Welcome 

I’m glad you stopped by. The information below explains how I endeavour to be alongside you in your exploration of your difficulties and to work together while exploring your feelings, thoughts and experiences. I am dedicated in helping you navigate life's challenges and to always offer a space which is confidential, understanding, compassionate and empathic, to support and enable you to explore and overcome difficulties and achieve emotional well-being.

Hello, my name is Kalpna Hirani a qualified and an accredited BACP counsellor and psychotherapist based in Rickmansworth (WD3) near Watford, Hertfordshire. I offer in-person / face to face counselling and psychotherapy sessions in Rickmansworth (WD3), near Watford, Hertfordshire. Its a short distance from parts of Hillingdon (Ruislip, Northwood, Harefeild), Harrow and Buckinghamshire (Chalfonts, Amersham).

For those living further afield in London, rest of the UK, Europe or rest of the world, I offer online counselling. In addition, to online counselling, I offer telephone counselling to those in the UK. I'm able to work with you wherever you are located in the UK, Europe or rest of the world (time differences allowing). Working online also means YOU have flexibility to have your sessions at home, between meetings at work, in your car, while you're out on a walk.... anywhere! As long as you have the space to speak confidentially, you don't have to 'commute' to your weekly sessions with me.

I specialise in helping individuals to overcome anxiety related issues, depression, trauma, abuse and relationship issues through personalised in-person and online therapy. My services are also accessible to those in nearby areas such as Hillingdon (Ruislip, Northwood, Harefield), Harrow and Buckinghamshire (Chalfont, Amersham), as well as internationally via online counselling. 

How I can help you

Life presents us with a variety of experiences, some of which can feel overwhelming. At times, you may face sadness, stress, loneliness, depression, or anxiety, and wish you had someone to talk to—someone who truly understands. It's not always a major trauma that you're dealing with. Maybe you're going through relationship or family struggles, battling low self-confidence, or facing challenges in your friendships, family or romantic relationships. Perhaps you feel something is missing because you don't have deep, meaningful connections at all.
Whatever the issue, we can discuss all aspects of relationships and how they make you feel. You don't have to have all the answers; sometimes, it’s just about expressing your emotions. Whether you're navigating a specific challenge or simply want to explore your feelings and relationships, therapy offers a space for hope and healing. Here are some of the areas I can support you with:

• Anxiety disorders (General Anxiety Disorder, OCD, panic attacks, social anxiety, perfectionism)
• Depression, low mood, feeling sad and loneliness
• Trauma and abuse (including complex PTSD, sexual abuse, sexual assault)
• Relationship challenges and communication issues
• Low self-esteem and confidence building
• Stress management, including work-related stress, and anger management
• Personal development and navigating life changes
• Expatriate and cultural counselling for international clients
• Childhood bullying

You don’t have to face these challenges alone. I offer a safe and supportive space to enoable you to explore your feelings and work toward positive change.

Your Therapy Journey

Familiar arguments and unspoken tensions may sometimes leave you feeling stuck in your relationships. Avoiding sensitive issues may seem easier than facing the discomfort, but just like a physical wounds, ignoring these problems only allows them to worsen over time. It's important to remember that sensitive issues are like wounds, if we ignore them to avoid the pain, they will only worsen over time impacting negatively on our relationships, our emotionally and physical health. 

Therapy can help you address sensitive issues and begin the healing process. While it may be painful at first, working through these challenges can strengthen your relationships and bring you closer to the life you desire. Together, we can uncover the happier, more fulfilled version of yourself.

Your journey toward emotional well-being begins with a free 15-minute consultation. During this call, we’ll discuss your needs, answer your questions, and explore how we can work together. Taking that first step may feel daunting, but it can also be the start of meaningful change. Don't Let Your Wounds Fester - Seek Support Today! Just text or Email to contact me. 

For your mental health support, click here and have a look at some free and useful information 

My approach

I offer a confidential, supportive and respectful safe space to help you to explore your emotions and life experiences, openly and freely. I will support you to develop your awareness, empowering you to bring about effective change that you feel is right for you, so you can be the best person that you can be.

Therapy can be your safe space to address those sensitive issues. Here, you can explore what's holding you back and begin the healing process. While it may be painful at first, working through these challenges can ultimately strengthen your relationships and bring you closer to the connections you desire. It's not worth spending your life feeling down or stuck and struggling on your own, not knowing which way to turn. There is a happier person inside you trying to get out. As a counsellor and psychotherapist, I have the expertise, skills and experience to help explore and work through your problems so you can find that happy person inside you. 

My approach is tailored to your unique needs, by being in tune with how you are feeling and by understanding your experiences, empowering you to:

• Gain clarity and self-compassion
• Work through emotional difficulties
• Develop strategies to maintain psychological well-being

My counselling practice is rooted in a Person-Centred approach, which means I provide a non-judgmental, empathetic, and compassionate space where you can explore your thoughts and emotions freely. I work with integrity, authenticity, and deep respect for your individual experiences. I believe that you are the expert in your own life, with the ability to determine the direction of your personal growth and change. My role is to support you in this process, empowering you to make choices that align with your aspirations and, if you choose, take the necessary steps toward fulfilling them.
I also integrate techniques from the following modalities:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Transactional Analysis (TA)
• Systemic Famly Therapy - Look at the "bolgs" tab and below to learn about how Systemic therapy can help
• Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) - explained below

My approach is a one that values the voice and experience of the client and recognises that we can all get stuck in problems that feel impossible to overcome and manage. Therapy is about creating safe spaces, listening, acknowledging difficult experiences, and recognising individual and relational strengths and resources. It is about helping my clients to develop insight, recognise what they are stuck with, reflect on potential ways forward and create preferred ways to go on in life. This approach can help with a wide range of problems and difficulties.

I can work creatively to ensure that my approach is flexible and tailored to the needs of each individual. I do not diagnose or categorise - I see therapy less as a “cure” but more as a process which sets something in motion. My way of working is based on the idea that each person is an individual so one type of therapy doesn't fit everyone. I tailor my approach to clients rather than expect the client to fit into my therapeutic approach.

My approach is a one that values the voice and experience of the client and recognises that we can all get stuck in problems that feel impossible to overcome and manage. Therapy is about creating safe spaces, listening, acknowledging difficult experiences, and recognising individual and relational strengths and resources. This can be done either individually or with other family members or loved ones. It is about helping clients to develop insight, recognise what they are stuck with, reflect on potential ways forward and create preferred ways to go on in life. This approach can help with a wide range of problems and difficulties.

My clients come from diverse local (WD3 and nearby areas) and international backgrounds, facing challenges in both personal and professional life.

As a counsellor and psychotherapist, my goal is to provide a confidential, non-judgmental, compassionate, and empathetic space where you can freely explore your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. You know yourself better than I ever could, and I work together with you so we can get closer to your own answers.

You can explore anything you like, at your own pace. Whatever you choose to bring into the conversation, I'm here to support you. I'll always be honest about how I'm interpreting things, but feel free to correct me if I misunderstand. If you wish, I can also offer strategies to help improve your mental health and maintain your psychological well-being.

What is Systemic Therapy?

Systemic therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focusses on understanding problems in the context of  relationships, social networks, and broader systems. It helps people explore and understand how patterns of interaction and communication with friends, colleagues and family dynamics contribute to emotional and behavioral challenges.

How Can Systemic Therapy Help?

• Improves Relationships: Helps families, couples, and groups communicate better and solve conflicts. It helps to imrove communication and understanding within relationships. It can therefore be applied in diverse settings from personal relationships to workplaces.

• Builds Understanding: Encourages people to see different perspectives and understand each other’s feelings.

• Supports Change: Helps individuals, families, couples and groups navigate conflict in a constructive way and find new ways to handle challenges and improve their well-being. It supports individuals in recognising and reshaping negative interaction patterns.

• Works for Many Issues: It encourages personal growth and emaotional wellbeing within relational sontect and is also useful for anxiety, depression, family struggles, work-related stress, and more.

Systemic therapy is not about blaming anyone, it’s about working together to create positive change.

This approach is commonly used in family therapy, couples therapy, and organisational settings, helping people recognise and shift unhelpful relational patterns. It is effective for a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship difficulties.

What is EMDR Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is a specialised therapeutic approach designed to help individuals process and heal from traumatic memories. This method uses bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, to reduce the emotional impact of trauma and promote healing.

• Recognised by WHO and NICE
• Effective for PTSD, anxiety, and other trauma-related symptoms
• Often delivers significant improvements in fewer sessions

EMDR can be used as a stand-alone therapy and is immensely powerful in many instances and sometimes I use it as a complementary therapeutic tool. It's simple and safe and you can find out more about it here: 

Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) – PTSD UK

I am an EMDR UK trained therapist and I can guide you through, enabling you to process traumatic memories and reduce the emotional distress associated with them.

Whether or not you choose to incorporate EMDR as part of your therapy is up to you. All my work is tailored to the unique needs of each individual and designed to make you feel safe and relaxed.

Format of sessions on offer

I offer the following session formats to suit your needs:

• In-Person Counselling / face to face counselling: Sessions are available in Rickmansworth (WD3), near Watford, Hertfordshire. My location is within easy reach of Rickmansworth station, and the M25. It is in Hertfordshire and the borders of Buckinghamshire, Hillingdon and Harrow, so convenient for those in Ruislip, Pinner, Northwood, Watford, Uxbridge, Chalfont, Sarratt, Amersham and St Albans. 

  I'm located in a multi-disciplinary centre in Rickmansworth.  The rooms are well designed, with calming and relaxing environment. 

• Online Counselling: I offer online counselling via video meetings for those in the South East London SE1 area, and accessible from anywhere in the UK, Europe, or worldwide via secure video platforms. I've had BACP approved training for telephone and online counselling, ensuring that I'm suitably skilled and experienced in the use of live video-based technologies, to offer online counselling. 
• Telephone Counselling: Available for clients across the UK.

Many clients find online or telephone counselling convenient and empowering, as it allows them to receive support from the comfort of their own home.

Why choose Me? 

I am a member of Association of Family Therapy (AFT) as well as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and Accredited by it. This is the largest professional body for counsellors in the UK. The main purpose of the BACP Register is to protect the public and help them find therapists who are sufficiently qualified and trustworthy. It aims to reassure clients, that a BACP registered practitioner adheres to high standards of safe and ethical practice.

You're in safe hands

BACP has awarded me the mark of accreditation to indicate that I have met a high standard of knowledge, skills, experience, and development in counselling and psychotherapy. It signifies several things for clients and employers:

• Competency and Ethics: my practice is governed by BACP's Ethical Framework, ensuring that I'm practicing ethically following their ethical code, which is designed to safeguard and protect you. It also means that I'm committed to making you my primary concern while we are working.
• Trust and Confidence: I can provide clients with greater trust and confidence when entering therapy, knowing I have been vetted by a reputable organisation.
• Qualified Professionals: It indicates that I have undertaken extensive training and met a high degree of expertise and skills, been through a rigorous process involving an assessment of my qualifications, adherence to ethical standards and years of experience in clinical practice that I have accumulated to provide you with the best help and support. It assures you that you are working with a clinically competent, professionally experienced and supervised psychotherapist.

I offer a compassionate, non-judgemental, empathic and warm therapeutic environment to enable you to feel safe enough to express your inner deeper thoughts and feelings. With me, you can be your true self and be honest about how you are really feeling.
My commitment to you is to support you and provide a safe therapy space, free of judgement where you can reflect, to empower you to identify and work through your emotional difficulties, and enabling you to find a way forward in life that you feel is right for you. I will ensure that you feel sessions maintain direction and focus, empowering you to review your progress in therapy regularly, always holding your autonomy in mind.

My way of working is gentle but sufficiently challenging to help you grow. I work at a pace that suits you, and I offer a space to safely contain what you bring. As your counsellor and psychotherapist, I will strive to create a relationship based on equality rather than being ‘in charge’.

I believe a good counsellor should have the following qualities and I'm contantly working hard keep to these standards:

I have experience of working as a therapist within a private school (RMS) and organisations such as Signpost - an agency in Hertfordshire and Link which falls under Hillingdon council's Early intervention programme, both provide counselling and other support to help young people and families. 

I'm an Anxiety approved therapist.

Get in touch

Its not always easy to create change on your own. A little support can help create the change a little faster. You do not have to wait until it gets really bad to ask for the help you need. If you're going through a tough time right now, you can talk to me. Its OK. We can get through this together. Youre not alone. Whatever issues you are facing, I will strive to work with you and help you find a way forward. I will support you so that you can see a way forward and work towards a growing sense of inner peace and contentment, with more focus and clarity. Sometimes it just makes sense to reach out for professional help rather than struggling on your own. Just contact me to book a 15 minutes free introductory telephone consultation so we can get a sense of each other and you can ask any questions you may have. Then we can decide if we are comfortable with the idea of working together! I totally understand that the first call to say you need therapy can be hard. But give it a go. Just contact me. I understand. Ready to begin healing? Contact me today for a free consultation. If you don't even try you will never know. You can find ways to get in touch on my Contact page, or you can complete Email contact.

"If you’re struggling with anxiety, you’re not alone. Nearly half (49%) of the UK population have experienced anxiety in the past five years, according to our 2023 Public Perceptions Survey. It’s the UK’s most common mental health problem.. - quote from BACP

StayAlive app is a suicide prevention resource for the UK, packed full of useful information and tools to help you stay safe in crisis.

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