Elena Gava

 My speciality is working with a range of issues including, high functioning anxiety, ADHD, OCD, Menopause impact, emotional distress, work issues, perfectionism, all- or nothing thinking, lack of confidence and self-esteem, relationship issues, people pleasing and people who struggle maintain healthy boundaries. I work with the LGBTQIA+ community and embrace difference and diversity in my practice.

The focus, for me, is on the client’s unique experience of their life. We will work through the areas that make them feel stuck, due to the impact of a strong inner critic or guilt as a result of difficult issues may stem from childhood abuse, neglect or bullying, or negative experiences which prevent you to from living a more meaningful life. I draw on a variety of approaches to provide the best experience for each individual client with a person-centred approach as the foundation of my work because the client knows best and I focus on understanding your anxiety. Using Gestalt Therapy, helps to understand how past experiences impact the present time, TA- Transactional Analysis will enhance your understanding and build a positive relationship with self and others. By using an element of CBT to identify the root causing of your anxiety and helping to reduce its power by reconnecting your mind with your thoughts, feelings and your physical response to those feelings, so that you can become a more wholesome person by learning to live your life with it rather than be governed by it. This approaches would only be introduced at an appropriate time at your own pace to maintain ethics and safe space. Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear. Everyone has feelings of anxiety at some point in their life because it's a natural human response when we feel that we are under threat. It can be experienced through our thoughts, feelings and physical sensations. It can affect our lives on a daily basis. I firmly believe that every person is beautifully unique and special, and has inner potential to reach their goals and be whatever they feel to be right, at their own pace. As a counsellor, my goal is to ensure that I provide a confidential, safe space, where you can feel heard and understood by me, in a non-judgemental and respectful way. Integrative counselling aims to promote healing and facilitate wholeness - ensuring that all levels of a person's being and functioning (mental, physical and emotional health) are maximised to their full potential. "You don't have to be able to see the whole staircase, just take the first step" - Martin Luther King Jr.