About me
We are all telling ourselves stories about who we are. Mostly, they serve us. Sometimes they stand between us and what we actually feel: a version of events that was useful once, built to make something bearable, and never looked at since.
Before training as a therapist, I worked in corporate media, learning how cultural narratives are built and how they shape desire, fear and self-image, often without our noticing. That awareness comes into the room with me. Much of our work together is noticing the story you have been told, and the one you have been telling, and gently asking whether it is still true.
As a qualified integrative counsellor and a psychotherapist in training, I approach my profession with a strong sense of care and responsibility. At my practice, Udaya Therapy, I work one-to-one with adults, in person in Stroud and online. Sessions are 50 minutes, usually at the same time each week, and can be short-term or open-ended depending on what you need. Being British-Italian, I offer therapy in both languages, and I welcome clients whose first language isn’t English and those living at the intersection of cultures.
I work with anxiety, low mood, burnout, self-esteem, personal development and life transitions. I support people through grief and loss, including losses that aren’t deaths, such as divorce, illness, redundancy or leaving a country. Much of my work is with complex trauma, childhood abuse and neglect, and attachment difficulties that have followed you into adult life.
My practice is grounded in humanistic and existential thinking, and is relational and trauma-informed. In plain terms, I pace our work carefully, paying attention to what happened to you, to what is happening around you now, and to what happens between us. That last part matters because the way you relate to me is the only relationship of yours I can see first-hand, and it usually has a great deal to teach us both.
I integrate person-centred, psychodynamic and embodied approaches, drawing also on Gestalt, Transactional Analysis and Biodynamic work, to attend to what the body holds as well as what we think and feel.
Alongside talking, we might use imagery, mindfulness, movement or art, and we work out together what suits you. Before anything else, I take time to build trust, because the quality of our connection matters more than any technique I can bring.
At the heart of my work is the belief that people are worth the care it takes to grow. Even when life makes us doubt that we belong or that we matter. Even when the world feels unsafe. Even when being alive is more than we know how to carry. Maybe that is when we most need reminding.
Training, qualifications & experience
Therapy studies and qualifications
- MA in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling, Minster Centre, London (in progress, due 2027)
- Diploma in Integrative Counselling (Level 7), Minster Centre, London (2026)
- Foundation Year, Diploma in Integrative Transpersonal Counselling, Re-Vision, London (2023)
Other qualifications
- Certified Hand in Hand Parenting Instructor, Hand in Hand Parenting, Palo Alto (2020)
- Master’s Degree in Public Relations, IULM University, Milan (2001)
Memberships and DBS
- Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP)
- Trainee Member of the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
- Clear Enhanced DBS certificate
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
Concessions offered for
Additional information
My standard rate is £60 for a 50-minute session.
I keep a small number of reduced-fee places. If you find yourself in financial hardship, please get in touch to discuss the available options.
This first intake session is 60 minutes rather than the usual 50 minutes, to give us a little more time to get to know one another.
Further information
I offer a free 15-minute introductory telephone conversation to discuss whether to meet for an initial session. You can automatically book it on my website or write to me to arrange an alternative time. After our call, should we decide to proceed, we will agree on a time and day for us to meet, either in person or on a video call, for an intake session.
This first session is 60 minutes rather than the usual 50, to give us a little more time to get to know one another. This session is designed for you to tell me what brings you to therapy, how you would like things to be different, ask questions, and share any concerns you may have about the therapeutic process. For me, it’s an opportunity to understand how you are presently feeling, clarify what I can offer and whether I can help you with what you are finding difficult. It is a chance for both to see how it feels sitting together and assess whether we can work together usefully.
After our first meeting, if we decide to proceed, we'll agree on a regular day and time to meet, usually weekly, the mode of counselling (in-person or online, brief or open-ended), and a start date.
If, after the intake session, you prefer not to proceed or I do not feel my skills or experience are suitable for your needs, I may be able to signpost you to other therapists or organisations that may better suit and support you.
