Shifa Wood

Available all days of the week apart from Sunday.

Hours of work: online 9am to 8pm, in person in an office with good transport links in the Selly Oak Birmingham area 9am to 4pm.

Appointment timings can be flexed subject to availability.

I like to think I’m not your typical Counsellor- for one, I am fully aware of the trappings of the changing times. Having moved countries both as a refuge child and then adult, worked, stayed home to raise a family and went back to university in mid-life, it’s fair to say I have had a varied career, but I feel these rich experiences, along with the many hiccups and dead ends along the way, have contributed to making me a more compassionate, relatable and realistic therapist. What you won’t find is an inactive therapist who says nothing! The therapeutic relationship is at the heart of the work, and I hope you will find in me a compassionate, warm and straight-talking human being.

While I believe in pursuing wellness, I know the very real struggle of trying to balance a demanding work and personal life with looking after myself and wanting to thrive. Ironically, I haven’t always succeeded in doing this and have experienced burnout along the way, as well as early menopause. As an integrative therapist, though, I truly believe that it’s our gloomy stuff that we can turn into gold.

No two clients are ever the same - I will meet you where you are at. Working holistically, I make use of a variety of different tools, such as working with attachment style, setting behavioural experiments, using visualisation, doing Inner Child work, practising mindfulness, breathing work and accessing the creative imagination, while recognising the importance of psycho-education.

My approach combines deep inner psychological work with helping you to find a practical way forward. Combining trauma informed practices with integrative therapy accesses all entry points into the psyche and accounts for the creative nature of our wounding, which enables a new Self to emerge. I hope you will come on this journey with me. 

Reaching out to a Counsellor can feel like a minefield. It requires a lot of courage, so I aim to keep things as simple as possible.

1. I offer an initial 20-minute consultation phone call or Zoom should you wish to ask any questions before booking the first session.

2. The first session is a 60-minute face-to-face meeting or video call, where we can get to know one another better and make sure we’re a good fit. I use creative trauma cards which cover important aspects of your life to date to inform the most suitable therapeutic approach(es) suited to your needs.

I offer an initial free 20 minute consultation session in which you will be able to discuss what has brought you to therapy.  I will explain how I work and answer any questions you might have.

After that you can decide whether we are a good fit.