Rita Da Silva

I am a BACP Accredited counsellor/ psychotherapist and CBT therapist with many years of experience working with clients using an integrative approach.

Having had a varied career working in various settings, including healthcare services, public services, and charitable agencies, I have vast experience working with a variety of people from all walks of life. I currently work as a clinical supervisor for a bereavement agency and run my own practice from West Norwood and Clapham.

I offer a safe and confidential space where you can explore what is important to you, and through this increase your self-awareness and knowledge about your own needs.

I am a BACP accredited counsellor/psychotherapist and cognitive behavioural therapist with many years of experience working with clients using an integrative approach. I have had a varied career working in a range of different settings including:

• healthcare services
• public services
• charitable agencies
• clinical supervision
• private practice

Over the years, I have gained extensive experience supporting people with emotional and psychological issues, working psychodynamically (linking present difficulties with the past). I believe that it is important to understand and accept past experiences and history in order to fully appreciate and make sense of the present situation, and therefore be able to plan for the future using CBT therapy.

I offer a safe and confidential space where you can explore what is important to you, and through this increase your self-awareness and knowledge about your own needs.

I am an Accredited member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and I am bound by its Ethical Framework for Good Practice in Counselling and Psychotherapy and subject to the Professional Conduct Procedures therein. I am also a UKRC Registered Independent Counsellor. As an Accredited member of BACP I am committed to Continuing Professional Development and seek to develop and inform my work with my clients. As the Accreditation requires, I have frequent and ongoing supervision of my work.

Psychotherapy and Counselling both provide the time and space for you to share and explore whatever you wish in confidence. Generally, I see counselling as a shorter-term process usually with a specific focus. Psychotherapy works at greater depth enabling you to explore the underlying patterns of relating that you have developed and how these occur in your current life.

In my practice, I use integrative counselling, drawing from both the Person-Centred and the Psychodynamic models and incorporating CBT techniques if and when required.

The way I work depends very much on what you would like to gain from your counselling. I would see our work as a joint collaboration working together towards helping you make sense of your experiences and enable you to increase your confidence to make the decisions you feel are right for you.

The first session is an assessment session as it is the chance for you to assess if I am the right person for you. It also gives me the opportunity to understand what you are looking for and to see if I feel what I can offer will suit you. We can then agree on what would be helpful for you. This may be for a set number of sessions – perhaps six or ten – or be left open. I work with people for any length of time according to their needs. This is determined by regular reviews of our work together.