Carolina Rosa Astudillo is a therapist in Central London


What attracted you to become a therapist?

I had gestalt therapy as a client many years ago and I found those years transformational. Later, during my software engineering career working in teams, working with people, I trained as a coach and started coaching teammates first, then other people and finally took the step to train as a psychotherapist to offer a deeper psychological work. 


Where did you train? 

As a coach I trained at Animas Centre for Coaching. As a psychotherapist, at the Metanoia Institute, both in London.


Can you tell us about the type of therapy you practise?

I am a humanistic psychotherapist (a blend of gestalt, person-centred and transactional analysis). What I say to clients is that, in a nutshell, I am ready to be real and connect with them, human to human. I value each person’s unique circumstances and foster the connection between mind and body in our lives, making space for thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and behaviours. 


How does your way of working help?

I believe in options and change, and new decisions. Aristotle said that “knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”, and I couldn’t agree more. 

Working with me, we will work with emotions, as they are one of our body’s mechanisms to let us know that something is not in alignment, not working well for us. Emotions come, and go, but if left dysregulated and unattended, they might impact our body and overall health, and manifest through physical symptoms. 

Exploring, reflecting on, and making meaning of the impact of our past and current life experiences can make a difference to how we feel. 

Emotion regulation, acceptance, self-compassion, and self-support are pillars that I work with. I also work with the view we hold of ourselves and of the world and how we are in relationships, for which therapy acts as a petri dish.  

I’ve shared meaningful therapeutic journeys working with clients living with anxiety, for example, and seeing the impact of integrating those pillars into their lives.


What sort of people do you usually see?

I work with adults. I have worked with people ranging from 19 to 75 years old. I have experience working in the public sector and at community level with people facing a wide range of challenges including overall mental health concerns, anxiety, relationship issues, life transitions, significant events, family or work conflicts, grief and loss, pregnancy and parenting challenges, self-esteem, self-confidence, and stressors related to neurodiversity.


Have you noticed any recent mental health trends or wider changes in attitude?

In all honesty, the trend I see professionally, and that I trying to come to terms with, is that therapy is being undervalued. Some specific settings or apps trying to “make mental health accessible” are leaving therapists exhausted, devalued, disengaged, and demotivated. 

I am not referring to the financial element only. Therapy is a commitment, it takes time, courage, and work to walk past the easy fix, the quick “how-to”. Specially working with deeply seated psychological elements. Maybe it is directly linked to the immediacy and impatience that is promoted by brands and pushed into our ways of thinking and living. The money I spent on three years of therapy in my twenties was my best investment, and the repercussions have spread to all other life experiences.


What do you like about being a therapist?

I like the therapeutic relationship, the human connection and the possibilities that arise within it: reflection, regulation, change and self-knowledge. As David Wallin says, “we understand others most deeply on the basis of shared experience”. 


What is less pleasant?

In every therapeutic journey there are moments of impasse, and of unpleasant life experiences or feelings that might come up. Some people might have had particularly challenging environments and circumstances. At times, I would want a magic wand and the ability to prevent some past suffering, particularly around childhood and adverse childhood experiences.


How long have you been with Welldoing and what you think of us?

I have been with Welldoing for a couple of months now, and I have taken part on CPD, which is an amazing benefit. I hope I can join a peer support meeting soon. 


What books have been important to you in terms of your professional and personal development? Do you ever recommend books to clients?

I can’t recall recommending books to clients; I have recommended podcasts, which I am a fan of. I am very curious about two therapeutic concepts: attachment and life script and I found Wallin’s “Attachment in psychotherapy” book quite cathartic. I am now delving into Erskine’s “Life Scripts: A Transactional Analysis of Unconscious Relational Patterns”.


What you do for your own mental health? 

I foster self-care by spending time with my husband and son, cooking, reading, and walking and exercising. The expansiveness of an open green space calms my mind and regulates my mood and energy. I also talk to friends and therapy peers.


You are a therapist in Angel, Islington. What can you share with us about seeing clients in this area?

This area brings a mix of people who come here to work or study, and families that live here, so there is a variety of people. It is a well-connected area with many links to other central areas of the city.


What’s your consultation room like?

I see clients at City Road Therapy. My room is the perfect size, not too big and not too small, and has a big window and a charming fireplace (out of use).


What do you wish people knew about therapy?

That it is a life-changing experience. There is no coming back from awareness.


What did you learn about yourself in therapy?

Besides what I have just written, the transformational power of therapy and self-awareness, I learned and continue practicing embracing all parts of my personality, the lovely ones, and the ugly ones, and to love them all.

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