I help adults who need support to cope with well-being and mental health difficulties. They may be conditions you've suffered from for a while, like depression, anxiety, or they may stem from transitions or changes in life, such as a redundancy, a divorce, a death of a loved one, burnout. I can help you make sense of problems related to an immediate crisis, a traumatic experience from the present or the past or if you've been in distress for what feels like forever. You may have an overwhelming sense of resentment, worrying, stuckness, low mood, shame and need to explore and help alleviate it. I can help if you wish to understand a family estrangement, how you relate to others or if you need to feel better about yourself, deal with assertiveness, self-esteem issues, anger management, health problems or issues with work and finding meaning. I can support you with habits you may have been trying to break for a while, like drinking, recreational drug use. Also habits, which may have become a problem suddenly, like gambling. I have worked extensively in the field of addictions, with men and women affected by alcohol, drugs, gambling and with their families. I can contribute in making a realistic change. This is a chance to talk in a respectful, confidential and non-judgmental setting. The aim is to reflect on your situation safely and recognize that you have options; to gain insight as to reasons behind actions, thoughts, emotions; to get help in order to find your own way of managing differently. I offer mindfulness, psychoeducation, symptom relief and practical strategies, where appropriate. I will need some initial information by phone or email, in order to gain understanding of your particular difficulty and assess whether I can help. The first planned consultation is an opportunity for you to decide whether you feel comfortable with me and for us to discuss your concerns, decide whether we can work together and how. I offer short-term and open-ended therapy with regular reviews, giving clients the chance to ask questions, articulate how they feel things are going, so we can both plan how to proceed together. I am an evidence-based relational practitioner and draw from humanistic theory, object relations, psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioural theory, attachment theory, neurobiology, trauma theory, anti-oppressive practice theory. The end of therapy is negotiated and agreed mutually, based on what was initially contracted and where we managed to get in our work together. These are some clients' comments at the end of our work together: 'Maria's professional approach was always balanced by her warm and encouraging demeanor, which created a safe space where I could explore my thoughts and emotions openly. I will forever be grateful for her guidance and the profound impact she’s had on my life.' 'I felt she was always there for me, even/especially when I wasn’t.' 'So much more helpful and beneficial than I ever expected' 'Positive, transformational, the best decision I have made for myself' "I was able to get myself from a dark place mentally to feeling back to my regular self with a strategy in place to stop myself sliding back into bad patterns and habits. She knew when to press for more detail and when to let me explore ideas to help me better understand my own thought process'. 'Life changing! I think I knew what I wanted before our sessions but didn't quite have the confidence or faith in myself to see it all through. The counselling really helped me see how much I was holding myself back; acknowledge and then overrule self doubt and then make the adjustments in my life that I hoped would make me happier and more satisfied; and they did.' 'I felt I explored my childhood difficulties in a more productive way than ever before; validating and understanding my pain but also learning that it didn't necessarily need validating by an outside source to be justified. I finish our sessions feeling much more at ease with who I am and much more in tune with my feelings. Can't thank you enough' 'I feel that Maria is a very intelligent and empathetic professional who can spot things you may never realise and help you in ways others can't. Very insightful and inspiring, the entire experience works around you as an individual. It has had a life-changing impact on me. I learn the way of life, how to love, be myself, why we need other people and how to be happy again. The things I learned from Maria would go a long way to apply to everyday life onwards. I feel that I have grown up as an individual.' ''The sessions made me look at things differently. Maria challenged my preconceptions. Seeing her every week made me feel calmer and more able to deal with the everyday challenges of life.' 'I really feel you helped me find my own way of managing my feelings'