Mariana Cervantes

Tel: 07484 784347 email: growingminds@protonmail.com

Experience working with children, adolescents, young people, adults and parents.

  • Bilingual work in English and in Spanish.
  • Training on working with diversity and difference.
  • Attachment-based work.

     

     

I am a psychodynamic psychotherapist specialised in work with children and adolescents. In my work, be it with young people or with adults, I am keenly interested in supporting the whole individual.

I put the relationship with each of my clients at the heart of our work together. This enables the development of trust, which is at the heart of our sessions, with the aim for each client to feel seen and see themselves more wholly and compassionately. This in turn helps them to engage in the process of exploring their unique inner worlds, and to better understand how they think and feel about themselves and the world around them. This greater inner connection is at the heart of the therapy and the healing process.

I bring into my private practice my experience working within school, organisation and NHS settings with children, adolescents and adults facing a wide range of challenges, including anxiety, depression, anger, feelings of rejection and abandonment, family issues, separation,  loss, relationship difficulties, bullying, abuse, trauma, attachment issues, school and social difficulties, internet and social media exposure and transitions.

My practice focuses on holding a safe, empathetic and non-judgemental space, working to each client’s pace to  help them find ways to explore their internal world, including thoughts and feelings that they might not be in touch with. Through gaining awareness of these thoughts and feelings, clients often gain greater understanding of how they feel about themselves and those around them, which is central to strengthening both their sense of self and their ways of relating to others.

I use my specialist training and experience as registered child & adolescent psychotherapist to explore childhood experiences, enabling my clients to bring up what matters to them in their own way and time.

I also apply these skills and experience to provide parent work sessions, where parents can address their concerns about their relationship with their child/children and their difficulties around parenting.

Training, qualifications & experience

  • MSc Psychodynamic counselling and psychotherapy with children and adolescents.
  • BACP registered. I am registered with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
  • Work in primary school setting. I have worked at a primary school in connection with Place2Be, working with children from different ethnic backgrounds and from different ages.
  • Work with adolescent girls, women and mothers. I worked in a Latin American organisation with adolescents, women and mothers on a wide range of issues including self-harm, suicidal ideation, domestic violence, social violence, sexual, emotional and physical abuse, neglect and other issues. With mothers, my work was focused on a wide range of parenting difficulties and concerns.
  • Work in a cancer charity in association with the NHS. I worked in a cancer charity associated with the NHS, providing counselling to people with cancer and their loved ones.

 

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