch to be placed on the waitlist.
Please note that in-person slots book up very quickly and the times of 5-9pm are rarely available. I would encourage you to consider appointment times flexibly throughout the entirety of the day, if you can.
When I work
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Morning: 8.30am-12pm
Afternoon: 12pm-5pm
Evening: 5pm-9pm
Further information
Although rooted in CBT theory, my approach is integrative, which means that I also use knowledge and skills from other main psychotherapeutic theories, mainly compassion-focus, person-centred, psychodynamic, and family systems. I have found that it is crucial to have a good understanding of not only how problems are affecting you now, but also where they started and why they haven't resolved themselves. Understanding your early experiences and the environment where you learned how to think and how to cope with difficulty is likely to give us an insight into what your beliefs are and how to move forward. We would take it one day at a time, at the pace that is manageable for you. If you do not wish to discuss the past, then this is entirely up to you and we can certainly only focus on the present. From a CBT point of treatment, we would focus on figuring out what ways of thinking, what beliefs, and what behaviours are no longer helpful for you. Gaining awareness of this will help us to start making small changes in your way of thinking and acting, which will then show us more about how life might be if these changes were to stay. There is no right or wrong way to be in therapy and my role is not to judge or assess you (even though you may hear the word 'assessment' being used in relation to checking in on how you're doing and what's been bothering you). My role also isn't to 'fix' or 'cure' you. I do not subscribe to pathologising human experience - in other words, there is nothing to 'fix' as there is nothing 'wrong' or 'broken' in the first place. Treatment is about learning how to manage your difficulties better, understanding what makes them worse, and making some intentional changes in your life to help you be in a better headspace. You will know yourself best and I will be there to support you while you find the answers you may have been missing. Therapy is, above all else, a space to explore, be curious, and consider accepting yourself, others, and the world. Therein lies recovery.
