I am Maria, an experienced and BACP Accredited Humanistic counsellor working with adult and young adult clients aged 18+ on an individual basis. I am based in central Farnham and I work online with people living across the UK. I provide both open-ended and time-limited therapy depending on your individual needs and the nature and complexity of the issues you may want to explore.

When I work:

I offer online sessions via Zoom or FaceTime on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I currently have some availability for both daytime and evening appointments.

Areas of interest and experience:

I have a special interest in working with neurodivergent individuals and in helping them embrace their distinctive qualities, as well as create a fulfilling life aligned to their unique needs.

I am also very interested in working with people who struggle with low self-confidence/low self-esteem and in supporting them to develop a greater sense of self- acceptance, and a kinder, more positive view of themselves.

Additionally, I have a keen interest in helping individuals who struggle with mental health difficulties, such as depression and anxiety, as well as people who have experienced different forms of Trauma in their lives, and in enabling them to process their feelings and experiences at a pace that feels safe for them.

I have experience working with clients who face a broad range of issues, including amongst others:

Neurodiversity (ASD, ADHD), anxiety, social anxiety, stress, depression, low-mood, lack of meaning and purpose, attachment difficulties, identity issues, grief and loss, anticipatory grief, codependency, emotional abuse and neglect, self-harm, low self-confidence/self-esteem, shame, life transitions, Trauma, C-PTSD, loneliness and existential concerns.

How I work:

I am committed to offering a warm and trusting therapeutic relationship, in which you can feel safe to explore anything that is troubling you or causing you distress.

I aim to offer a space without judgement where you can openly express all your thoughts, feelings and concerns, and where you can explore both your past and present experiences, including the impact they may still be having on your life.

In our work together, we can examine your patterns of thinking and behaviour, your current ways of coping, and the way you relate to yourself and to others. Through this process, I aim to help you develop a greater sense of self-awareness and feel more able to make the choices that are right for you.

I will not be telling you what to do and I will not be trying to “fix you”. Instead, I will provide a therapeutic relationship in which you will feel truly listened to, respected and accepted, with the hope that you can start trusting yourself more and find your own answers.

My aim is to help you feel more empowered and gradually grow in your own unique way.

The first session:

I strongly believe that it is very important to feel comfortable with your counsellor, and to feel that they are the right therapist for you and your unique needs.

For this reason, I offer the initial 50-minute introductory session at the reduced fee of £45, as an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have, express what you would like to explore in therapy, and get a sense of whether I might be the right counsellor for you.

During this initial session, I will ask you about your hopes and expectations of counselling, as well as any previous counselling experiences you may have had and whether these were helpful or not so helpful for you.

I will also describe how we could work together, depending on the issues you would like to address, with the hope that by the end of our first meeting you will have a better sense of whether working with me could be helpful for you.

If you want to find more about me and my practice you can visit my website: www.mlcounselling.uk

I have a wide range of experience working with individual adult and young adult clients aged 18+, both on a long-term, open-ended basis and for an agreed period of time depending on each client’s needs and the complexity of the issues they wish to work on.

In addition to my private practice, and the broad range of difficulties I work with, I have had extensive experience working as a psychotherapeutic counsellor at a mental health charity in Guildford, providing counselling support to people experiencing a broad range of mental health difficulties, from common difficulties to more complex mental health challenges.