Shweta Panchal

I am a qualified adult psychotherapeutic counsellor working in counselling services, healthcare settings, and private practice, in London and Hertfordshire. I aim to support my clients with their emotional and psychological health using a select combination of talking and body-based (somatic) approaches and techniques. I provide both short-term and long-term counselling.

I work relationally and integratively which means that I incorporate 4 main theoretical approaches to understanding and working with your challenges/difficulties/issues. At the heart of these theoretical approaches is an emphasis on the importance of the therapeutic relationship which I believe to be the foundation from which positive outcomes and effective personal change takes place. My intention is to offer a warm, authentic and non-judgmental therapeutic space and presence.

I believe the nature of our emotional, psychological and physical challenges are complex and multidimensional. I do not believe in a 'one size fits all' approach to therapy and therefore depending on the person I am working with, I seek to understand my client challenges through:

1. A developmental lens which uses a psychodynamic and modern-attachment approach that attempts to gain insight into how adult challenges may be rooted in experiences and relationship patterns established in childhood

2. A trauma lens which uses neuroscientific, nervous system and body-based approaches to understanding the impact of abuse/trauma

3. An existential lens which focuses on struggles that are universally applicable to human existence including isolation, death, freedom, responsibility, and the meaning of life.

4. Social lens which recognises that we are all affected and influenced by the society and culture we grew and up in and live in and understands that these realities which can lead to shame and stigma, have a powerful impact on our individual emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing

Through support and guidance you will be invited in the sessions, at a pace which feels right and appropriate for you, to explore and process your thoughts, feelings and emotions. This exploration can take place through talking and through other body-based (somatic) and mindfulness-based activities and interventions which I integrate from my training as a Yoga Therapist.

I have a strong commitment to the discipline and practice of counselling and psychotherapy and along with my clinical practice, I work as a visiting lecturer at Roehampton University in London, training MA level practitioners.

​I offer an initial no-obligation 50-minute consultation session, which is designed to allow you to meet me, ask questions and start talking about the issues you are dealing with. It will include an assessment which includes me asking you some questions to gain a deeper understanding your current life and your history. I will discuss my approach and style of working and encourage you to express hopes and any anxieties and expectations you may have of therapy and working together.

​In this first session, we will also address the practicalities of working together such as payment, scheduling of sessions including my policy on missed sessions, holidays and cancellation.