Understanding what keeps you stuck — and discovering what else might be possible
I work with people who feel stuck in a particular way of living, thinking or relating, but aren’t always sure why or how to move forward. Difficult experiences, trauma, anxiety or a loss of trust in yourself can gradually narrow the possibilities you see, leaving you repeating patterns that no longer feel right for you.
As an existential psychotherapist, I am interested in understanding your world as you experience it: how it has developed, the assumptions and experiences that shape it, and how you relate to yourself and others within it. Rather than beginning with ready-made answers, I believe that asking good questions can help us uncover new ways of understanding yourself and the choices available to you.
- 17 years’ experience
- UKCP Registered Psychotherapist
- MA in Existential Psychotherapy
Could we be a good fit?
You may find my approach useful if:
You feel stuck or blocked in some part of your life but find it difficult to understand what is preventing you from moving forward.
Anxiety, depression or a loss of trust in yourself is affecting how you experience yourself or your life.
Trauma or difficult experiences from childhood or later life continue to influence the way you think, feel or respond today.
You find yourself repeating patterns in relationships or behaviour, even when part of you wants things to be different.
Compulsive behaviours, addiction, eating difficulties or your relationship with your body are becoming restrictive or difficult to change.
You want therapy that gives you space to explore yourself at greater depth, question familiar ways of thinking and consider different possibilities for how you might live.
What working together can look like
When we first meet, I am curious about your world: what it looks and feels like from your perspective, how it came to be that way and what you would like to be different. Rather than deciding in advance what needs to change, we begin by exploring and understanding your experience together.
Becoming curious about your own world
I am an exploratory psychotherapist. I encourage clients to become, in a sense, detectives in their own lives — approaching thoughts, feelings and behaviours with curiosity rather than immediately judging or criticising them.
I think of psychotherapy as a journey taken by two people through different kinds of terrain. You are in the driving seat; I am alongside you in the passenger seat. I may ask questions, draw your attention to something you haven’t noticed, encourage you to look in a different direction or suggest that we slow down and spend more time somewhere important.
We will not always know exactly where that exploration will lead. For me, that uncertainty can be a useful part of therapy rather than something we need to eliminate immediately.
Looking beneath recurring patterns
When a difficulty keeps returning, I become interested in understanding the function it may have in your life.
We might ask what keeps the pattern in place, what it protects you from, or even what might feel threatening about changing it. We may explore earlier experiences, your relationships and environment, or emotional states that have become familiar over many years.
My approach is grounded in existential psychotherapy. This means we can explore questions of meaning, identity, anxiety, responsibility and choice, as well as the stories you have developed about who you are. We might consider which parts of that story still fit, which no longer do, and whether there are possibilities you have stopped allowing yourself to consider.
We can also explore how you experience being with yourself and with other people, and what it might mean to feel more able to participate in and take responsibility for the direction of your own life.
For me, therapy is not about supplying you with the right answers. It is about learning to ask useful questions together, seeing what may previously have been difficult to see, and opening up possibilities where life has begun to feel restricted.
Areas of experience
My work has included supporting people with a range of emotional, relational and behavioural difficulties, including:
Depression, anxiety, trauma and difficulties with identity or a loss of trust in yourself.
Relationship difficulties and couples therapy.
Compulsive behaviours, addictions and eating difficulties.
Working with neurodivergent clients and related experiences.
About Andreia
Andreia’s route into psychotherapy began with three years studying medicine followed by a degree in philosophy, before she trained as an existential psychotherapist.
That background has shaped a professional perspective grounded in curiosity and the value of asking good questions. Rather than pursuing an immediate answer to every difficulty, Andreia is interested in what becomes possible when someone begins questioning familiar assumptions about themselves, their relationships and the life they are living.
Her work is particularly concerned with the ways people can become restricted by established patterns, experiences and narratives about who they are. Therapy offers an opportunity to examine those patterns from a different position and consider whether there might be other ways of thinking, choosing and living.
Qualifications & Professional Credentials
Andreia has 17 years’ professional experience and advanced postgraduate training in existential psychotherapy.
MA in Existential Psychotherapy
University of Sheffield / New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) (2009)
Postgraduate Diploma in Existential Psychotherapy
University of Sheffield / New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (NSPC) (2008)
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Registered Psychotherapist
Registration number: 2010161251
Universities Psychotherapy and Counselling Association (UPCA)
Accredited
Membership number: 1153
Selected specialist training
View selected specialist training
Trauma
- Selected professional development includes training in relational trauma, trauma and the body, dissociation and DID, Polyvagal Theory, childhood sexual abuse, EMDR and somatic approaches to trauma.
- Training providers and educators supplied by Andreia include NScience, Carolyn Spring, Stephen Porges, WiseMind, PESI, Peter Levine, Christiane Sanderson, Janina Fisher and Bessel van der Kolk.
Relationships & couples
- Imago Couples Therapy Certificate
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Certificate in Integrative Sex and Couples Therapy
Tammy Nelson / PESI - Additional training with Tavistock Relationships, including couples therapy and work concerning sexuality within couple therapy.
Personality disorders
- Professional development in working with personality disorders, including:
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Psychotherapy for Borderline Disorders
Richard Erskine / NScience
Eating & body image
- Selected training includes Deconstructing Weight Loss, Shame and Eating Disorders, Bariatric Training, Neurodiversity and Eating Presentations, and Autism and Eating Disorders.
What happens when you get in touch?
Start with a conversation
Your free 20-minute discovery call is an opportunity to tell us what has brought you to therapy, what you are looking for and ask any questions you may have.
Find the right fit
We’ll consider your needs, preferences and what you would like from therapy, then recommend the practitioner we believe is best placed to support you.
Agree the next step
If you feel comfortable with the recommendation, our team will talk you through availability, fees and how to arrange your first session.
Fees
Andreia’s session length and current fees were not included in the questionnaire response and should be confirmed before publication.
We’ll confirm current availability and answer any practical questions during your discovery call.
You don’t have to have it all figuer out
You may know exactly what you want help with, or simply know that something needs to change.
A free 20-minute discovery call is a chance to talk through what’s been happening, ask any questions and understand the right next step for you.
Confidential – No pressure – Clear next steps