Ralitsa Stancheva

It can be hard to see your child is struggling or when communication between you breaks down. It takes courage and trust to ask for help. Children and young people, like adults, can benefit from the focused compassionate attention of a qualified counsellor, who can help them sort through their thoughts and feelings, find a way to move forward in their lives and endeavours and towards better and more fulfilling relationships.

I aim to offer a warm, genuine and supportive therapeutic relationship. My approach is integrative, which means I am able to be flexible in our work, to suit your therapeutic needs, communication style and preferences. This may take many forms - in my work with children, this may look like play or art making as well as talking; with young people – it may involve guidance, developing coping strategies or a deeper exploration of identity. We all have inner strength, resources and creativity – it is my aim to support your child in finding theirs.

I am qualified to work with children and young people between 4-18 years of age. For the last few years, I have provided therapeutic support to children and young people in both primary and secondary school settings, which has allowed me to develop a working knowledge of the difficulties children and young people face in their lives, whether at school or outside of it.

As an integrative counsellor, my approach integrates perspectives from a range of theoretical disciplines: psychodynamic, attachment-based, humanistic, solution-focused, systemic and play- and art-therapy-based. The benefits of this approach are a flexibility and responsiveness to the needs of individuals.

My therapeutic approach is collaborative and client-led which means I do frequent check-ins to make sure the counselling work is of value and benefit to your child. It can also mean collaborating with parents and carers at review times, offering guidance and support to ensure continuity of therapeutic progress.

I support children and young people with a range of emotional challenges such as:

• Anxiety and overwhelm

• Bereavement and loss

• Childhood trauma

• Family conflict and challenges

• Emotional regulation

• Family separation and divorce

• Feeling angry

• Friendships

• Exam pressure

• Identity and sense of self

• Life transitions and change

• Low mood and sadness

• Low self-esteem and confidence

• Relationship difficulties

• School-related challenges

• Self-harm

I offer a free 30 min initial online/phone consultation for us to have an opportunity to talk about your needs and expectations, and see if we can work together.

If you think I may be of help to you, please contact me to arrange a free initial consultation. I look forward to hearing from you!

If after the initial consultation we decide to work together, I will offer an assessment session in person with you and your child, in which we can explore in more detail what brings you to seek counselling and how we can work together to support your child.