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About me

Your relationship with your therapist is the single biggest factor in getting a good outcome.  That relationship is founded upon you having both the right fit with your therapist and confidence in their credentials.

 

Working with a BACP-registered therapist ensures that you are working with an ethical professional who has completed a structured and accredited programme of learning that has been designed specifically for bettering mental health and personal wellbeing, but in a sense that’s a given.

 

This page aims to go further, giving you a good initial sense of me by describing those things that shape my work, the scope of that work and my credentials for undertaking it.

 

I work with clients at emotional depth and that enables me to engage in complex discussions involving sensitive issues, surfacing personal thoughts and processing difficult feelings.  This is particularly important when working with trauma and the impact of early childhood experiences.

 

I am passionate about helping people and I believe that with my qualifications, skills and experience, I am equipped to help you too.  I am also fully committed to continuous personal and professional development.

Rumena Pervin | MBACP | Freelance Counsellor & Psychotherapist

My guiding beliefs and philosophy

I believe that one of the most important relationships that we have is that with ourselves.  For many of us, this relationship is rather neglected which may seem both odd, as we have to live with it every day, and a missed opportunity, as we have unlimited access to it.  We often develop ways to avoid our feelings or silence the thoughts and beliefs within us, all of which can be draining.

 

I have faith in the ability of therapeutic approaches to support people on their healing journey towards an improved relationship with themselves and through that, a greater sense of inner peace.  I strongly believe that using your interaction with your therapist to find who you are and want to be, rather than who you (or others) think you ought to be, is both liberating and powerful.

 

My philosophical orientation has its roots in what is known as ‘person-centred’ theory.  In layman’s terms, this means that I believe that you have the means within yourself to grow towards your best possible state of wellbeing, whatever that looks like for you.  This belief is based on the notion that you are the expert in your own life and know what you require for your own personal development, growth and coming to terms with losses.  I can provide you with approaches that empower and help you to identify those goals and work towards them.

 

That said, I recognise that one size does not fit all, so I use my training and clinical experience to draw on a range of techniques to help my clients.  I find that this flexible approach provides quicker and more enduring outcomes.

 

Finally, I support making therapeutic support accessible to all regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity or any other difference and so whoever you are and whatever your circumstances, I would love to support you on your journey to better wellbeing, as I have with so many others.

My use of psychological approaches

I have consciously avoided the use of specialist jargon on this website, but to help you understand whether I might be the right therapist for you and in case you want to do more of your own reading, here are the recognised therapeutic approaches that I draw on in tailoring my approach to the specific needs of my clients:

 

  • Psychodynamic Therapy:  Helps you to make long-lasting changes by exploring how your current feelings and behaviours are influenced by your past experiences and your unconscious mind and impulses.

  • Humanistic Therapy:  Draws on other specialist therapy types to explore what makes you the unique person that you are and how you relate to the world around you.  It is centred on achieving potential and taking responsibility for your thoughts and actions, rather than individual problems.

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT):  Examines your thoughts, feelings and behaviours with a view to changing at least some of those that are having a negative impact, in order to help you manage your challenges and feel better.

  • Integrative Therapy:  Applies a tailored combination of the aforementioned approaches to address your presenting issues with the goal of enabling you to view yourself in a better light overall.

Who I can help

If you take up the option of a free no-obligation pre-assessment as detailed here, we can use that time to confirm that I am in a position to help.  If I’m not, I will refer you on to someone else if I can.

 

I can help clients that are:

 

  • Of any type i.e. individuals, families, couples, groups, charities and companies.  [Nb: I can also help individuals referred by their insurer].

  • Of any gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc

  • Able to talk via phone calls, video calls or in-person meetings

  • In need of short-term or long-term support.

 

Unfortunately I cannot help clients that are:

 

  • In an immediate mental health crisis; anyone in that situation should seek help immediately via this link.

  • Presenting a conflict of interest (e.g. anyone that is already personally known to me)

  • In a country outside the UK where the licensing laws for practitioners prevents an engagement with me.

Issues I can help with

The categorised (and alphabetically ordered) table below sets out the issues that I have worked on.

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Within this list, my principal specialties are anxiety, depression and stress.

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To help you, I have provided links to definitions for those terms that are less well-known.

Person-centric issues

  • Addiction (e.g. alcoholism, gambling, video games, etc)

  • Anger management

  • Anxiety

  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

  • Autism

  • Avoidant personality disorder

  • Behavioural issues

  • Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD)

  • Cancer

  • Career counselling

  • Chronic illness

  • Chronic impulsivity

  • Co-dependency

  • Coping skills

  • Depression

  • Drug-related issues

  • Eating disorders (e.g. anorexia nervosa, binge eating, etc)

  • Education and learning disabilities

  • Grief

  • Health anxiety

  • High sensitivity

  • Hoarding

  • Identity

  • Learning difficulties

  • LGBTQ+ counselling

  • Life transitions

  • Loss

  • Low confidence

  • Low self-esteem

  • Medical detox

  • Medication management
  • Men's issues

  • Menopause

  • Mental health

  • Mood disorder

  • Obesity

  • Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)

  • Obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD)

  • Panic attacks

  • Paranoia

  • Phobias

  • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

  • Racial identity

  • Redundancy

  • Sadness

  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

  • Self-harm

  • Sleep issues (e.g. insomnia)

  • Smoking

  • Stress (including work-related stress)

  • Substance abuse

  • Suicidal thoughts

  • Thinking disorder

  • Trauma

  • Weight loss

  • Women's issues

Family-centric issues

  • Abortion

  • Adoption

  • Bereavement

  • Betrayal

  • Carer support (including young carers)

  • Childless not by choice

  • Children

  • Divorce

  • Domestic abuse

  • Domestic violence

  • Family conflict

  • Fertility

  • Infidelity

  • Marital issues

  • Miscarriage

  • Parenting

  • Postnatal depression

  • Postpartum issues

  • Pregnancy and birth

  • Premarital issues

  • Prenatal issues

  • Relationship issues

  • School issues

  • Separation

  • Separation anxiety

  • Sex addiction

  • Teen violence

Relationship-centric issues

  • Loneliness

  • Passive-aggressive behaviour

  • Peer relationships

  • Physical abuse

  • Psychological abuse

  • Sexual abuse

  • Social anxiety

Other issues

  • Cross-cultural issues

  • Spiritual / metaphysical

Please get in touch with me if you are experiencing an issue that is not listed above.

My credentials

The following categorised table sets out a summary of my professional credentials:

Educational qualifications

  • BA (2:1, Hons) degree in Integrative Counselling & Psychotherapy (Institute of Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy, Ireland)

  • Level 4 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling (Hackney College, London)

  • Certificate in Online and Telephone Counselling (Open University, UK)

  • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Training (Centre for Stress Management, London)

  • Training certificate (Violence Against Women and Girls, London)

  • Certificate in Couples Counselling (International Society of Professional Counsellors)

Clinical experience highlights

As at 29th March 2024 and excluding cancellations, I have accrued 2,300 clinical hours.

Past Roles:

  • Therapist for the Maryam Women's Centre

  • Therapist for Sakoon Counselling

  • Therapist for Betterhelp.com

  • Group Therapist for a Women's Charity

Present Role:

  • Operating my own private practice.

Regulatory registrations

  • Registered member no. 381834 of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy)

  • Basic DBS check by the UK Government (certificate issued: 25th Sep 2023)

  • Registered Data Controller with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (Reg. no. ZB357046)

Insurance

  • £5m cover (including malpractice and public liability) regardless of location of work

Client reviews

  • My published client testimonials can be found in anonymised form here.

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