Marinella Valeri

I currently see clients on Thursdays and Fridays with daytime and early evenings available. Due to the nature of the work with younger children , under 11's are seen face to face , at my practice in Mill Hill ( Nw7 ).Older children, young people and parents and carers can be seen on-line or face to face. Please get in touch to check current availability.     

People often come to me when their child is low in confidence and mood, behaving in a way that is causing concern, finding it hard to regulate big feelings, dreading school, or caught up in friendship troubles that are affecting them. Sometimes it follows a clear event — a bereavement, an illness, a family change, divorce, a fallout with friends. Sometimes it's harder to pin down, just a sense that your child isn't themselves and is struggling.

I have over a decade's experience working with children and young people in schools and community settings across northwest London, including at Place2Be, a leading children's mental health charity, where I now also supervise and train other counsellors. I work with children aged around 4–11 through play, toys and art — the language children use naturally — and with young people aged 12–18 in a more conversational way, or if they prefer creatively, thinking together about identity, friendships, anxiety, and the pressures of growing up.

I work with attachment and understand how experiencing difficulties in whatever form can quietly take over a child's world and a family's daily life. That's why I work with the adults around a child as well as the child directly — offering a different perspective on what might be happening, and practical strategies alongside the emotional support.

Sessions begin with an assessment — an hour with parents or carers followed by time with your child — so we can understand together what's happening and whether ongoing counselling is the right next step. There's no pressure to know exactly what to say beforehand.

If you're wondering whether this might be the right support for your child, or for you as a parent, you're very welcome to get in touch. I offer a free 20-minute initial conversation, with no obligation, and I usually reply within two working days.

I offer individual counselling for children and young people, and consultation sessions with the adults around the child, working from my private practice in Mill Hill, NW7. Work can be short or long-term, depending on what’s needed, and what’s possible within the time and resources available — whether that’s a focused piece of work around a specific difficulty, or a longer, more open-ended space, for those able to sustain that.  

I usually recommend a minimum of six sessions , followed by a review with recommendations for going forward .

Sessions are available Thursdays and Fridays. Younger children (under 11) are seen face-to-face only; older children, young people, and adults can be seen in-person or online.

Evenings only Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Day time availability Thursday and Friday. Available on-line and face to face and at place of work if it is part of your course requirement.

I see the relationship as central to good supervision. I draw on humanistic, psychoanalytic, developmental and systemic thinking — including Hawkins and Shohet's Seven-Eyed model and Inskipp and Proctor's functional model — not as fixed procedures, but as different lenses for staying curious about the different contexts in which meaning can emerge.

Early on, if you are a trainee, this may mean offering attuned containment: reassurance, theoretical grounding, and normalising how disorienting it can feel to learn a different way of working. As confidence grows, supervision shifts to support more independent thinking — including the wider social, cultural and systemic context a child's life sits within, and the significance of non-verbal and unconscious  process to support understanding of the client's internal world.

Whatever stage you are at, I aim to offer a trusting, contracted space where questions, uncertainty and difficult feelings about the work can be brought without fear of being "closed down."

Attuned to your stage

The balance of support and challenge shifts as you develop — more containing early on, more focused on autonomous thinking as confidence and competence grow.

Held within the wider system

Safeguarding, organisational policy, cultural context and ethical practice are part of the frame from the first contracting conversation, not an afterthought.

Postgraduate experience

I am involved in Level 7 assessment processes for postgraduate counselling programmes.

I offer clinical supervision for trainee and qualified counsellors working with children and young people, available online or in person . My approach draws on humanistic, psychoanalytic and systemic thinking, informed by over a decade’s experience in school-based counselling with children — including several years with Place2Be — and as an assessor on postgraduate counselling programmes.

Alongside regular clinical supervision, I can support with training paperwork such as college or course reports, and help bridge theory to practice for those on postgraduate programmes. You can expect a thoughtful, collaborative space for genuine reflection on your clinical work, not just case management. 

The first session is an opportunity for us to meet, talk through your current work and context, and think about what you’re looking for from supervision - whether that’s regular clinical support, help with training paperwork such as college or course reports, or space to bridge theory and practice as part of a postgraduate programme.

It’s also a chance for you to get a sense of how I work and whether it feels like a good fit before committing to an ongoing arrangement.

Thank you !