I am Carlotta
I am a counsellor with Level 7 training in psychotherapy and a doctoral trainee in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy.
Counselling for self worth, relationships, identity, anxiety and understanding the patterns that keep repeating
Life can feel meaningful and fulfilling, but there can also be times when we feel overwhelmed, disconnected, uncertain or caught in ways of thinking, feeling or relating that we don't fully understand.
You might be struggling with anxiety or self doubt, experiencing difficulties in a relationship, questioning your worth, finding it difficult to recognise or express your needs, or noticing that you keep returning to the same patterns even when you understand that they aren't helping you.
Or there may not be one particular challenge.
Perhaps you have spent a long time adapting to other people, meeting expectations, keeping others happy or becoming the person you felt you needed to be. You may have reached a point where you are questioning who you are, what you actually want and how much of the life you are living has been consciously chosen by you.
Counselling can provide a space to explore these experiences without needing to have all the answers before you begin.
I won't tell you how to live your life or make decisions for you. Instead, we will work together to make sense of what you are experiencing, understand what feels important to you and explore what you may want to do differently.
I provide one to one counselling sessions for adults.
Your 1st session is always online, even if you would prefer to meet in person for subsequent sessions.
There isn't one prescribed way that our sessions need to unfold. You might come with a particular difficulty you want to understand, a relationship that is affecting you, experiences from childhood that still feel significant, anxiety or self doubt, or simply a sense that the way you are currently living no longer feels right for you.
Some people come to counselling wanting to understand a particular issue, while others want to explore broader questions about themselves, their relationships and the direction of their lives.
We work at your pace and according to what becomes important through our conversations.
Areas we might explore together include:
Identity and questions around who you are.
Self worth, self doubt and internal criticism.
Relationship patterns and recurring difficulties.
Childhood experiences and how they continue to influence the present.
Inner child work and unmet emotional needs.
Understanding where particular beliefs and patterns may have started.
Your emotional needs and difficulties recognising or expressing them.
Boundaries and difficulties saying no.
People pleasing and adapting yourself around others.
Living according to other people's expectations.
Anxiety, stress and feeling overwhelmed.
Difficult decisions and life transitions.
Understanding what you genuinely want rather than what you feel you should want.
These experiences often connect with one another.
For example, difficulty setting boundaries may be connected with a fear of disappointing someone. Low self worth may be connected with what you learned you needed to do or be in order to feel valued. A recurring relationship pattern may make more sense when we explore what you learned about closeness, conflict, love or acceptance earlier in life.
Counselling gives us the opportunity to explore these connections rather than looking only at the difficulty you are experiencing on the surface.
For some people, part of our work may involve exploring the inner child.
Inner child work involves becoming curious about earlier experiences, emotional needs and messages that may continue to influence how you experience yourself and relate to others as an adult.
You might notice, for example, that particular situations bring up a strong fear of rejection, a need for reassurance, difficulty trusting others, discomfort expressing your needs or a feeling that you must keep everyone else happy.
Rather than simply trying to get rid of these responses, we can explore what they mean, where they may have originated and what that younger part of you may have learned about relationships, safety, acceptance or your own worth.
This work isn't about assuming that every present difficulty comes from childhood. It is about recognising when earlier experiences remain relevant and giving them space to be understood within the person you are today.
My approach is integrative, with an existential foundation.
I am interested not only in what you are experiencing, but in what your experience means to you.
We might explore how you came to understand yourself in a particular way, where certain expectations originated, what happens within your relationships, what you need but find difficult to communicate, or why a familiar pattern continues even when part of you wants something different.
There may also be times when we don't need to search for an explanation. The work might instead involve staying with an emotion, conflict, decision or experience and giving you the space to understand what is happening for you.
My background also includes complementary approaches. Where appropriate and useful to the work we are doing, I may incorporate somatic awareness or offer additional techniques such as EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). These are not required parts of counselling and would only be introduced where relevant and discussed with you.
Everyone is different, and our work will reflect that. You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what you want to talk about or where your difficulties come from. Discovering what needs your attention can itself become part of the counselling process.
First Session – £40 (approx. $50 USD)
Your first session gives us an opportunity to explore what brings you to counselling, what you would like support with and whether we feel that working together would be a good fit.
The first session is always held online through a secure, private therapy platform.
Ongoing Sessions
Sessions are 50 minutes long.
Fees for ongoing sessions will be discussed during your initial consultation. Reduced fee spaces are available on a limited basis for students and people on lower incomes.
Following your first session, you can choose whether you would like to continue online or attend sessions in person.
Online counselling is available throughout the UK and internationally where appropriate. In person sessions are available locally in Brighton and Hove.
The first session is a space to explore what brings you to counselling and what you would like support with. It’s also a chance to get a feel for how we might work together and to decide whether you feel comfortable moving forward.
In our first 50-minute session, we will create a safe, supportive space for you to:
Clarify what brings you to therapy and what you are hoping to achieve.
Explore my approach and how I work, including the tools and methods I use.
Gain an overview of what the therapy process will look like.
Ask any questions you might have about therapy or how I work.
Assess whether you feel comfortable with my style and if it’s the right fit for you.
I don’t offer free introductory sessions, and here’s why:
These are usually 15 or 20 minutes long, and in my experience, that’s simply not enough time to explore what’s going on for you or to get a real sense of how I work.
The conversation often ends just as it’s starting.
Instead, I offer a full session as the starting point. This allows us time to slow down, talk through what’s bringing you to therapy, and begin to get a feel for whether this is the right support for you. It’s a space for you to ask questions and see how it feels, without pressure or obligation to continue.
Many people find that starting this way helps them feel more grounded and clear about their next step.
Yes. Everything you share is held in confidence and treated with care and respect. There are a few legal and ethical exceptions to this. If, during our work together, I believe you may be at serious risk of harming yourself or someone else, or if there is a risk of a serious crime being committed, I may need to share this information with others, such as my supervisor, your GP, or the Police. Wherever possible, I would always aim to speak with you about this first.
Anything that’s on your mind. This might include anxiety, stress, low mood, trauma, relationships, life transitions, decision-making, low self-worth, or anything else that feels heavy or confusing. There is no ‘right’ thing to bring — we explore what feels most important to you.
Each person’s experience of counselling is different, and there is no set formula we need to follow. We will work together in a way that feels right for you, at a pace that suits you. You will never be pushed to talk about something before you feel ready.
There’s no pressure to come in with a clear agenda, many people begin by saying, “I am not sure what I want to talk about today,” and yet the conversation naturally unfolds. You decide what feels important to bring into the space, and I am here to support you in exploring it with care and curiosity.
This varies from person to person. Some clients come for short-term work (around 6 to 12 sessions), while others benefit from longer-term support. We can regularly check in and review what’s working and what you need from the process.
The first session is always held online via a secure, private therapy platform, allowing you to attend safely and confidentially from wherever you are based.
After the first session, you can choose the format that works best for you: continue online from anywhere in the UK or internationally, or attend in person at a clinic in Brighton.
I have been working with clients internationally for several years and am fully insured to work with clients across the UK, the US, Canada, and beyond.
That’s completely okay, and it’s something we can talk about openly.
Sometimes it takes a few sessions to understand whether the therapeutic relationship feels right. If my approach doesn’t suit your needs or the connection isn’t quite there, we can have a conversation about it.
I will do my best to help you think about what kind of support might suit you better and, where possible, suggest other therapists or resources that may be a better match for you.
Payment for the session will be taken at the time of booking.
If you have any questions before booking, please send me an email at hello@selfhealingclinic.com.