Welcome to Selfreach Counselling
Supporting your journey of self-exploration
with compassion and care
Welcome, and thank you for visiting Selfreach Counselling. My name is Zuzana, and I am an Integrative Counsellor providing both short and long-term therapy to adult individuals in South-West London. I practice in a trauma-informed and neurodivergence-informed way, and I am LGBTQI+ affirming.
Counselling and therapy in a safe, supportive and private setting
Life naturally brings many challenges, and it is understandable that at times we might not want to face them alone. Whether you are seeking support for a specific issue or simply a space to process difficult emotions, my primary aim is to provide a compassionate and confidential environment where you feel safe to explore anything on your mind, no matter how big or small. I believe that building a trusting relationship, where you feel truly seen and heard without judgment or prejudice, is the key to fostering meaningful change, whether in short-term or long-term therapy.
About me
My main therapeutic approach is person-centered, viewing each client as the expert on their own life, as nobody else truly knows what it is like to be YOU. With this in mind, compassion, empathy, and a genuine curiosity about you as an individual are fundamental to my practice.
Being integratively trained, I blend various therapeutic modalities to suit your specific needs, drawing particularly from psychodynamic, existential, and humanistic approaches. I believe that our early life experiences, significant relationships, and unconscious processes continuously shape our current sense of self and how we navigate the world. Exploring the past and linking it to what is going on in the here and now is something I encourage with all my clients.
As a fully-qualified counsellor I am a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy, and abide by their code of ethics. I am also a certified Trauma-Informed Practitioner.
My experience includes supporting clients through a variety of mental health difficulties, including depression, anxiety, panic attacks, guilt & shame, low self-esteem and issues related to work, career, family, and relationships. I have also volunteered for a crisis-intervention service, where I regularly engaged in conversations about trauma, suicide, self-harm, risk, and abuse.
In addition to working in private practice, previously I had been delivering short-term therapeutic interventions through the NHS Lambeth (NHS Talking Therapies), as well as open-ended, long-term therapy within the counselling services in Clapham and Tooting.
With an initial career in health and food safety management within hospitality sector, I have always been passionate about supporting the well-being of others. Encountering a wide range of people with diverse identities, backgrounds, and life stories, along with my own personal journey as a therapy client ultimately led me to train as a therapist and pursue a career in mental health.
My location
I work from my therapy room in Clapham Old Town, and see clients from South-West London, including Clapham, Battersea, Tooting, Wimbledon and surrounding areas. I will provide the exact location details when we arrange our sessions.
In addition to providing face-to-face therapy, I also offer online sessions via Zoom or Skype. Contact me to find out more about how online therapy works.
For clients who prefer the outdoors or do not have suitable arrangements for working online, there is an option of 'Walk & Talk' or 'Park Bench' sessions in Clapham Common, weather permitting.
Fees & availability
If you feel I might be the right therapist for you, please call or email me to book a session. If preferable, I also offer a free 15-20 minute initial introductory phone or video call.
After deciding to proceed with regular sessions, we will agree on the start date, time, and location (in-person or online) and discuss the arrangement in more detail. Each session lasts 50 minutes and costs £70. The duration of therapy is open-ended or as per each individual agreement. I welcome both short and long-term therapy clients.
I reserve a few spaces in my practice for reduced-fee clients. Please contact me directly to enquire.
What can I help with?
Clients come to me for support with a wide range of difficulties and life challenges. Here are a few of the more common ones:
Street and anxiety
Panic attacks
Depression
Relationship problems
Life transitions
Grief and loss
Trauma and post-traumatic stress
Different forms of abuse
Low confidence or self-esteem
Issues relating to self-identity
Work, school and career issues
“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner." I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.”
Carl Rogers, A Way of Being
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy--the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”
Brene Brown, The Power of Vulnerability
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
Maya Angelou, Psychology Today Interview
Get in touch
Feel free to contact me (info@selfreach-counselling.co.uk) if you have any questions about how counselling works, or to arrange an initial assessment appointment. This enables us to discuss the reasons you are thinking of coming to counselling, whether it could be helpful for you and whether I am the right therapist to help.
You can also call me on 07931813814 if you would prefer to leave a message or speak to me first. I am happy to discuss any queries or questions you may have prior to arranging an initial appointment.
All enquires are usually answered within 24 hours, and all contact is strictly confidential.
Some frequently asked questions
Many therapists tend to view Counselling as ‘short-term’ work; when someone has a problem that can be looked at and discussed in a clearly-resolvable way. This work often requires undertaking sessions for a certain number of weeks, to explore, discover and clarify a way forward. Therapy is a word used more to describe ‘long-term’ work; discussion that tends towards substantial issues and things that might be life-changing on a deeper level.
Whether counselling or therapy work best as a short- or long-term option depends on the client though, and the difficulties they are facing. In some cases counselling can prove helpful as a continuing, longer-term option, or therapy can help resolve an issue in just a few sessions.
There’s no fixed or ideal length of time for the counselling process; it varies from person to person and will often depend on the depth of the issues they are facing. While I can work on an open-ended basis with clients, I find it is helpful for us to both agree before we start on undertaking a certian nunebr of sessions and reviewing where we are at once we reach that point. You are able to decide how long your therapy willl last, and in return my aim is to make sure therapy continues for only as long as it is of benefit to you.
This depends on what your needs are. Some people find that after only a very few sessions they have some clarity and focus and are ready to end the therapy. Other people value the ongoing support and relationship with me and will continue to come for weeks, months, or even years. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' when it comes to therapy.
My aim is to offer you a first appointment within one week. However waiting times may vary according to my availability at the time, as well as your specific needs around scheduling.
Confidentiality is one of the main ways in which therapy differs from many other forms of helping - for example, talking to friends or family can rarely offer the same degree of confidentiality as talking to a counsellor. Because of this confidentiality, you will find that - as you get used to coming for therapy - you are freer to talk about whatever you wish to.
No therapist can offer 100% confidentiality: there are some situations where the law requires disclosure of risk (e.g. certain child protection issues) and in common with most other therapists, there are some situations where I may not be able to keep total confidentiality. In particular, if someone tells me that they are thinking of harming themselves in a way that I believe puts them at serious risk, or if someone tells me that they are doing something that could put others at risk, I may not be able to keep such information confidential. However, breaking confidentiality is rare, and only happens after talking to the person concerned.
When you come for counselling it's important that you feel free to talk about whatever is important to you. Sometimes, you may not be clear what those issues are. Having a friend or family member with you is not usually helpful because they may have their own agenda for you. Even if this is just that they want to be supportive, or want you to 'get better', this agenda can prevent us opening issues up. When you come for therapy, you may need to explore thoughts or behaviours about which you feel ashamed or embarrassed and you may censor yourself so as not to hurt someone, or you may find that what they want you to talk about is not really what you need to discuss.
Sometimes, family/friends can even be part of an underlying issue which needs to be aired and discussed. Usually, people who ask this question are nervous about coming for a session alone, or they are anxious for the person who is thinking about arranging sessions. This anxiety is quite normal, and you will not be forced to talk about anything you feel uncomfortable about - but you do need to be able to talk about whatever is important. For this reason, I do not see clients accompanied by friends or family.
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