Please read on to find out more about how I work, or feel free to get in touch with any questions.
People come to therapy for many different reasons. You might feel overwhelmed, lost, or unable to cope. You may be navigating a crisis or a major life change, wanting insight and support to make meaningful shifts, or exploring your identity around sexuality, gender, or neurodiversity. Sometimes what brings people into therapy is a sense that something isn’t “quite right,” even if it’s hard to put into words.
Therapy can’t change your past but it can help you process difficult life experience and therefore relieve the effects of trauma in both mind and body. Through this process you can develop a deeper understanding of yourself and how you’ve arrived at this point in life and begin to evolve more satisfying and valuable ways to live.
Whatever brings you here, I can offer you a safe, non-judgemental, personal and supportive therapeutic space where we can work on what you’re looking for at your own pace. Over time, the relief from negative impacts of past experience and expansion of ways to live that therapy can offer leads to an increased sense of freedom and potential.
• Emotional wellbeing: Anxiety & panic attacks; Depression; Isolation & loneliness; Low self-esteem & lack of confidence; Mindfulness coaching; Stress & burnout; Social anxiety.
• Identity & relationships: Crisis of identity; Gender & sexuality; Neurodiversity; Parenting; Relationship difficulties.
• Life transitions: Becoming a parent; Bereavement & loss; Body image; Creative block; Transition in life (career, relocation, retirement, etc).
• Trauma & difficult experiences: Emotional abuse; Self-harm; Sexual abuse; Traumatic experience.
• Fertility, pregnancy & postnatal: Birthing trauma; Fertility issues; IVF; Miscarriage; Postnatal depression.
• Physical health: Chronic fatigue; Chronic pain; IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).
Alongside the full range of issues that may come into the therapy room, I have a particular interest in working with neurodiversity, sexuality, fertility, pregnancy, and postnatal issues.
There are many theoretical schools of counselling and psychotherapy. You may have come across some of them: psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, humanistic, person-centred, transpersonal, gestalt, attachment, psychosynthesis and CBT are some of the more well known frameworks, but there are more.
An integrative therapist has had a training that includes all the major schools of thought from which they formulate their own practice style. This means that one integrative therapist is likely to have a different approach to another because we would all integrate our theories differently; this makes integrative therapy a little difficult to define.
My own approach is influenced by psychodynamic and humanistic theory, incorporating a variety of ways to work with the body and nervous system, integrating polyvagal theory, neuroscience, somatic work, trauma-informed yoga, sound and mindfulness; coming from a person-centred heart in a relational style.
With 20 years of practice I have a wealth of experience and professional development which means I can offer my clients an exceptional and eclectic therapeutic experience that can move beyond sitting and talking, if that’s appropriate and what’s wanted.
I offer a collaborative therapeutic relationship in my cosy consulting room where you can feel accepted, supported, and free to explore at your own pace. I will creatively cater my therapeutic approach to you personally, drawing on whatever it is in my experience and expertise that can serve you best. Everything I offer is underpinned with either a psychotherapeutic, biological or neuroscientific framework and I will always be able to explain the benefit of an idea when I offer it to you - and it’s always up to you how you would like to work. It’s your therapeutic work, not mine: I’m here to facilitate you.
We’ll start with an assessment session. Here you’ll have the opportunity to speak openly about what brings you through my door, and I will share my initial thoughts and give you a space to ask any questions. This gives us both the chance to see whether we feel we’re a good fit.
I’ll then encourage you to take time to reflect before deciding whether you’d like to continue.
If we decide to work together, we’ll then work out how it feels right for you to proceed. This could be an arrangement of anything from just a few sessions to an open-ended time frame. Whatever we agree is always open to review and you are free to change your mind as things evolve.
I don’t offer answers to problems or instructions on how to live your life, but what I can do is offer a different perspective and undivided attention. I will not pressure, shame or judge you. What I offer is a genuine therapeutic relationship – one that is boundaried, supportive, and focused entirely on your process.
I understand that sometimes the idea of contacting a therapist can be daunting. If you have got this far through my website I imagine that you are probably quite serious about wanting something from therapy. I know it's a bit of a cliché but it might help to concentrate on taking things one step at a time – you don't have to know where a journey will end in order to take one good step. You are not making any commitment by getting in touch and you are under no obligation to me.
In my experience a therapeutic room is an extraordinary space. I am able to offer you an accepting environment with undivided attention. Experiencing these qualities can be profound. We can find new ways to meet ourselves and the world, new ways of living.
If the kind of space I’ve described feels interesting to you, perhaps you’ve got your answer regarding what to do next? I look forward to hearing from you.
Changing direction from my first career as a musician in my 20s, I began my training as a psychotherapist in 1999 and have a Master of Arts, awarded with distinction, in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling from the Minster Centre in London, which is accredited by Middlesex University. I’ve been registered with the UKCP (The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy) and a registered member of the BACP (British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy) since 2010. Being registered with these organisations means that I work within Ethical Principles and adhere to Professional Occupational Standards. Therefore you can be sure that I practice therapy within a good, professional framework. I attend workshops, groups, courses and regular clinical consultation for my continuing professional development. I also trained as a supervisor at the Minster Centre in 2019 and am one of the few UKCP registered supervisors practicing in East London.
I’ve been working as an integrative psychotherapist since 2006. I’m experienced in short and long-term work. I have worked in the NHS, voluntary sector and private practice. Being employed in these different contexts means that I have worked with many different problems and issues, and people with a wide age range and from diverse backgrounds. At this point in my career, after over 20 years of practice, I’ve sat in the therapist’s chair for tens of thousands of hours so have a great deal of experience with all the usual issues that might enter a therapy room plus a particular interest in the pre and postnatal, gender, sexuality and neurodiversity as listed in the previous page.
I’ve built my practice with genuine passion for my work and I think this is reflected in its success.
Prior to training as a therapist I was a musician, music teacher and workshop leader. I took my first degree and postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. I went on to do an MA in Music Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. My work in this context gave me experience of working in relationship with many different people in varying situations, and it was from here that my interest in being a therapist grew. Due to this previous experience I’m a particularly creative therapist, comfortable with spontaneity and improvisation, and particularly good at attunement to my clients.
• Diploma in Supervision, The Minster Centre
• MA (Distinction) in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling, The Minster Centre (Middlesex University accredited)
• Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapy
• Registered with UKCP (UK Council for Psychotherapy)
• Registered member of BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy)
• MA in Music Education, Institute of Education, London
• Postgraduate in Performance and Communication Skills: Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• Graduate degree, 2:1 Guildhall School of Music and Drama
I’m one of the few UKCP-registered supervisors in East London, with a great deal of therapeutic experience. I value supervision as a vital, reflective space and genuinely enjoy supporting other therapists in their work.
In my experience effective supervision involves offering a space that feels safe enough to bring all aspects of our clinical work. I work from a supportive position to facilitate any therapist in handling difficult material, countertransferential issues, embodied work, theory/practice gaps, managing self-care and much more besides, depending on what's needed by any particular supervisee on any particular day.
I aim to encourage practitioners to maintain and develop confidence in their work. I provide a place where we can celebrate success but also examine the cases that are more challenging. A space which accepts and allows exploration of our inevitable fallibility with curiosity rather than judgement. In this kind of space we can take care of ourselves, process the impact of client material, plus gain greater objectivity and a depth of understanding which is profoundly beneficial both to ourselves and our clients.
My approach is relational, supportive, and flexible. I work with a process-oriented model that allows for different therapeutic approaches to be thought about together and, informed by my earlier career as a musician, am particularly comfortable with working creatively.
I have worked with supervisees at many stages of their careers: from those in training or establishing their practice, to highly experienced practitioners, including lecturers and post-doctoral clinicians. I really appreciate being able to share the experience I’ve gained and chewing over the therapeutic process in supervision. I’m particularly interested in working with therapists who are open to depth, creativity, and embodied approaches.
I offer a short, free of charge, meeting to any prospective supervisee. If you would like to discuss working with me in supervision I'd be glad to hear from you: athena.mat@icloud.com
I have my own dedicated consulting room with easily accessible transport links, two minutes walk from Wood Street Station.
• Wood Street Business Centre, 195 Wood Street, London E17 3NU
• Click here to find me on Google maps
• If you have a baby to care for, I am happy to discuss the possibility of bringing them with you.
• Sessions are £75 per 50 minutes
• Limited number of concessions available
• Assessment sessions are charged at the usual rate
• Fees payable by bank transfer following an invoice
• Over two weeks' notice – no charge
• Within two weeks but more than 48 hours – £20 cancellation charge
• Less than 48 hours' notice – full session fee applies
Wood Street Business Centre
195 Wood Street
London E173NU