Counselling
I have been providing one on one counselling sessions since 1999. My methods are infused with a combination of:
Transpersonal Therapy
A transpersonal outlook – which includes an awareness that each of us contains a spiritual core; this means I see no-one as “broken” or needing “fixing” rather that we each have access to deep inner wisdom and guidance – it’s just that we often need a gentle reminder of how to access this.
Understanding Past & Present
An understanding that each of us navigates our early childhood experiences by developing “coping strategies”; whilst these can be seen to be initially effective, in the longer term they can become a severe hindrance in allowing us to experience our full vitality and potential. It is important to recognise and even celebrate the inherent creative capacity within each of us that allowed us to survive and to then allow our creativity to be brought up to date with our current life circumstances.
Cognitive Approaches & Body-Based Wisdom
A combination of both cognitive approaches and body-based wisdom. I have found that our minds often can be tricky whilst the wisdom found within the body is generally to be trusted. I utilize an awareness of how our nervous system adapts to our life circumstances and those of us who have experienced significant trauma are likely to have nervous systems that have been compromised. Before any cognitive work can be effective the nervous system needs to be brought back into a more harmonious state. This is analogous to trying to change the radiator settings in the house when the boiler is malfunctioning. The boiler is our nervous system, and this must be included.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness: Bringing moment by moment awareness to the here and now. Whatever past influences need to be explored will be found still present today – there is no need to go digging into the past.
I have been fortunate enough to have experienced Samina as a therapist and workshop facilitator in 2017. I found Samina to be a professional in all aspects of her work, but more than that, she is a genuine, honest and compassionate human. From the outset it is clear that Samina has a wealth of knowledge and experience in helping others. She has a thorough knowledge of tools used in general therapy but what I found most helpful, was her holistic approach to therapy. (…) In therapy with Samina, I learnt to ‘find my voice’, to ask for what I needed, to start to love myself just as I am and to begin to heal past trauma. In doing this in a supported way, I found some inner peace and acceptance that I have never felt my entire life!
Through working with Samina personally and participating in her workshops, I’ve gained insights about myself which were not realized before our meeting. Samina helped guide me towards a better and more genuine life, I recommend Samina and her work with the highest of praise and encourage anyone interested in working with her to not miss the wonderful opportunity!
Samina taught me how to use my imagination to answer questions about myself, she followed and guided me through the beginning of my journey in self-discovery. All answers I got came from within me, which made them genuine and very powerful. She helped me to understand my past, my behaviours and my fears but also how to build something new and different. By having Samina as a life coach I felt completely supported and she was the reason I dared to begin this great adventure.
After years of dealing with various kind of therapists, I was feeling pretty jaded and not convinced that another therapist could offer anything new. I thought I’d seen and heard it all, until I met Samina. Samina was able to connect on a much deeper, more authentic, human level; not just clinical. For the first time I felt comfortable letting myself be fully vulnerable in that situation because she creates an environment where one can feel safe and fully accepted as they are in that moment. (…) I can honestly say that her workshops, combined with our other sessions, helped to create a positive and significant shift in my emotional intelligence.
Samina popped into my life at exactly the right time, as earth angels always do. Within a very short time I knew that this lady could help me go to places within myself that I never even knew were there. She has this knack and she uses it so gently that before you know it you are welcoming back lost parts of yourself that you didn’t even know were gone. The sessions I had with Samina were without doubt the most life changing ones I’ve ever done.
Samina has helped me to face my shadows and wounds, and more important than that, she helped me to (re-)discover my gifts. She believed in my strengths and inner light in times when I couldn’t find them myself.
I met Samina at Hope rehab in Thailand and asked her to help me with delving into my past as a child as it has become apparent that my childhood was laden with causes for many of my problems. I cannot even begin to describe how amazingly beneficial my time has been with Samina. Her complete kindness and compassion make her an extraordinary counsellor and we are continuing our work together still. (…) I only wish that I had found Samina many years ago. Along with some TRE treatment and discovering a younger me that I can now love and not be ashamed of, helps me grow into the person I really want to be.
After years of struggling with trauma, depression, anxiety, and alcoholism I checked myself into Hope Rehab. I had seen a handful of counsellors and had never felt comfortable fully opening up until I found Samina. It is important to me to have a counsellor that holds space to allow myself to feel and accept the emotions that are there, in order to work through them. Aside from her plethora of psychological knowledge, Samina takes an eclectic approach to fit the needs of her clients (I never thought I would be caught doing headstands or ecstatic dance in a counselling session but it was just what I needed at the time)! (…) She not only helps me when in our counselling sessions but gives me the tools that I need to deal with everyday life on my own. Since starting my sessions with Samina one year ago I have been able to cope with the struggles that every day life brings with out using alcohol, have found passion for lots of new things and have learned to fully accept all the emotions that come with life.
My experience of Samina is that kindness and compassion are part of her make up; that her dedication to serving her heart and others her makes her the excellent guide and practitioner she is.
