Maria Apiafi

Please email me and we can find a mutually convenient time.

Hello and welcome, my name is Maria, I am a qualified humanistic and integrative therapist. I work online and in person with young people (from 18 years), adults, employee assistance and wellbeing services (EAP), organisations and charities.

I understand that therapy can feel like a big step and finding a therapist can be a daunting experience. Many people take time to reach out, feel unsure or tentative, quietly wondering if what they’re going through is “enough” to bring or feel exposed at the idea of sharing their inner world with someone they don’t yet know. If that’s you, I want you to know you’re not alone and I’m mindful of the courage it takes simply to reach out.

People seek therapy for different reasons. Some come with a clear difficulty while others arrive with a quieter sense that something feels heavy or disconnected, unfulfilling or hard to name. Therapy can support both — whether you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, navigating loss, grief, relationship challenges or trauma, feeling stuck in unhelpful patterns, seeking relief from distress, wanting to understand yourself more deeply or exploring personal or professional growth.

Therapy isn’t about quick fixes or forcing change before you’re ready. We explore what matters at a pace that feels manageable, with no expectation to open up before you’re ready. Therapy can help raise awareness, soften old patterns and support a kinder relationship with yourself and others. At times, it may feel challenging as we make contact with thoughts or feelings that have been hard to acknowledge. I will support you in doing this at a pace that feels manageable.

People measure change in different ways — for some it’s reduced distress and for others it’s a shift in self-awareness, relationships or how they meet themselves day-to-day. Often, the most meaningful change is the one we feel in our relationship with ourselves.

How I work 

I offer face-to-face, currently at Nottingham Counselling Service and online therapy. 

My practice is integrative, which means I draw from a range of recognised and researched therapeutic approaches that place our relationship at the heart of the process. I’m particularly interested in how earlier experiences and relationships shape our sense of self and how we relate to others in the present. 

Therapy is a process that unfolds through consistency and relationship. Meeting regularly, weekly, helps create a sense of safety and continuity as we explore what you’re carrying. Whether this is your first time seeking therapy or you’re returning to it, I aim to offer a warm, confidential and collaborative space to explore emotional, relational and work-related challenges. For some people this may mean a brief, focused piece of work and for others a longer period of therapy.

My experience 

I have worked within the NHS and across corporate environments including aviation, financial services and the leisure industry. These experiences have given me a grounded understanding of how demanding systems, caring roles and workplace pressures can impact confidence, wellbeing and relationships. 

Before becoming a therapist, I lived and worked in the Middle East, Spain, Gibraltar, the UK and Ireland, including over a decade supporting senior leaders in cross-cultural corporate environments. This shaped my interest in workplace dynamics, identity, transition and resilience and informs my discreet, attuned and emotionally present therapeutic style. 

Alongside my private practice, I volunteer at a local counselling charity providing therapy to adults from a wide range of backgrounds and life experiences. This has deepened my appreciation of how identity, confidence and difference shape how we relate to ourselves and others.

Looking for a therapist can feel like a meaningful first step. 

If you’d like to get in touch, please send me an email and we can begin with an initial conversation to explore what has brought you here, what support might be helpful and to answer any practical questions about therapy. It’s also a chance for you to get a sense of me and how I work. Fit matters in therapy and it’s important that it feels right for you.

First session

Our first session offers time to share more fully what has led you to therapy and what you hope for. We’ll go at a pace that feels manageable and there’s space to ask questions and express any uncertainties about the process. This session also helps us begin to understand whether working together feels like a good fit and to start shaping the focus of the work in a way that feels supportive for you.