My Story
Between Worlds
I was born in Russia and spent most of my childhood between Russia and the Middle East, growing up between cultures, languages and ways of seeing the world. 10 years ago I also became a migrant.
Looking back, I don't think I realised how much those experiences were shaping me. Every move meant learning new rules, finding my place again, making friends, saying goodbye, adapting and starting over.
Living between worlds taught me that there is rarely only one way of understanding people. The same situation can look completely different depending on the culture, family, history or experiences someone carries with them.
I think that's where my curiosity about people first began.
How this shapes my work today
I'm naturally drawn to people whose stories don't fit neatly into one category. Whether someone has moved countries, grown up between cultures, found themselves between different communities or identities, or simply always felt a little different, I'm interested in understanding the whole picture rather than reducing them to a label.
✦
Lessons from my son
Nothing has challenged my assumptions quite like becoming a parent.
I imagined I would be teaching my son about the world. Instead, he quietly began teaching me.
He taught me to slow down, to question what I thought I knew, and to become more curious than certain. He showed me that what looks like resistance often makes perfect sense when we understand the person behind it.
Perhaps most importantly, he taught me that people flourish when they are given space to become themselves rather than being shaped into someone else's idea of who they should be.
How this shapes my work today
That experience became one of the foundations of my practice. I believe therapy works best when it honours each person's individuality, autonomy and pace. Rather helping people fit into someone else's idea of who they should be, I aim to create a space where they can discover what already fits them.
✦
Getting to Know Myself
Training taught me about counselling.
Life taught me about myself.
Over the years I've learnt that my mind naturally thinks in pictures, patterns and connections. I don't experience people as isolated problems. I find myself wondering how experiences, relationships, identity, neurodiversity, culture, the body, strengths, fears and blind spots all weave together into one story.
I've also learnt to appreciate parts of myself that I once questioned - my sensitivity, my curiosity, my tendency to think deeply, and my love of complexity.
Understanding myself didn't make me finished. It made me more compassionate, both towards myself and towards other people. The more I understand myself, the more space I have to understand someone else's story without assuming it is the same as mine.
How this shapes my work today
Because my mind naturally sees patterns and connections, I rarely see people as a collection of separate problems. I'm usually trying to understand how different pieces of someone's story fit together.
Rather than asking "What's wrong with you?", I often find myself wondering, "What happened? What makes sense? What strengths are already here?" I believe understanding context is often far more helpful than rushing towards conclusions.
✦
Becoming a counsellor
People sometimes ask me why I became a counsellor.
The truth is, I don't remember making one single decision.
I've always been fascinated by people. As a child, I found myself wondering what was happening beneath the surface, why people reacted differently, how relationships shaped us, and how two people could experience the same event in completely different ways.
As I grew older, I realised I wasn't looking for a career where I could fix people. I was looking for work where I could sit alongside them, understand their world, and share moments that genuinely mattered.
The more I learned about counselling, the less it felt like choosing a career and the more it felt like recognising a place where I already belonged. It simply matched the way I naturally think, relate to people and make sense of the world.
There is something deeply meaningful about being trusted with another person's story. I still don't take that for granted.
How this shapes my work today
I believe people change most deeply when they experience a relationship where they feel genuinely understood, accepted and accompanied, rather than judged, rescued or fixed.
✦
Learning from Different Communities
Before starting private practice, I worked in several very different settings.
On the surface, they looked unrelated, but together they taught me something important: no single community, diagnosis or life experience can explain a person. Every place challenged my assumptions and encouraged me to stay curious, notice context and keep learning from the people I worked alongside. Those experiences continue to shape how I listen, think and work today.
How this shapes my work today
My experience means I'm comfortable sitting alongside many different kinds of human experiences. Rather than seeing people through the lens of one service or one diagnosis, I try to meet each person as a whole individual with a unique story.
✦
Creating Your Story Counselling
As grateful as I am for every place I've worked, I often found myself wondering...
"What if therapy could feel different?"
I realised I wasn't only creating a counselling practice. I was creating an experience, conditions in which I believe therapy works best. Every decision – from the atmosphere of the room to the language on my website, from the pace of sessions to the way I communicate with clients – became part of the same question: "Does this help someone feel safe enough to be themselves?"
I longed for a space where there was more room for curiosity than certainty.
Where creativity wasn't an extra but simply another language.
Where people didn't have to squeeze themselves into a model before they could be understood.
Where attention was given not only to the conversation, but also to the atmosphere, the pace and all the small details that quietly say, "You're welcome here."
A place that reflected the way I believe therapy works: thoughtful, relational, creative and deeply human.
So I built it.
Your Story Counselling grew from a simple hope: that therapy can be both professional and deeply personal. A place where evidence, creativity, curiosity and compassion sit alongside one another, and where your story is never reduced to a diagnosis or a list of symptoms.