Welcome 

I’m glad you stopped by. I'm Kalpna Hirani, BACP Accredited Counsellor & Psychotherapist based in Rickmansworth (WD3), near Watford, Hertfordshire, I am an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). I offer therapy to individuals (18+) and couples.

The information below explains how I strive to be alongside you as you navigate life's challenges.  I’m here to help you overcome them and achieve emotional well-being. My goal is to always offer you a safe, confidential, compassionate space, grounded in empathy and understanding. 

Areas I can help with

• Anxiety disorders (General Anxiety Disorder, OCD, panic attacks, social anxiety, perfectionism)
• Depression, low mood, feeling sad and loneliness
• Trauma and abuse (including complex PTSD, sexual abuse, sexual assault)
• Relationship challenges and communication issues
• Low self-esteem and confidence building
• Stress management, including work-related stress, and anger management
• Personal development and navigating life changes
• Expatriate and cultural counselling for international clients
• Childhood bullying

I work with individuals from a wide range of cultural, personal, and professional backgrounds, offering in-person sessions in Rickmansworth (WD3), Watford and those from Hertfordshire as well as across the UK and internationally via online sessions. Each person I work with brings their own unique experiences, challenges, and strengths to therapy. I value and respect your individuality, and I believe that you know yourself better than anyone else. My role is to walk alongside you on your therapeutic journey, helping you explore your thoughts, feelings, gain clarity, and move toward the changes you want to see in your life, at your own pace and in your own way.

How I tailor therapy to You

I’m trained in a range of therapeutic approaches, which I integrate to suit your individual needs. These include:

• Systemic (Family & Relationship Therapy),
• Transactional analysis (Communication-Focused and behaviour Therapy),
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT),
• EMDR (Evidence based trauma focussed therapy that helps your brain and body process painful & traumatic memories) and
• Person Centred (Compassion-focussed, client-led)

In addition to these core approaches, I draw on a range of other models and tools, including:

• Polyvagal Theory (nervous system regulation),
• Internal Family Systems (IFS) (working with different 'parts' of the self),
• Psychodynamic thinking (understanding unconscious patterns and early experiences), and
• Creative techniques (such as visualisation or metaphor) to tailor therapy in a way that best supports you.

My integrative approach is flexible, collaborative, and grounded in building a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship. My way of working is based on the idea that each person is an individual so one type of therapy doesn't fit everyone. I tailor my approach to clients rather than expect the client to fit into my therapeutic approach.

Session Format

In-Person Counselling in Rickmansworth (WD3)

I offer in-person / face to face counselling and psychotherapy sessions for adults (aged 18 and over) in Rickmansworth (WD3) to individuals and couples of all genders, cultures, faiths, and sexual orientations. In person sessions are offered at a professionally designed multi-disciplinary Wellness Centre in Rickmansworth (WD3) near Watford, Hertfordshire. This dedicated private and confidential environment provides a professional setting that safeguards your privacy and fosters a sense of security, allowing you to feel completely comfortable and supported throughout your sessions. The wellness centre is a short distance from Croxley Green, Loudwater, Sarratt, Chenies, Moor Park and Chipperfield, parts of Hillingdon (Ruislip, Northwood, Harefeild, Uxbridge and Eastcote), Harrow (Pinner, Harrow Weald, Stanmore, Kenton and parts of North Harrow) and Buckinghamshire (Chalfonts, Amersham and Chesham).

Online & Telephone Counselling

For those living further afield in London, rest of the UK, Europe or rest of the world, I offer online counselling. In addition, to online counselling, I offer telephone counselling to those in the UK. I'm able to work with you wherever you are located in the UK, Europe or rest of the world (time differences allowing). Working online also means YOU have flexibility to have your sessions at home, between meetings at work, in your car, while you're out on a walk.... anywhere! As long as you have the space to speak confidentially, you don't have to 'commute' to your weekly sessions with me.

If you are looking for a therapist in Rickmansworth, in WD3 area or Watford in Hertfordshire, or online counselling and are ready to start therapy with me, contact me for a free 15 minutes consultation by completing the form on the Contact page, or call me on 07543 694 443.

How therapy can help

There are many experiences that life may present you with, some of which can feel overwhelming. Sometimes, you may experience sadness, stress, loneliness, depression, anxiety or you may feel overwhelmed by these challenges and wish to speak to someone who truly understands. You don’t need to have experienced a major trauma to seek therapy. You may just want to talk about how you feel to gain clarity or navigate a specific challenge such as exploring your battles with low self-confidence. Maybe you are facing challenges in your friendships or struggling with family or romantic relationships. Perhaps you feel something is missing because you don't have deep, meaningful connections. No matter what you’re going through, or struggling with, there is hope. I offer a therapeutic space where you can be heard, understood, and supported without judgment. You don’t need to have all the answers; you may just need a safe space to start healing at your own pace.

While it may be painful at first, working through these challenges can strengthen your relationships and bring you closer to the life you desire. Therapy can help you address sensitive issues and begin the healing process. Together, we can uncover the happier, more fulfilled version of yourself. It's not worth spending your life feeling down or stuck and struggling on your own, not knowing which way to turn. There is a happier person inside you trying to get out. 

Don't let your wounds fester, seek support today! As an accredited BACP therapist based in Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, I can help you. Just text or Email to contact me. 

How we’ll work together

I offer a confidential, supportive and respectful safe space where you can explore your emotions and life experiences, openly and freely. By being in tune with how you are feeling and by understanding your experiences, I will support you to develop your awareness, gain clarity, self-compassion and empower you to make choices that bring about effective change that you feel is right for you, so you can be the best person that you can be. .

As an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, I do not diagnose or categorise - I see therapy less as a “cure” or a "fix", but more as a process which sets something in motion. I bring professional knowledge and therapeutic skills to our work together but I always recognise that you are the expert in your own life, with the ability to determine the direction of your personal growth and change. You can explore anything you like, at your own pace. Whatever you choose to bring into the conversation, I'm here to support you. I work with integrity, authenticity, and deep respect for your individual experiences. My role is to walk alongside you in this process with care and compassion, gently challenge unhelpful patterns and discover new ways of being. 

What is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) ?

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a widely used and evidence-based form of psychotherapy that focuses on the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The idea is that how we think about situations affects how we feel and behave and that by identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behavior patterns, we can improve our emotional well-being. It involves, identifying negative or distorted thinking patterns, learning to challenge and reframe these thoughts with more realistic, balanced perspectives, developing healthy coping skills and behavior strategies (e.g., relaxation and self care techniques) and practicing these skills both in and outside therapy sessions (homework is often part of CBT). CBT can help with Anxiety, Depression, Panic attacks, OCD, Stress management, Low self-esteem and Insomnia.

What is Transactional Analysis (TA) ?

Transactional Analysis (TA) helps people understand themselves and their relationships by analysing their interactions with others. It can help improve communication and relationships, understand emotional triggers and reactions, shift limiting beliefs formed in early life and build self-awareness and healthier patterns of behaviour.

What is Systemic, Family and Relationship Therapy?

Systemic therapy is a form of psychotherapy that focusses on understanding and addressing problems in the context of relationships, social networks, and broader systems (e.g. workplace) rather than viewing issues as solely residing within an individual. It helps people explore and understand patterns of interaction and communication with partner, friends, colleagues and family dynamics, whilst taking into account the cultural background, power structures, and life transitions, that contribute to emotional and behavioral challenges. Instead of labeling someone as "the problem," clients and therapists work together to explore how systems influence each other, examine how recurring patterns of communication and behavior contribute to difficulties and create space for change.  
Familiar arguments and unspoken tensions may sometimes leave you feeling stuck in your relationships. Avoiding sensitive issues may seem easier than facing the discomfort, but just like a physical wounds, ignoring these problems only allows them to worsen over time. It's important to remember that sensitive issues are like wounds, if we ignore them to avoid the pain, they will only worsen over time impacting negatively on our relationships, our emotional and physical health. Look at the "blogs" tab and below to learn about how Systemic therapy can help.

How Can Systemic, Family and Relationship Therapy Help?

• Improves Relationships: Helps families, couples, and groups communicate better and solve conflicts. It helps to imrove communication and understanding within relationships. It can therefore be applied in diverse settings from personal relationships to workplaces.
• Builds Understanding: Encourages people to see different perspectives and understand each other’s feelings.
• Supports Change: Helps individuals, families, couples and groups navigate conflict in a constructive way and find new ways to handle challenges and improve their well-being. It supports individuals in recognising and reshaping negative interaction patterns.
• Works for Many Issues: It encourages personal growth and emaotional wellbeing within relational sontect and is also useful for anxiety, depression, family struggles, work-related stress, and more.

Systemic therapy is not about blaming anyone, it’s about working together to create positive change. This approach is commonly used in family therapy, couples therapy, and organisational settings, helping people recognise and shift unhelpful relational patterns. It can also be helpful for issues like communication breakdowns, conflict, anxiety, depression, trauma, and life transitions, especially when these are tied to relationship dynamics.

What is EMDR Therapy?

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR): EMDR is a specialised therapeutic approach designed to help individuals process and heal from traumatic memories. This method uses bilateral stimulation, such as guided eye movements, to reduce the emotional impact of trauma and promote healing.

• Recognised by WHO and NICE
• Effective for PTSD, anxiety, and other trauma-related symptoms
• Often delivers significant improvements in fewer sessions

EMDR can be used as a stand-alone therapy and is immensely powerful in many instances and sometimes I use it as a complementary therapeutic tool. It's simple and safe and you can find out more about it here: 

Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) – PTSD UK

I am an EMDR UK trained therapist and I can guide you through, enabling you to process traumatic memories and reduce the emotional distress associated with them.

Whether or not you choose to incorporate EMDR as part of your therapy is up to you. All my work is tailored to the unique needs of each individual and designed to make you feel safe and relaxed.

Trauma Training

I have received specialist training in trauma treatment models, trauma theory, somatic approaches, and polyvagal-informed practice. My work is informed by intensive learning with leading trauma experts and leading figures in trauma theory and somatic psychology including Bessel van der Kolk, Janina Fisher, Babette Rothschild, Pat Ogden, Linda Cundy and others. I integrate systemic and trauma-informed perspectives to support individuals, couples, and families processing complex relational and developmental trauma.Trauma treatment is only provided by qualified mental health practitioners who are specialy trained in trauma specific models. That means I can work safely and effectively with traumatic memory, PTSD, complex trauma, and dissociation and I can manage trauma-related risk, dysregulation, and nervous system responses.

My training includes EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. I also integrate other modalities sich as Trauma informed CBT, Internal family systems and transactional analysis.

Analogy: Being "trauma-trained" is like being a trauma surgeon, you don’t just recognise wounds, you know how to treat them. 

Format of sessions on offer

I offer the following session formats to suit your needs:

• In-Person Counselling / face to face counselling: Sessions are available in Rickmansworth (WD3), near Watford, Hertfordshire. My location is within easy reach of Rickmansworth station, and the M25. It is in Hertfordshire, very close to Watford and the borders of Buckinghamshire, Hillingdon and Harrow, so convenient for those in Ruislip, Pinner, Northwood, Watford, Uxbridge, Chalfont, Sarratt, Amersham and St Albans. I'm located in a multi-disciplinary centre in Rickmansworth.  The rooms are well designed, with calming and relaxing environment. 
• Online Counselling: I offer online counselling via video meetings for those in the South East London SE1 area, and accessible from anywhere in the UK, Europe, or worldwide via secure video platforms. I've had BACP approved training for telephone and online counselling, ensuring that I'm suitably skilled and experienced in the use of live video-based technologies, to offer online counselling. 
• Telephone Counselling: Available for clients across the UK.

Many clients find online or telephone counselling convenient and empowering, as it allows them to receive support from the comfort of their own home.

Why choose Me? 

I am a member of Association of Family Therapy (AFT) as well as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and accredited by it. The BACP is the largest professional body for counsellors in the UK. The main purpose of the BACP register is to protect the public and help them find therapists who are sufficiently qualified, experienced and trustworthy. It aims to reassure clients, that a BACP registered practitioner adheres to high standards of safe and ethical practice.

You're in safe hands

BACP has awarded me the mark of accreditation to indicate that I have met a high standard of knowledge, skills, experience, and development in counselling and psychotherapy. It signifies several things for clients and employers:

• Competency and Ethics: my practice is governed by BACP's Ethical Framework, ensuring that I'm practicing ethically following their ethical code, which is designed to safeguard and protect you. It also means that I'm committed to making you my primary concern while we are working.
• Trust and Confidence: I can provide clients with greater trust and confidence when entering therapy, knowing I have been vetted by a reputable organisation.
• Qualified Professionals: It indicates that I have undertaken extensive training and met a high degree of expertise and skills, been through a rigorous process involving an assessment of my qualifications, adherence to ethical standards and years of experience in clinical practice that I have accumulated to provide you with the best help and support. It assures you that you are working with a clinically competent, professionally experienced and supervised psychotherapist.

I offer a compassionate, non-judgemental, empathic and warm therapeutic environment to enable you to feel safe enough to express your inner deeper thoughts and feelings. With me, you can be your true self and be honest about how you are really feeling.
My commitment to you is to support you and provide a safe therapy space, free of judgement where you can reflect, to empower you to identify and work through your emotional difficulties, and enabling you to find a way forward in life that you feel is right for you. I will ensure that you feel sessions maintain direction and focus, empowering you to review your progress in therapy regularly, always holding your autonomy in mind.

My way of working is gentle but sufficiently challenging to help you grow. I work at a pace that suits you, and I offer a space to safely contain what you bring. As your counsellor and psychotherapist, I will strive to create a relationship based on equality rather than being ‘in charge’.

I believe a good counsellor should have the following qualities and I'm contantly working hard keep to these standards:

I have experience of working as a therapist within a private school (RMS) and organisations such as Signpost - an agency in Hertfordshire and Link which falls under Hillingdon council's Early intervention programme, both provide counselling and other support to help young people and families. 

Get in touch

Its not always easy to create change on your own. A little support can help create the change effectively and a little faster. I will support you so that you can see a way forward and work towards a growing sense of inner peace and contentment, with more focus and clarity. 
You do not have to wait until it gets really bad to ask for the help you need. If you're going through a tough time right now, you can talk to me. Its OK. We can get through this together. Youre not alone. Whatever issues you are facing, I will strive to work with you and help you find a way forward. If you feel ready to begin healing, just Contact me today to book a 15 minutes free introductory telephone consultation so we can get a sense of each other and you can ask any questions you may have. Then we can decide if we are comfortable with the idea of working together! I totally understand that the first call to say you need therapy can be hard. But give it a go. I understand. If you don't even try you will never know. You can find ways to get in touch on my Contact page, or you can complete Email contact.

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