%20(1).png)
About Me
I'm Zara—a BACP registered counsellor and Trainee Counselling Psychologist completing my Professional Doctorate at City St George's, University of London.
​
My practice draws on clinical experience across NHS settings, hospice bereavement work, and private therapy. I'm particularly drawn to the psychological impact of life transitions, caregiver stress, identity, and grief—the moments when life shifts and you're left wondering who you are now.
What it's like to Work With Me
I'm warm, direct, and down-to-earth. I don't do therapy-speak or vague nods of sympathy. I'll listen carefully, ask questions that matter, and challenge you when it's useful—not to push you somewhere you don't want to go, but to help you see what you might be missing.
​
People often describe working with me as feeling held but not coddled. I create space for you to be honest—about the mess, the contradictions, the parts you're not proud of. Therapy isn't about pretending everything's fine or rushing to fix what's broken. It's about understanding what's actually happening so you can work out what you need.
​
I take your struggles seriously without treating you like you're fragile. You're capable. You're doing your best. And sometimes doing your best still means things are hard—that doesn't make you broken.
My Values & Approach
At the heart of my work is a person-centred belief that you are the expert in your own life. You know yourself better than anyone else—even if right now it doesn't feel that way. My job isn't to tell you what to do or fix you. It's to create the conditions where you can understand yourself more clearly and trust your own judgment.
​
That said, I work integratively. I draw on psychodynamic thinking to explore patterns and unconscious processes, CBT and ACT when practical strategies are useful, and attachment theory to understand how early relationships shape how you connect now. I'm trained in multiple approaches because people are complex, and one-size-fits-all therapy doesn't work.
​
My approach is trauma-informed, which means I understand that your responses make sense given what you've been through. I won't pathologise your coping mechanisms or treat your struggles as personal failings. Context matters.
Change doesn't happen because someone tells you what to do. It happens through understanding. When you understand why you feel the way you do, why you keep repeating the same patterns, or why certain situations trigger you—you gain the freedom to choose something different.
​
The therapeutic relationship itself is part of the change process. How we relate to each other in the room often reflects how you relate to others outside of it. If you struggle to trust, if you minimise your needs, if you expect to be judged—those patterns will show up here too. And that's useful, because we can work with them directly.
​
I also believe in the value of not rushing. Real change takes time. It's not linear. Some weeks you'll feel like you're getting somewhere; other weeks it'll feel like you're going backwards. That's normal. Therapy isn't about quick fixes—it's about doing the deeper work that actually lasts.
How Change Happens
