Monique Szenkowska
Registered Member MÌÇÐĹÙÍø (Accredited)
Contact information
- Phone number
- 07738813683
Therapist - York
Features
- Flexible hours available
- Concessionary rates
Availability
I currently have availability for new clients. I offer sessions in person in York and online throughout the UK.
Daytime and evening appointments are available Monday to Friday, with occasional online appointments at weekends.
Sessions are 50 minutes and are available in English or Polish.
About me and my therapy practice
Perhaps you've spent years trying to change yourself without ever asking why you became this way in the first place.
Hello, I'm Monique - I want to help you make sense of yourself. Anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, difficult relationships or patterns you can't seem to change have a story. Sometimes the problem isn't who you are, but what you've had to do to cope.
You may already understand where some of your difficulties come from, yet still find yourself feeling or reacting in the same old ways. Knowing why isn't always enough to change how you feel. That's where we can go deeper - looking beneath the surface, asking questions you may never have thought to ask and noticing what you may never have thought to look for.
You can bring everything here. The thoughts that feel embarrassing, emotions that seem irrational, scary or contradictory - nothing is too strange to say out loud. You really can tell me anything. I won't pretend to have all the answers, but I'll listen, be honest and sometimes challenge you when I think it might help.
I work with individuals and couples across a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, grief, low self-esteem and relationship issues. I also have a particular understanding of what it's like when someone you love is struggling with an eating disorder or their mental health and you are the one trying to hold everything together. Parents and carers are rarely heard. If you're watching someone you love slip away while losing yourself in the exhausting work of trying to save them, this is something I understand deeply.
You don't need a diagnosis, or to know exactly what's wrong. Just feeling that something isn't right is enough. You don't have to explain it yet.
Finding the right therapist matters. If at any point you feel I'm not the right fit, I'll help you think about what, or who, might suit you better. If anything you've read resonates, get in touch. I usually reply the same day.
Practice description
This is more than just talking.
I don't believe you should have to fit the therapy - the therapy should fit you. As an integrative therapist, I draw on different approaches depending on what you need.
I also work with couples. We can explore arguments that keep repeating, things that don't get said, distance that's developed, or patterns you both fall into. My role isn't to decide who's right, but to help you understand what's happening between you and find another way of relating.
Talking is often where we begin, but it doesn't have to be where we stay. We might explore how your past is showing up in the present, notice what happens in your body, work with an image or memory, draw, visualise, or stay with a feeling that words haven't quite reached. We can also find practical ways to manage anxiety, intrusive thoughts or overwhelming emotions in the here and now.
Why look at the past?
Not because everything is your parents' fault, or because therapy means endlessly analysing your childhood. But the relationships and experiences that shaped you can leave patterns in how you see yourself, relate to others and respond when you feel threatened, rejected or overwhelmed. Understanding them can give you more choice.
And why the body?
Sometimes your mind knows you're safe while your body reacts as though you're not. You may feel tension, panic, heaviness or numbness. Paying attention to these responses can take us somewhere words alone cannot.
I draw on person-centred, psychodynamic, attachment-informed, creative and body-based approaches. There's no formula, and nothing is forced. We use what helps and leave what doesn't.
The aim isn't to turn you into someone else. It's to help you understand yourself well enough that old patterns no longer have to make your choices for you. Therapy isn't only about what hurts. We can also discover what you want, what matters to you, and parts of yourself you may have lost along the way.
My first session
It's completely normal to feel nervous before a first therapy session. You might be wondering what you're supposed to say, where to start, or whether you'll suddenly be expected to tell a stranger your entire life story. You won't.
I know what it's like to sit in that chair. I've been a client myself, and I remember that strange feeling of walking into a room and wondering how on earth to begin.
We'll just start talking. I'll probably ask what has brought you to therapy now and what has been happening for you. The conversation might take us somewhere completely unexpected - that's OK too. There isn't a checklist we have to get through, and you don't have to tell me anything you're not ready to talk about.
You're also getting to know me. You might like me straight away, you might need a few sessions to work me out, or you might decide I'm not the therapist for you. All of those are OK. I won't be offended.
There's no obligation to book another session there and then. If you want to continue, we can arrange another appointment. If you want some time to think, take it.
And if you're worried that you won't know what to say, don't be. You don't have to know how to begin. That's partly my job.
I offer a free introductory phone call if you'd like to hear my voice before you decide to see me. You can tell me a little about what's going on and ask me anything you want to know, but you don't need to have it all worked out before you call. It's fine if you simply want to see what it feels like to talk to me.
What I can help with
Abuse, ADD / ADHD, Anger management, Anxiety, Autism spectrum, Baby loss, Bereavement, Cancer, Child related issues, Chronic fatigue syndrome / ME, Cultural issues, Depression, Disability, Eating disorders, Health related issues, Identity issues, Infertility, Loss, Menopause, Men's issues, Mood disorder, Neurodiversity, Obsessions, OCD, Personal development, Phobias, Post-traumatic stress, Pregnancy related issues, Redundancy, Relationships, Self esteem, Self-harm, Sexuality, Spirituality, Stalking, Stress, Trauma, Women's issues, Work related issues
Types of therapy
Creative therapy, Existential, Gestalt, Humanistic, Integrative, Narrative therapy, Person centred, Phenomenological, Psychodynamic, Relational
Clients I work with
Adults, Couples, Older adults, Trainees, Young people
How I deliver therapy
Long term sessions, Long-term face-to-face work, Online therapy, Short term sessions, Short-term face-to-face work, Telephone therapy, Time-limited
Languages spoken
English, Polish