Martina Ferri

I currently have day time and evening availability.

I work in-person on Mondays (10.00 am to 7.30 pm), Tuesdays (10.00 am to 7.30 pm) and Wednesdays (2.00 pm to 7.30 pm).

I work online on Thursdays (9.00 am to 6.00 pm).

Hi, my name is Martina (She/Her). I am a qualified counsellor and psychotherapist (MBACP), offering online and in person counselling in Leeds city centre. I am incredibly passionate about working with individuals to provide them with the tools to build a healthy relationship with their minds and overcome their negative experiences.

I believe therapy provides an eye-opening journey for individuals to make peace with others, but mostly ourselves. I can support you in this journey of self-discovery and acceptance by providing a confidential, compassionate and inclusive space, where you can feel safe to reflect on the emotional impact that your past experiences and interpersonal relationships have on your day to day life. This process can support you in identifying patterns across your feelings and behaviours, so that together, we can gently challenge these and start to create a new sense of self-awareness and clarity around your needs and wants.

Over the years, I have gained experience working with a range of individuals experiencing different mental health difficulties that impacted their ability to cope and grow in life. Whether they were struggling with a difficult relationship with a parent, an abusive partner or issues around their body image, it was often easier to point a finger towards themselves. This started to create an overwhelming cycle of blaming, self-deprecation and feelings of worthlessness.

If this sounds like you, therapy can help you unravel these thoughts and feelings, recognise where they come from and learn to understand how to accept and value yourself for your strengths as well as your imperfections.

My approach to counselling is based on the knowledge that each person is unique. This means that their experiences and needs are better understood through their perspective. I believe the client is the expert about themselves and it is my role to tailor my approach to you and what works for you, rather than making you fit in my own ways of working.

When working together, I place the relationship we create at the centre of the therapeutic process. This means I aim to establish a trustworthy relationship based on mutual respect. My aim is for you to feel safe and able to reflect on the emotional impact that your past experiences and interpersonal relationships have on your day to day life. My role is to guide through this process of reflection and self-discovery at a pace that feels comfortable for you.

Like all sessions, our first will last 50 minutes. At the start, I will provide a contract for you to read. This will help us set the expectation and boundaries of the therapeutic relationship and cover some practical aspects, such as the frequency of sessions, confidentiality, cancellations and payment. This process usually takes 5 to 10 minutes.

In the remaining time, you are free to tell me what's been on your mind and what you would like to take or achieve from therapy. I may ask you some questions around your childhood and adult life, as well as your relationships, in order to give me some context around what it feels like to be you.

If you're finding it difficult to know what to say, don't worry - there are exercises we can do together to take the pressure off and to ease you into reflecting on yourself.

The most important thing is that you feel comfortable and safe, so if it takes us a while to get there, that's okay too.