About me
Welcome. You Can Leave the Mask at the Door.
If you are anything like the women I work with, you are likely the person everyone else leans on. You are the dependable friend, the exceptionally organized professional, and the one who seamlessly anticipates everyone else’s needs before they even have to ask. From the outside, it looks like you have it completely together.
But I know how exhausting it is to maintain that performance.
Behind that polished, high-functioning exterior, there is often a frantic inner hustle. It’s a quiet, invisible cycle of over-thinking, over-delivering, and constantly scanning the room to ensure everyone else is happy and regulated. You might feel like the moment you stop producing, achieving, or helping, your value disappears entirely.
I want you to know something right now: this is a space where you don’t have to earn your worth.
In our sessions, you don’t need to be the “perfect client”. You don’t have to tidy up your thoughts before you speak, protect my feelings, or pretend you’re doing better than you are. You are warmly invited to show up tired, messy, uncertain, or angry. Together, we are going to look past the performance and create a genuine, felt sense of safety so you can finally sit down and just breathe.
Beyond my clinical training, I am, first and foremost, a human being who understands the messy, complex, and beautiful reality of navigating life’s transitions. I know what it is like to balance the heavy juggling acts of modern life, to face seasons of struggle, and to do the hard, internal work of healing. I don’t sit in the therapy room as a detached expert pointing from afar; I sit there as a down to earth companion who respects just how much courage it takes to look inward.
As a therapist, my style is warm, deeply collaborative, and entirely real. I bring my authentic self into our sessions, which means you can expect a space filled with genuine compassion, steadfast safety, and the occasional touch of gentle humour when it’s needed. Outside of the practice, I find my own grounding in the quiet simplicity of nature, the mindfulness of tending to a garden, and spending time with my family. My passion is helping people, and particularly supporting women free themselves of the old guilt, step out of survival mode, and safely build a life that feels genuinely their own.
Professional Credentials & Qualifications
Core Qualifications & Training
Level 6 Professional Diploma in Integrative Therapeutic Counselling and Psychotherapy
Level 2 Certificate in Complex Trauma
Professional Memberships & Registrations
Registered Member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) I am bound by a strict ethical framework and professional code of conduct, ensuring the highest standards of safety, confidentiality, and clinical accountability.
Data Protection & Privacy: Registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), ensuring your personal data, contact information, and session notes are handled with absolute security and in full compliance with UK regulations.
Full Professional Indemnity Insurance: Fully covered for both face-to-face therapeutic work and online therapy across the UK.
Commitment to Continuous Growth
Because the human mind and nervous system are beautifully complex, my training never truly stops. I routinely engage in clinical supervision and regularly participate in ongoing Continuous Professional Development (CPD). This ensures that my integrative, trauma-informed toolkit remains current, deeply effective, and perfectly attuned to helping you safely step off the treadmill of perfectionism.
Healing changed everything
— Aya Nakamura
Contact form
I’m here to support you through uncertainty, grief, and healing after trauma, or in any area of life that you are struggling with at the moment – together we can rebuild a sense of safety and autonomy in your life. Get in touch to schedule a free, confidential chat.
