“We may not be responsible for the world that created our mind, but we can take responsibility for the mind with which we create our world.”
- Gabor Mate
Services
Individual therapy
Couple counselling
Parenting consultancy
My work Values:
Honesty
Empathy
Trust
Connection
Balance
Professional Memberships
“Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it."
- Tori Amos
Counselling Methodology
I have been trained to work using an integrative approach.
What does that mean?
The method I use is a combination of:
Psychodynamic
CBT
Person Centered
WHAT MY CLIENTS ARE SAYING
“I worked with Dafina weekly for almost 2 years to help process some grief and trauma I had experienced both in childhood and in my adult life. She is extremely professional and kind but also firm and knows how to challenge limiting beliefs and patterns of dysfunction in a compassionate way. She always had new ideas about how to approach a problem which allowed a great deal of progress during sessions. She helped me know myself better and our work together has led to many significant positive changes in my life. I would highly recommend Dafina as a therapist.”
“My husband and I started meeting with Dafina as we were at odds over growing our family further. We were a little apprehensive if couples therapy could help us and what that meant for our relationship but Dafina just the calm, knowledgeable presence we needed. She took the time to get to know each of us in the first couple of sessions which allowed her to make insightful comments about each of us. In the sessions Dafina allowed us to talk at length and work our way through the problem ourselves guided by her thought provoking comments and questions. In the end we learned a lot about ourselves and each other and were able to come to a compromise which made us both happy (something we were unsure was possible before). We’ve now completed our sessions but have left the door open incase we ever need Dafina’s insights again since we know we’d be in good hands.”
“Dafina has a warmth that makes you feel comfortable in the sessions, encouraging you to lead them in whatever direction you want to. She also challenges you to tackle difficult things. She gives useful insight and she has changed how I view my life.” - Age 17
“I couldn’t recommend Dafina as a therapist highly enough, and have already mentioned her to many people. I found our sessions so helpful and she was so empathetic and caring with me. She listened so patiently and kindly and I often found myself finding the comments and feedback she gave me as so very wise and pragmatic. I really do think that my life going forward will be very positively impacted by our work together. I would 100% seek therapy with Dafina again.”
“When attending sessions with Dafina, I found her very easy to open up to straight away, she helped me to understand my behavior and problems from my past, I learnt coping mechanisms and who I am as a person, since having sessions with Dafina my life has changed dramatically for the better, i just wished that I had gone to counselling years ago instead of leaving it to later on in life. All I can say is thank you Dafina for helping me to learn how to turn my life around.”
“I took it upon myself to seek therapy due to systemic psychological trauma at work and concomitant deep-seated anger issues. I found Dafina, literally just up the road from me. Initially, I was a little sceptical and fearful because I had no idea what to expect from therapy. And “men don’t do therapy” I thought. However, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain and it wasn’t long before Dafina took me under her wing and lent an empathetic ear. I was surprised at myself as to how easy it was to talk and disclose all my woes; I lost all my inhibitions and didn’t hold back. After a few sessions, I felt a connection with Dafina. She was understanding, non-judgemental and empathetic and through her human givens approach and use of CBT, she gave me loads of encouragement and helped me find my own strategies and solutions. I started therapy with a very negative mindset and ended therapy feeling very positive, having found my own exit strategy from my problems along with psychological closure. Best decision I ever made!”
FAQs
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If you are new to therapy and want to find more about it send me an email, a text or simply fill out the form which you can find under 'Contact Me' and I will get back to you within hours to organise a free initial consultation. This is normally a 15 minute chat over the phone which is free of charge and is a great opportunity for you to ask any questions and get a feel of me and how I work.
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The first session is really for you to get to know me and to decide if I am your therapist and for me to find out a bit more about you and your issue so I can tell you if I will be able to help you. You don’t need to prepare anything for that first session I will lead and create structure for it.
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We recommend that therapy is done once a week, especially in the beginning when we are building that working alliance. Each session will last 50 minutes.
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Yes. Everything you choose to bring in sessions is strictly confidential, however there are a few exceptions. If you were to disclose that you have serious intentions of hurting yourself or someone else I won’t be able to keep this a secret. You can read more about this in my counselling contract, which I will send you before our first session.
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After session has been booked, I will need at least 48 hours notice if you want to cancel it.
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The majority of my work is now online and it has proven to be extremely effective and efficient way of doing therapy. The platform I use for that is zoom.