Maria Laskou

I am currently offering both in-person counselling sessions on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at a central Farnham location, and online counselling sessions throughout the week (Tue-Fri) via secure online video conferencing platforms, such as: Zoom or FaceTime. Please feel free to email, text, or call me to arrange a reduced-fee (£35) 50-minute consultation, where I can answer any questions you may have, explain how we could approach our work, and where we can decide whether working together would be beneficial for you. 

I have currently have some availability for day time and evening appointments during the week. I do not offer counselling sessions during the weekend.

Hello, I am Maria, a BACP Accredited psychotherapist based in central Farnham. I work both in-person and online with individual adults and young adults 18+ Email, text or call me to arrange a reduced-fee 50-minute consultation, during which you can get a sense of how you feel working with me.

Areas of interest & Experience: I have a special interest in working with clients who experience a broad range of mental health difficulties and in supporting them to create a satisfying and fulfilling life despite their struggles. I also have a keen interest in working with neurodivergent individuals as well as with people who struggle with low self-esteem/ low self-confidence, and in enabling them to grow their self-belief and self-acceptance.

I have extensive experience working with adult and young adult clients presenting with a wide range of issues, including amongst others: Anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks, stress, depression, feeling sad, low mood, low self-esteem, low self-confidence, attachment issues, identity and relationship issues, family issues, life transitions, grief and loss, physical and emotional abuse/neglect, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, trauma, C-PTSD and neurodiversity (ADHD, ASD) As part of my work, I have also successfully supported clients who experience more severe mental health difficulties, such as: Bipolar disorder and personality disorders. 

My commitment to you: I am committed to offering a safe, warm therapeutic relationship in which you can explore all your thoughts, feelings and past/present experiences, by providing a truly accepting, non-judgemental environment where you can bring anything that is troubling you or causing you pain.

I am professionally trained in Humanistic/Existential counselling and I hold the belief that everyone has the inner resources to find the right way forward for them. However, I incorporate a pluralistic framework in my  work, which means that I can draw from several therapeutic modalities, including: "person-centred", "existential", "transactional analysis", "psychodynamic", and "solution focused therapy" to better serve your unique needs. We can work together in a mutually agreed way and at a pace that is suitable for you, so we can find together the best way forward for you.

My focus in our work together: My main focus is on the therapeutic relationship with you, and on enabling you to feel safe and supported in exploring anything that is troubling you. For this reason, I will not be giving you advice or leading you in a direction that does not feel right for you. I will instead aim to empower you,  and to help you find the right answers for you. I will provide a safe and trusting environment where you can feel truly heard, valued and accepted as you are, so you can develop self-acceptance, self-compassion and resilience.

I will be asking some open, exploratory questions in order to help you develop a better understanding of yourself and of your situation, as well as to help you explore things from a different perspective. I will support you and encourage you to come to your own conclusions and to make the choices/changes that you may want to make.

I believe that it is very important to feel comfortable with your counsellor, and for this reason I offer a 50-minute initial  consultation at the reduced fee of £35 as an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have, and to get a sense of whether working together would be helpful for you. 

In this initial session, I will ask you about what brought you to therapy, about your hopes and expectations of counselling, and about previous helpful or unhelpful counselling experiences. I will  also explain the way we could work together, with the hope that by the end of our initial meeting you can have a sense of whether working with me would be helpful for you.