Oskari Pentikainen

Monday afternoon (in person/online)

Tuesday & Thursday evenings (in person/ online)

Friday mornings (only online)

Some flexible hours available

Hello and warm welcome to my profile.

Are you experiencing depression, anxiety or feeling stuck? Are you troubled by past trauma, feeling unfulfilled or experiencing relationship difficulties? I can help you.

I offer a safe and compassionate space for self-exploration, healing and growth. I have two decades of experience working with people experiencing distress and in search of change and peace.

Life can feel hard at times. It can also be daunting to take that first step contacting a therapist. I am here for you and welcome you just as you are.

Counselling is always a personal journey, something I deeply honour. My outlook is that within you have the necessary capacity to grow and heal waiting to be revealed. Looking within is not always easy as we are rarely nurtured to explore our life experiences or taught to be vulnerable.

I am here to support and be beside you on that journey. My outlook is that life’s challenges, old or new, can be possibilities or invitations, if you like, for self-exploration, healing and further wholeness.

I work with individuals 16+. My model is relational and integrative which means that I put emphasis on how we relate with one another in the room and life in general, and draw on several approaches (incl. psychodynamic, humanistic, transactional, wisdom traditions). Ultimately, we jointly create our space and relationship to best meet your needs.

My offering as a therapist combines professional qualifications, lived experience, and in-depth explorations of the light and dark inherent to all of humanity - including you and me. Inevitably and ultimately, I draw on my own life, suffering and healing.

After a career in international peace mediation & conflict work with people affected by violent conflicts, I re-trained and worked as a family and fostering Social Worker. Working therapeutically with adults, children and families lead me later to train as a Counsellor.

I have much experience working with people experiencing mental health difficulties, distress, and individuals looking to unburden and searching for peace and meaning in their lives.

Alongside my private practice, I work as a prison Counsellor across Surrey.

Finding a suitable therapist can be a journey in its own right. This blog post may help you to navigate the journey: https://www.oskari-counselling.com/post/finding-the-right-therapist-for-you

After you contact me, we will schedule a free initial session. This is done remotely on telephone and last around 20-30min. The purpose of this initial consultation is to help you get a sense of whether I and my offering could be helpful for you; and for me to see if I am able to support you.

You are invited to share what is it that you are looking for, your hopes from counselling and the areas that you would want to work on. You can share what you feel is important for me to know about you and ask any questions. I will also ask you some questions about your life circumstances.​

There is no expectation or obligation from you to continue beyond this initial session. If we so decide, we then can book our first session.

During the subsequent first 'proper' session, we go through and discuss an agreement outlining us working together. We will also discuss in further detail the issues and areas that you want to work on. The sessions are your time with you choosing what to bring to each one.

We review our work every 6 or so sessions. There is no expectation to commit or work towards a certain number of sessions. We can do that, or work open-endedly. Throughout I invite you to share how you find the sessions including what is helpful and beneficial for you, and importantly, what is not.

You are free to end our work at any point. Ending consciously is an important part of therapy, and a source for strength and resilience. I invite you to allow for an appropriate ending for our work and relationship.

Monday afternoon (in person/online)

Tuesday & Thursday evenings (in person/ online)

Friday mornings (only online)

Some flexible hours available

Hello and warm welcome. 

Are you experiencing anxiety, depression or maybe feeling unfulfilled? I can help you. I work with individuals 16+ experiencing depression, anxiety, trauma, anger, loss, relationship & men's issues, feeling stuck and more.

I offer a safe and compassionate space for self-exploration, healing and growth. I have two decades of experience working with people experiencing distress and in search of change and peace.

Life can feel hard at times. It can also be daunting to take that first step contacting a therapist. I am here for you and welcome you just as you are.

Counselling is always a personal journey, something I deeply honour. My outlook is that within you have the necessary capacity to grow and heal waiting to be revealed. Looking within is not always easy as we are rarely nurtured to explore our life experiences or taught to be vulnerable.

I am here to support and be beside you on that journey. My outlook is that life’s challenges, old or new, can be possibilities or invitations, if you like, for self-exploration, healing and further wholeness.

I work with individuals 16+. My model is relational and integrative which means that I put emphasis on how we relate with one another in the room and life in general, and draw on several approaches (incl. psychodynamic, humanistic, transactional, wisdom traditions). Ultimately, we jointly create our space and relationship to best meet your needs.

My offering as a therapist combines professional qualifications, lived experience, and in-depth explorations of the light and dark inherent to all of humanity - including you and me. Inevitably and ultimately, I draw on my own life, suffering and healing.

After a career in international peace mediation & conflict work with people affected by violent conflicts, I re-trained and worked as a family and fostering Social Worker. Working therapeutically with adults, children and families lead me later to train as a Counsellor.

I have much experience working with people experiencing mental health difficulties, distress, and individuals looking to unburden and searching for peace and meaning in their lives.

Alongside my private practice, I work as a prison Counsellor across Surrey.

Finding a suitable therapist can be a journey in its own right. This blog post may help you to navigate the journey: https://www.oskari-counselling.com/post/finding-the-right-therapist-for-you

After you contact me, we will schedule a free initial session. This is done remotely on telephone and last around 20-30min. The purpose of this initial consultation is to help you get a sense of whether I and my offering could be helpful for you; and for me to see if I am able to support you.

You are invited to share what is it that you are looking for, your hopes from counselling and the areas that you would want to work on. You can share what you feel is important for me to know about you and ask any questions. I will also ask you some questions about your life circumstances.​

There is no expectation or obligation from you to continue beyond this initial session. If we so decide, we then can book our first session.

During the subsequent first 'proper' session, we go through and discuss an agreement outlining us working together. We will also discuss in further detail the issues and areas that you want to work on. The sessions are your time with you choosing what to bring to each one.

We review our work every 6 or so sessions. There is no expectation to commit or work towards a certain number of sessions. We can do that, or work open-endedly. Throughout I invite you to share how you find the sessions including what is helpful and beneficial for you, and importantly, what is not.

You are free to end our work at any point. Ending consciously is an important part of therapy, and a source for strength and resilience. I invite you to allow for an appropriate ending for our work and relationship.

In person in Guilford, remote (online and telephone).

Monday and Friday.

No sessions on w/c 25 May, 27 July, 19 Oct, 21Dec

Whether you seek to unburden yourself, explore difficulties in your life, or maybe address a specific type of anxiety, Counselling and CBT can help.

Counselling is less directive and it can be helpful for exploring and unpicking common mental health issues including anxiety, depression, how your past is presenting here-and-now, unhelpful patterns, feeling stuck, relationship issues, life transitions and purpose, to name a few. Psychodynamic counselling places emphasis on our sub-/unconscious processes, its interplay between what we are conscious of and that we are not, and how it informs our behaviors, motivations and experiences.

CBT, on the other hand, is a more structured and goal orientated therapy and has a large evidence base for treating specific anxiety presentations (OCD, PTSD, health anxiety, social anxiety, panic, body dysmorphia, phobias, general anxiety, excessive worrying) as well as depression. CBT involves lots of techniques and tools to manage, unpick and change the unhelpful to helpful. I integrate both modalities in my work.

Therapy is a deeply personal process. It is a significant decision and investment into yourself. It is natural to have variety of feelings evoked when considering therapy.

I believe that feeling comfortable with your therapist is an important starting point and foundation for any helpful therapeutic relationship. Ultimately, the quality of your relationship with your therapist is more important than the modality they practice.

There are many therapists, possibilities and modalities. Navigating this can be confusing and difficult to know how much importance to attribute and to what. While looking for a suitable therapist, you may find blog "Finding the right therapist for you" on my website helpful.

Remember that therapists, including myself, are here for you. Not the other way around. I would encourage you to take note of your feelings and follow your own inner compass in navigating this journey.

My role as a therapist is to support you finding and tapping into your own inner resources, in order for you to live a more fulfilling life and actualise your potential.

My outlook is that you already have the needed potential and guidance within waiting to be revealed for growth and healing. Your autonomy and choice are on the driver's seat. You choose what you want to work on, and at your pace. This is about you.

My approach is that therapy is not so much about "fixing problems", as it is about healing, growing and evolving as holistic human being. It is natural to see issues as problems and hope for a fix. I invite you to do a little exercise: take a moment, and instead of "problems" and "fixes" relate with the areas that you would like to work on as parts of you that need healing, parts of you that remain unexpressed or unwitnessed; or maybe as blockages that prevent you living a more fulfilling life, or invitations for further exploration? I wonder what comes up for you?

I appreciate that this does not take away any of the challenges or difficult feelings you may be experiencing. It does, however, start getting us in touch with how we relate with our experience. By acknowledging how you feel, you are taking an important step on that journey, and in fulfilling your responsibility to yourself. We cannot think our way to healing. Healing happens through feeling.

Working relationally is not just about inter-personal relationships, but how we relate with our experiences and feelings including the more difficult ones, and with our own selves. Our ways of relating are in parts informed by our caregivers and early experience. Yet, a bit like wearing lenses, we become unaware of their existence. Therapy can help you to become aware and unpick what has stopped serving you, and bring forth that which does..

While the therapeutic journey is done together, it is primarily a journey within. Akin to the timeless Heroine's/Hero's Journey and drawing on Jung's depth psychology.

After you contact me, we will schedule a free initial session. This is done on telephone and last about 15 minutes. The purpose of this initial consultation is to help you get a sense of whether I and my offering could be helpful for you; and for me to see if I am able to support you.

You are invited to share what is it that you are looking for, your hopes from therapy and the areas that you would want to work on. You can share what you feel is important for me to know about you and ask if you have anything in your mind. I may also ask you some questions about your life circumstances.

There is no expectation or obligation from you to continue beyond this initial conversation. If we so decide, we then can book our first session.

During the subsequent first 'proper' session, we go through and discuss an agreement outlining us working together. We will also start an assessment which is a joint exploration of the issues that trouble you and your broader life experience and circumstances.

We review our work every 6 or so sessions. Depending on what we decide to work on, we can work towards a certain number of sessions (common in CBT) or open-endedly and see where that takes us. Throughout I invite you to share how you find the sessions including what is helpful and beneficial for you, and importantly, what is not.

You are free to end our work at any point. Ending consciously is an important part of therapy, and a source for strength and resilience. I encourage you to allow for an appropriate ending for our work and relationship.