Step in.
This is a space to find yourself and
breathe
again.
Integrative Counselling in Durham for Neurodivergent & Deeply Self-Aware Adults
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Many of the people who find
their way to me...
...are actually incredibly strong and capable people.
From the outside, they often look as though they have everything together.
Inside, things can feel rather different.
They may be:
✦ Thoughtful and insightful, yet exhausted.
✦ Deeply compassionate towards others, yet surprisingly harsh towards themselves.
✦ Independent and fiercely capable, yet quietly longing for somebody to share the weight with.
✦ Accomplished on the outside, yet disconnected from themselves on the inside.
✦ Surrounded by people, yet profoundly lonely.
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Come in, take your coat off and get comfortable.
Integrative counselling for thoughtful, sensitive and deeply self-aware adults.
Face-to-face in my cosy studio in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, or online across the UK.
You may have always experienced life deeply: in details, vibrant colours, memorable moments and intense emotions.
Perhaps you've...
✦ read the books
✦ listened to podcasts
✦ reflected endlessly
✦ searched for answers
✦ talked things through with friends,
✦ or even had therapy before.
You might know a great deal about yourself already. In fact, I feel that many of the people who find their way to me understand other people exceptionally well.
And yet, despite all this understanding....
something still feels unresolved.
It is almost as though you are carrying around hundreds of puzzle pieces
but still cannot quite see how they all fit together.
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Perhaps somewhere along the way you became so busy
carrying.
coping.
adapting.
understanding everyone else...
....that somewhere along the way you lost sight of yourself.
Or perhaps old ways of coping simply no longer work but new ones haven't emerged yet.
Not necessarily a crisis.
Sometimes it is quieter than that.
A growing sense that something isn't working anymore.
You might recognise some of these...
✦ I understand so much about myself... so why do I still feel stuck?
✦ Why does everything feel like
such hard work?
✦ Why do I always feel like I'm not enough...
and somehow too much at the same time?
✦ I know who I am.. so why don't I live like it?
✦ How can I stop putting so much pressure on
myself?
✦ Things seem fine... so why do I feel so disconnected from myself?
✦ I'm so exhausted from holding everything
together
✦ How can I be coping... and struggling at the same time?
✦ Why do I understand everyone else,
but don't feel understood by others?
✦ Why do I feel like I'm surviving instead of living?
If some of these questions feel familiar, you are not alone. We can make sense of them together.
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Everything is connected
Sometimes people come to therapy hoping to find one clear problem to solve.
More often, it feels like standing in a dense forest.
Burnout, relationships, identity, grief, neurodivergence, culture, belonging, life transitions... they don't stand in separate corners. They grow alongside one another, their roots and branches quietly intertwined.
When we work together, we slow down, notice the paths between them, and begin to understand and begin to glimpse the bigger landscape.
Maybe that's where our paths meet
I was born in Russia and grew up between cultures, languages and different ways of seeing the world. Looking back, I think those experiences quietly shaped the therapist I've become. They taught me to stay curious, to look beyond first impressions, and to recognise that every person carries a story far richer than the labels they may have been given.
That curiosity still sits at the heart of my work today. I'm drawn to people who experience life deeply, who've spent years trying to understand themselves, who often notice more than they can easily explain, or who have found themselves wondering where they belong. Rather than making assumptions about people, I'm interested in discovering the unique map of experiences, relationships and strengths that has brought you here.
I hope our work together offers a space where you don't need to shrink parts of yourself or explain your complexity away. We can make sense of things together, at a pace that feels right for you.
Outside the therapy room, you'll probably find me barefoot among trees, hunting for fossils, sharing spicy food with people I love, or listening to the very determined opinions of my cat. Those are the things that keep me curious, grounded and human.
Hi, I'm Sasha, an integrative creative counsellor.
I'm deeply interested in how curiosity, compassion and the smallest moments of wonder can help people reconnect with themselves.
A few ideas I keep in my pocket
...and what they mean for you
I do not believe that people fit neatly into labels or approaches.
I also do not believe that there is one right way to do therapy.
I feel that people make sense in context. Our relationships, families, cultures, identities, histories, bodies and life experiences all matter. Human beings are complex, and I think therapy needs enough flexibility to honour that complexity.
I find myself curious about people.
About stories.
About contradictions.
About the ways we learn to survive.
About the parts of ourselves we had to hide, leave behind or adapt in order to belong.
About how we became who we are.
Therapy with me is collaborative. I do not see myself as the expert on you because, ultimately, you are the person who knows what it feels like to live your life.
My role is not to tell you who you are.
It is to help you notice patterns, ask different questions, make connections and discover what feels meaningful and true for you.
I work in an integrative, trauma-informed and neurodivergent-affirming way. In ordinary human language, this simply means that I adapt therapy to the person sitting in front of me, rather than expecting people to adapt to therapy.
There is room here for complexity.
For uncertainty.
For curiosity.
For creativity.
For humour.
For strong feelings.
For contradictions.
For all the messy, beautiful and deeply human parts of being a person.
What shapes my practice
Drawing from different therapeutic approaches to find what works best for you.
Working gently with the effects of overwhelming experiences.
Understanding difference without seeing it as something to fix.
Registered member of British Association for counselling and psychotherapy (BACP).
Fully insured with
Enhanced DBS check.
Using metaphors, imagery and creative approaches alongside talking therapy.
What our work together can make possible
Every person is different, but in time you might begin to notice:
✦ feeling lighter
✦ problems feeling less gripping or urgent
✦ more space to breathe, think and respond
✦ patterns making more sense
✦ perceptions beginning to shift
✦ more self-compassion
✦ feeling more like yourself again
✦ greater choice and movement
✦ carrying the same things differently
✦ hope and possibility returning
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Simple things answered
Who do I work with?
I work adults and older adolescents.
How much are the sessions?
50 min - £75
A small number of sliding-scale places are available at £55-65 per session.
How frequently
can we meet up?
Weekly ✦ fortnightly
✦ monthly
We can shape the rhythm around what feels right for you.
Where do we
meet?
In person, in my cosy studio in Bishop Auckland, or online if it's easier.
I also offer a hybrid option (In person + online) so if life gets in thew way, you don't need to miss a session.
How long are the sessions?
Counselling sessions are typically 50 minutes.
For people who prefer more time for procession, I offer 90-minute sessions.
Are sessions accessible?
My studio is on the second floor, so it’s not wheelchair accessible — but if that or anything else could make sessions tricky, we’ll find a way to connect that works for you.
If there is anything I can do to make our sessions accessible to you, please let me know.
Knock on my door.
I'm right here.
You can tell me as much or as little as you'd like.
I read every message myself and I will reply as soon as I can.
and I'd love to hear your story.
Or if you would rather book a 15-minute connection video call, you are very welcome to book one below.
If none of the available times work for you, just let me know.
