Maria Laskou - Profile

Hello and welcome! I am Maria, an experienced and BACP registered Humanistic counsellor working with adult clients 18+ on a one-to-one basis. My practice is based in central Farnham and online, and I offer both long-term and time-limited therapy depending on my clients’ unique needs.

Areas of interest and experience:

I have a special interest in helping individuals manage their mental health difficulties and in helping them create a meaningful and satisfying life despite their struggles. I am also very interested in working with neurodivergent individuals as well as with clients who present with low self-esteem/low self-confidence and in supporting them to cultivate a more positive view of themselves.

I have extensive experience in working with clients who face a wide range of mental health issues, such as: Anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks, depression, low-mood, bipolar disorder and personality disorders. Other areas that I have successfully supported clients in include: Attachment issues, grief and loss, identity and relationship issues, family issues, loneliness, life transitions, lack of purpose and meaning, shame, trauma, C-PTSD, physical and emotional abuse, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, and neurodiversity (ADHD, ASD).

How I work:

I am committed to offering a warm and confidential environment where you can feel safe to explore anything that is troubling you and causing you distress. I aim to offer a space without judgement where you can express all your thoughts and feelings and where you can explore your past and present experiences, your patterns of behaviour, your current coping mechanisms, and the way you relate to yourself and to others. In our work together, I will not be telling you what to do and I will not be trying to “fix you”, but I will provide a therapeutic relationship in which you will feel truly listened to, respected and accepted, so that you can be facilitated in trusting yourself more and in finding the right way forward for you.

The first session:

I strongly believe that it is very important to feel comfortable with your counsellor, and for this reason I offer the initial 50-minute introductory session at the reduced fee of £35 as an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have and to get a sense of whether I am the right counsellor for you. In this initial session, I will ask you about your hopes and expectations of counselling, about previous counselling experience, and I will explain the way we could work together, with the hope that by the end of our initial meeting you will have a sense of whether working with me would be beneficial for you.

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

Previous Experience:

I have a wide range of experience working with adult and young adult clients on a long-term, open-ended basis, or for an agreed period of time depending on my clients’ unique needs. In addition to my private practice, I have had several years’ experience of working as a counsellor at a local charitable organisation which provides emotional and well-being support to people who experience common and more severe mental health struggles.