Samantha Whittaker

I am currently accepting new clients. Please contact me for up-to-date availability.

I have limited evening appointments on Tuesdays between 5pm and 7pm and Thursdays between 5pm and 8pm.

I also have a small number of daytime appointments available on Mondays and Tuesdays, Thursday mornings, Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.

Sometimes we come to therapy because something in us is asking to be heard: a feeling, a pattern, a younger part, a body sensation, a repeated relationship dynamic, or a way of coping that once helped us survive but now feels limiting.

You may look capable on the outside while feeling anxious, ashamed, exhausted or disconnected inside. You might wake with your mind racing, say yes when you mean no, fear being judged or rejected, or feel caught between longing for closeness and wanting to hide.

I offer a warm, thoughtful and down-to-earth space where you can bring the tender, messy and vulnerable parts of yourself without judgement. I work collaboratively, with care, curiosity and honesty, and believe that you are the expert on your own experience.

My work is rooted in Gestalt psychotherapy, which pays attention to the whole of your experience: your thoughts, emotions, body, relationships, history, identity and current circumstances. Together, we can slow things down, understand what may be happening beneath the surface and explore what you feel, need, protect or find difficult to express.

I use an integrative approach. I also draw on Internal Family Systems, Mindful Self-Compassion and NeuroAffective Touch®, particularly when working with inner conflict, protective parts, shame, self-criticism and younger wounded parts of the self.

I am a Â鶹ԭ´´-registered psychotherapeutic counsellor and hold a Clinical Diploma in Gestalt Psychotherapeutic Counselling from Metanoia Institute.

Alongside private practice, I work at One in Four, supporting adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. I have previously worked with ELOP, an LGBT+ mental health charity, and the Metanoia Counselling and Psychotherapy Service.

I work with anxiety, depression, trauma, shame, low self-worth, relationship and attachment difficulties, identity, burnout, work-related stress and major life transitions. We may explore current difficulties, earlier experiences and how these continue to be felt in your body, relationships and everyday life.

My practice is LGBTQ+ affirming and neuro-affirming. I welcome people from diverse backgrounds, identities and life experiences, and offer space to explore culture, identity, power and belonging with care.

For clients who would like to work more directly with the body, I offer NeuroAffective Touch®, a gentle, trauma-informed approach bridging talking therapy and bodywork. It may be helpful if you feel chronically tense or braced, find it difficult to relax or receive care, feel numb, anxious or disconnected from your body, or understand your patterns intellectually but still feel caught in them physically.

Sessions combine conversation, body awareness and, where chosen, supportive touch. Blankets and warm, malleable therapeutic pillows may be used to offer support, comfort and containment. Rather than forcing the body to relax or release, we listen carefully to what it communicates.

I offer in-person therapy in Acton W3, online sessions and walk-and-talk therapy in West London green spaces. Therapy may be short-term or longer-term.

You are welcome to begin with a free 20-minute phone or video call. This gives us a chance to talk briefly about what you are looking for, ask any questions and consider whether I may be the right therapist for you.

Your first full session is an opportunity for us to begin getting to know one another and explore what has brought you to therapy. We can talk about what you are finding difficult, what you hope might change and any previous experiences of therapy that feel important.

I will explain how I work, including confidentiality and practical arrangements. There is no pressure to tell me everything straight away, and we will work at a pace that feels manageable.

Before we meet, I will send you access to my secure online portal, where you can view appointments, book and pay for sessions.