Adriana Szczepaniak:

Trainee Gestalt Counsellor (BACP Student Member)

My name is Adriana Szczepaniak and I am a trainee gestalt counsellor, offering in-person and online low-cost therapy at HQ Therapy.

As a student member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) I adhere to the BACP Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions, upholding confidentiality and boundaries with the utmost care, and I strive to maintain high professional and ethical standards.

I am dedicated to self-reflective practice under supervision, and continuous professional development, which I see as the best practice as well as my ethical responsibility as a therapist.

I welcome each client and their unique story, circumstances, and reasons that bring them to therapy. I offer a compassionate listening space and my authentic presence, striving for a deep therapeutic relationship that is necessary for healing and growth.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” (Rumi)

Each client’s needs and goals are different and may change as therapy progresses. I aim to continuously adapt to meet the client where they are at at the moment. This may mean reconnecting with and attuning to one’s own emotions and bodily sensations.

Working with what emerges in the here-and-now, clients can become aware of patterns that no longer serve them or explore and attend to unresolved situations from the past that affect their present wellbeing. Sometimes, therapy involves discovery and slow and compassionate befriending of feelings or parts of themselves that were rejected or lost.

Reflecting on my educational background, I appreciate therapy for similar reasons for which I am drawn to mathematics. Despite what one may initially imagine or expect, neither mathematics nor therapeutic process relies on rigid, prescriptive problem-solving.

Instead, both fields require a creative yet respectful, curious and humble exploration of what unfolds, leading to greater awareness, empowerment, flexibility, and resilience.

The further I progress in my training and personal journey, the more passionate I become about the complexity of human existence and the impact therapy can have on fostering nurturing, wellbeing and compassion for each person, their relationships and a society.