Samia El Osta - Profile

I’m a High-Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapist (CBT) with more than 12 years of experience promoting clients’ social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing. My relationship with clients is based in collaboration, insightful self-exploration, data-driven interventions, shared laughter, and kindness. I consistently receive excellent feedback from clients about my practice. With me, you’re welcome just as you are. I value the topics, thoughts, and personal experiences you want to discuss and nothing is considered shameful, taboo, or off-limits. I abide by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) standards of conduct, performance, and ethics and take my duty to you, and all my clients, as both a privilege and a trusted responsibility.

Alongside my private practice, I am a Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Surrey where I teach student Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners to effectively use CBT within the NHS. I’m always excited to teach students about CBT and its power to alleviate depression and anxiety.

I specialise in treating all anxiety disorders, depression, and perinatal mental health for individuals ages 17yrs+.

My experience is both far reaching and far ranging. I specialize in treating depression, anxiety disorders, and perinatal mental health. I’m particularly interested in the perinatal mental health of women and have extensive experience supporting women one-to-one and in groups with post-partum depression and anxiety. I’m highly skilled in working with multiculturalism and diversity, I’m anti-racist, and I value the intersectionality of people’s life experiences and circumstances.

In addition to supporting clients, I provide CPD trainings to colleagues in the field of mental health who want to refresh their practical skills. I also provide workshops for businesses and members of the general public about how to improve wellbeing. All of the approaches I teach are anchored in theoretical awareness and empirical evidence.

In the UK, I’ve worked as a CBT Therapist for NHS Talking Therapies and as a Criminal Justice Social Worker supporting clients who want to change their life trajectory for the better. In the United States, I worked as a clinical Social Worker offering therapy to youth and teens in school settings, and I helped lead a personal and professional development program for underserved young adults. In the Middle East, I assisted in researching the experiences of Iraqi refugees with war and conflict injuries, and subsequently built on that experience in the United States by offering therapy to refugees from Iraq in schools and the non-profit sector.