I'm Danika
A qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor and NCPS Accredited Member, I am trained in Transactional Analysis (TA) and offer individual counselling and psychotherapy to adults (18+).
My own route into counselling followed a long career outside therapy, and I bring a particular interest in the changes and transitions we encounter through adult life, and what they can mean for our sense of ourselves and our relationships.
With an academic background in psychology and business, I spent more than twenty years working in organisations in the UK and US before training as a counsellor. Originally from America, I have made the UK home, so my own life has included changes of country, career and professional identity.
How I work
My approach is grounded in relational Transactional Analysis (TA), with particular influences from Existential and Co-Creative TA.
TA offers a way of thinking about how we understand ourselves, relate to other people and make sense of patterns in our lives. It can help us explore how earlier experiences may continue to shape the present, while leaving room for the possibility of doing something different. As a body of theory, TA can give us useful ways of understanding our experience, but the aim is not to fit you into categories or assume that I already know what your experience means.
For me, the relational part is just as important. Therapy becomes something we do together, and the relationship we build can help us notice and understand patterns that may also appear elsewhere in your life.
Training and Experience
I trained at the Connexus Institute in Hove, completing four years of Advanced Clinical Training in Transactional Analysis and a Level 6 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling.
Alongside private practice, I work as a counsellor with West Kent Mind and, before qualifying, spent nearly three years as a Samaritans listening volunteer.
Becoming a counsellor involves more than learning theory. My training included extensive personal therapy alongside clinical practice, and having my own counselling remains an important part of how I work. Further training and reading allow me to explore particular areas of mental health and psychotherapy, as well as the wider social and cultural contexts in which our lives take place.
Regular clinical supervision gives me a confidential professional space to think carefully about my work, including what I might be missing or finding challenging, and what I can continue to learn.
A first conversation
There is only so much a website can tell you about what it might be like for us to talk.
If you are thinking about counselling with me, you can arrange a free 15-minute call before deciding whether you would like to meet.