My Story

My name is Irina and I'm a dual-citizen trilingual therapist. 

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My life circumstances (and parental guidance) led me to initially pursue a business-like career, opting for a Bachelor's Degree in Marketing followed by a Masters in Business Development. Having a curious nature, I didn't go straight into the corporate world, but decided for the travelling industry as a way of combining my interest in seeing the world and helping others tailor their dream holidays.  

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After a few good years, I did eventually find my way back to what seemed like the path for most millenials - the promised wealth and life of a corporate worker. Looking back on it with the wisdom only age brings, I'm grateful for it as it opened the way to relocation to the UK. 

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Throughout my 20s I noticed my growing interest in human psychology, backed by my own therapeutic journey, working with my personal struggles with anxiety, panic attacks and depression. The more I worked on myself, learnt and accepted who I am, the more I wanted to nurture this blooming passion until I realised that I was ready to be on the giving end of the therapeutic work - as a psychotherapist myself. 

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After moving to the UK, I retrained as a therapist and chose an integrative approach which enabled me to bring together several schools of thought in psychotherapy: Client-Centred, Psychodynamic, Gestalt, Transpersonal and Existential Therapy. I had the opportunity to gain extensive knowledge and experience in bereavement counselling through the work I've done with Cruse Bereavement Support. By further working with Cruse, I was involved in the coordination and delivery of their Victims of Terrorism project which provided support and care to anyone affected by terror attacks. 

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Working with a variety of struggles that follow loss and grief, I turned my attention to other therapeutic models and specialisms - Attachment Theory, Trauma-Informed Care, Transactional Analysis. To support long-lasting results in therapy for my clients, I added elements of Mindfulness and Meditation, with particular attention to integrating breathing and body-based techniques in the therapeutic process. 

To complement my psychotherapy training, I'm currently completing a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, with a view to better integrate the clinical research-based practice with the humanistic relational approach in therapy.  

Before you call me an always-busy-ambitious-overachiever, let me share that:

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1. Yes, I most certainly have the overachiever trait and it'll forever be part of my own personal growth journey to manage and integrate the positive side of it.

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2. I'm proud to call myself a perpetual student as learning never ends in this profession. Inspired by Esther Perel, Irvin Yalom, Carl Jung, Carl Rogers, Viktor Frankl and many more, I find meaning in accumulating knowledge and keeping my mind open to novelty, always with a beginner's mind (shoshin in Zen Buddhism) - "having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying, even at an advanced level, just as a beginner would."