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I currently have some availability for sessions and can offer flexible sessions throughout the day and evenings from Monday-Saturday. 

If you’re reading this, you may be wondering how you can move forward from painful and difficult life experiences. I want you to know there is hope and counselling can be a meaningful and supportive part of that journey in finding yourself again and overcoming your struggles.

I’m Christina, a therapist specialising in helping individuals safely work through relationships, trauma and abusive experiences. I also work with a range of mental health difficulties including depression, anxiety and loss of identity and confidence. 

I may be a good fit for you as a therapist if you have experienced:

• Difficulties within your relationships, including family and friendships
• Noticed your relationships impact your mood and anxiety
• Domestic / narcissistic abuse
• Sexual trauma 
• Heartbreak / difficult endings  
• Trauma bonds
• Childhood abuse 

As a counsellor, I will listen thoughtfully, helping you to feel heard, understood and validated. As we work together, we build a trusting, non-judgmental relationship, where you can explore your experiences at your own pace and reduce feelings of shame and guilt that often accompany trauma and mental health. Many of my clients have shared that this sense of being truly heard is one of the most powerful parts of therapy. 

I currently offer online counselling or face-to-face in the Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent areas.

How can I help?

My approach draws on combining several therapies and techniques depending on what works for each person, as no two people or sessions are the same. I often use compassion-focussed principles to support you in developing kinder ways of seeing yourself, including reflections on your 'inner child'. I also offer principles of cognitive-behavioural therapy where we look at alternative ways of thinking, strengthening our control over our thoughts. We may also collaborate on implementing helpful behaviours, communication and boundaries that can have a positive impact on depression and relationships.

Furthermore, I implement a strengths-based model of trauma to help you reflect and develop a kinder narrative on how you survived your past experiences. I am trained in the Rewind Technique which can help to process traumatic events. Together, we can practice emotional regulation and grounding tools including meditation and mindfulness to manage aspects of trauma including panic attacks, flashbacks and nightmares. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or self-harm, I can provide a supportive space to talk about these safely. Together, we can begin to build self-compassion, confidence, and a sense of your personal identity. 

Many of my previous clients have started therapy feeling depressed and hopeless and have ended therapy months later feeling empowered, confident and kinder towards themselves through the combination of feeling heard, seen and empowered with techniques that work. 

In addition, I specialise in working with disordered eating and negative body image. I can help you to heal your relationship with food and your body, break cycles of restriction and/or binge eating, and develop greater kindness and confidence in yourself.

In our first session, I will take the time to get to know you and help you to feel safe and at ease. There is no pressure and we will take the session at your pace. 

During the first session, I will discuss our shared way of working together and go through our contract. This involves discussing confidentiality and how I will ensure what we discuss together remains safe and confidential. The first session is also a space for you to ask any further questions about counselling. 

We will also begin to discuss where you are currently at in your life and what your hopes are for counselling sessions and what you feel would be beneficial for you to get our of therapy sessions. Some people are aware of what they want to work on whereas other people don't have a specific goal in mind and both are OK. We work together to understand what will be helpful and meaningful for you. 

I qualified as an integrative counsellor combining several therapies depending on what works for each person. No two people or sessions are the same. Most people I have spoken to often say they just want someone to truly listen and understand them.

I have experience in a range of areas including anxiety and depression, however my area of expertise is working with survivors of trauma, abuse and coercive control. I am a qualified Independent Domestic and Sexual Violence Advisor, working with survivors for several years. I also have a MSc in Psychology of Coercive Control which also covered psychotherapeutic approaches to recovery from psychological abuse and trauma. I also have experience supporting survivors of group/cult abuse and workplace abuse/bullying.

Finally, I have several years experience working with those experiencing anxiety, suicidal thoughts and ideation and eating disorders after working within the NHS community mental health teams.

I currently offer online counselling or face-to-face in the Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent areas.

Much of my clinical work focuses on supporting individuals to recover from traumatic experiences including abuse. In my practice, I provide a safe, non-judgmental environment to support you in understanding what you've been through and help you to recognise and reframe the ways in which you coped and survived your experiences which can help to reduce shame and self-blame.

Furthermore, I can support with providing practical tools and strategies to manage the physical impact of trauma and abuse. Overall, the aim is to support you in feeling heard, understood and validated.