Understanding yourself differently can open up different ways of being
I work with people who want to understand themselves and the patterns shaping how they feel, relate and respond to the world around them. You may be experiencing anxiety or depression, struggling with relationships or recurring emotional patterns, or simply have a sense that something isn’t working without yet knowing what needs to change.
More recently, a particular focus of my work has been supporting neurodivergent clients, including women who have received a diagnosis later in life, are waiting for an assessment or identify as neurodivergent themselves. Therapy can offer a space to make greater sense of your experiences, understand yourself with a different perspective and explore ways of living that feel more supportive of who you are.
- MSc Gestalt Psychotherapy
- Diploma in Gestalt Psychotherapy
- UKCP Registered Psychotherapist
Could we be a good fit?
You may find my approach useful if:
You’re experiencing anxiety or depression and want to understand not only how you feel, but what may be contributing to those difficulties.
You’re neurodivergent, awaiting an assessment or beginning to recognise aspects of neurodivergence in yourself and want a space to understand your experiences more fully.
You’re a woman who has received a neurodivergence diagnosis later in life and are making sense of what that understanding means for you.
You keep encountering the same emotional, behavioural or relationship patterns and want to understand why they recur and what they may represent.
Earlier experiences or trauma may still be influencing the way you feel, relate or respond to situations today.
You would value therapy that considers the wider context of your life rather than looking at one difficulty in isolation.
What working together can look like
When we first meet, I’ll want to understand what has brought you to therapy at this particular point in your life and what you hope might become different.
We’ll consider what is happening now, but also the wider context around it. Different parts of your life can affect one another, and experiences from childhood or previous trauma may sometimes continue to influence how you experience yourself and your relationships today.
Your safety is also an important part of my initial understanding, so I will consider any risks or concerns that we need to be aware of as we begin working together.
A warm and exploratory space
My way of working is warm, collaborative, reflective and exploratory.
You don’t have to arrive with a perfectly defined problem or therapy goal. We can pay attention to whatever feels important and begin making sense of it together.
I’ll give you room to explore your experience while also offering observations and, when useful, gently challenging you to consider something from another perspective.
Nothing you bring into the room has to be dismissed as irrelevant. I’m interested in the wider field around you — your relationships, environment, experiences and what is happening between us in the therapeutic relationship — because each may offer useful information about how you experience yourself and the world.
Becoming more aware of recurring patterns
When a problem keeps returning, I’m interested in helping you see the pattern more clearly rather than simply telling you how to change it.
Together, we might become curious about when it appears, what it means to you and how it may currently support you as well as the ways in which it gets in your way.
With greater awareness, we can begin gently experimenting with something different: perhaps shifting the pattern slightly, responding in another way or viewing an experience through a new lens.
My work is principally informed by Gestalt psychotherapy, field theory, body process and a relational approach.
In practice, this means we pay attention not only to the story you tell about an experience, but also to what you notice and experience in the present. We can consider your thoughts and emotions, your bodily experience, your relationships and the wider circumstances around you.
The therapeutic relationship itself is part of this process. Rather than positioning myself as somebody who has all the answers, we explore your experience collaboratively and notice what emerges between us.
Areas of experience
Neurodiversity, including women diagnosed later in life or people awaiting assessment or self-identifying as neurodivergent; anxiety and depression.
Self-criticism, recurring emotional patterns, trauma and relationships.
Burnout, work-related difficulties and life transitions.
Eating and body image, chronic health and behaviour change.
About Maria
Maria is a Gestalt psychotherapist whose work is grounded in curiosity about the whole person and the wider context in which difficulties develop.
Rather than looking at a problem in isolation, Maria considers the relationships, environment, earlier experiences and present circumstances surrounding it. A recurring pattern can then become something to understand: what it might represent, how it developed, what purpose it may still serve and whether another way of responding is now possible.
A growing focus within [first name]’s practice is neurodiversity, particularly the experiences of women diagnosed later in life.
Discovering or beginning to consider neurodivergence later in life can offer a new lens through which somebody understands themselves and their previous experiences. [First name] provides therapeutic space to explore that understanding alongside difficulties such as anxiety and depression, without assuming that every aspect of the person’s experience needs to be changed.
Across the work, the emphasis is on awareness rather than prescription: helping clients understand themselves more fully and explore different ways of being that feel right for them.
Qualifications & Professional Credentials
MSc Gestalt Psychotherapy
Middlesex University
Diploma in Gestalt Psychotherapy
Metanoia Institute
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Registration number: 2011167986
Additional professional qualifications
View additional professional qualifications
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Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling
Metanoia Institute
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Foundation in Gestalt Psychotherapy
Metanoia Institute
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Modular Foundation in Counselling & Psychotherapy
Regent’s College
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
Maria’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