Andrea Gavin

Hello… a warm welcome to my profile.

I am a Masters‑level qualified integrative psychotherapist, online counsellor and clinical supervisor offering compassionate, grounded and culturally aware therapy. I support adults experiencing anxiety, emotional intensity, relationship challenges, trauma, grief and life transitions.

I am passionate about the power of therapy for change, fine‑tuning, healing and personal growth. I believe therapy benefits everyone: it can feel like a metaphorical spring clean, offering space to process, reframe and recalibrate; to rehearse possibilities; and to find steady holding during life’s more stormy periods.

Therapy helps us understand our relational ties and emotional patterns so we can step towards our relationships — and our lives — with fresh eyes. I love the “helicopter perspective” therapy provides: a zooming out, a shift in awareness, and a way of connecting things that may previously have felt confusing or overwhelming. Importantly it offers validation, compassion and holding.

My Background & Approach

Throughout my career, I have supported people within the NHS, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP), Private Insurers, Universities and private practice. My ethos is simple: therapy should be accessible, flexible and tailored to each person.

Raised cross‑culturally in England and Portugal, I have a deep appreciation for culture, language and the diverse ways we learn to relate and self‑express. My path into psychotherapy began unexpectedly during my work as a translator, where I witnessed the transformative impact of therapeutic programmes within Brazilian street projects. This experience guided me towards a psychology degree and professional training in psychotherapy, completed in 2008.

I later trained extensively in telemedicine (video, chat, email and telephone) to offer safe and effective online counselling, and I qualified as a clinical supervisor. I continue to complete annual professional training so my practice remains informed, ethical and up‑to‑date.

How I Work (Integrative Psychotherapy)

Psychotherapists undertake their own therapeutic journeys — often over many years — and I honour that commitment in my work. This foundation ensures I remain connected to my own internal world, history and emotional processes, allowing me to practise with authenticity, clarity and safety.

My approach integrates:

• Body‑based work (character armour, self‑protection, embodied patterns)

• Psychodynamic therapy (attachment, relational bonds, unconscious processes)

• Gestalt therapy (foreground/background, flow, here‑and‑now awareness)

• Transactional Analysis (TA) (drivers, roles, relational scripts)

• CBT‑informed techniques for anxiety, worry and panic

As an integrative psychotherapist, I pay attention to how different parts of your experience connect — and where they may feel incongruent. Together we might explore emotional push‑pulls, pressure points or choice points, always with the understanding that humans have an innate tendency towards balance, self‑regulation and wholeness when the right relational conditions are present.

What People Say About Working With Me

Clients often describe me as:

• Compassionate and warm

• Honest and grounded

• Able to offer gentle reflection or direct challenge — depending on what we mutually agree is helpful

I work with a wide range of emotional experiences: apathy and depression; anger, fear and overwhelm; worry, anxiety and panic; sadness, grief and joy. My aim is to help you connect with your emotions, name them, express them choicefully and understand their deeper context.

I have supported people through grief, loss, life transitions and periods of emotional uncertainty. My role is to help you move from confusion to clarity, from overwhelm to regulation, from self‑doubt to steadier inner grounding.

Interests & Experience

I have experience and training in:

• Emotional intensity in relationships

• Gaslighting, power dynamics and coercive control

• Domestic abuse

• Cross‑cultural identity and belonging

• Supporting families of prisoners

• Trauma‑informed therapy

• Relational bonds, attachment and emotional regulation

I also support therapists in training through personal therapy, reflective practice and clinical supervision.

Who I Work Well With

Adults seeking:

• Emotional clarity

• Anxiety and overwhelm support

• Relationship understanding and healthier boundaries

• Recovery from gaslighting or controlling dynamics

• Support through grief and transitions

• Exploration of identity or cultural belonging

• Personal development and growth

• A reflective, warm and steady therapeutic relationship

Practical Notes

In some circumstances I am able to offer concessionary rates.

Unfortunately, I am unable to offer support during periods of crisis. If you are in the UK, please contact Samaritans or Shout; if outside the UK, Befrienders International may be helpful. For immediate risk or danger do not hesitate to contact emergency services.

My availability varies — please message me for up‑to‑date openings.

I hope this provides a sense of how I work and who I am as a therapist. If something here resonates, you are very welcome to reach out.

Andrea