Dr Teija Barr

Dr Teija Barr

BACP registered Counsellor and Psychotherapist

Hi, I am Teija. 

I help my clients work through their challenges in life and to learn more about themselves. I believe that by providing a confidential and non-judgemental environment to talk about issues, you can learn to cope better with what life throws at you.  Sometimes we all need help to make a better sense about what is going on in our lives and how to cope with difficult feelings and relationships.

I believe that a key to helping my clients lead more balanced lives a is to provide a confidential and non-judgemental environment of safety where we can in a relaxed way together  explore your anxieties, fears, inner conflicts, depressive feelings and anything that is preventing you from developing your full potential. 

I have an integrated counselling approach, which means that I will draw from various psychological approaches to  help you identify and explore your beliefs, thoughts, feelings and behaviours, past experiences, and relationships as appropriate. My approach is tailored to you as an individual and we will work at your pace. 

Although I  have been working as a therapist in private practice now for over a decade, my initial background is in electronic engineering.  For over twenty years I worked for international organisations in their multicultural teams, often in very stressful environments. This has given me understanding of the day-to-day stressors people experience in both their private and working lives.

I am particularly interested in anxiety, guilt and shame, self-esteem, trauma and stress related issues.

Counselling Practice

I  practice in South-East London  at Herne Hill where I see clients face to face, and also work via Zoom. 

I provide consultancy services for Corporates in London and see my clients regularly at their work premises for therapy and coaching sessions. I also train complimentary therapists in the UK and Europe, and lecture on various topics. 

My Philosophy

I believe in helping individuals perform better in their professional and personal lives by teaching how their beliefs  influence their thoughts, emotions and behaviour. I believe we all can lead better balanced lives by resolving anxiety and inner conflicts, and getting rid of unwanted and unhelpful  habits. Change is not always easy,  dealing with difficult emotions is not always easy, and facing fears can be very hard. But, my motto is: anyone who is willing, can! By being listened to and supported in a safe way, our challenges can become smaller.

I also understand the importance of relieving stress through deep relaxation of the body and mind and how we can work holistically  to prevent stress, build stamina and how take care of ourselves. My Workplace Group Relaxation Sessions  are incredibly popular and have helped many busy professionals let go of worries, de-stress and to re-energise.

Complementary Therapies

I have a thorough training and a long experience working with Clinical Hypnotherapy, Cognitive Behaviour Hypnosis, NLP, CBT (REBT) as well EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), EMI (Eye  Movement Integration) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Re-processing) to help my clients overcome vast number of issues such as stress, anxiety, fears and phobias, lack of self-esteem and confidence, poor performance, and helps them meet their personal and professional goals. 

I am a passionate learner and continues to keep her skills up-to-date through on-going professional development. In addition to working as a private therapist, I  lead  the delivery of high quality professional tuition in clinical hypnosis as the Principal of ICH Clinical Hypnosis Training. The ICH was founded in 1994 and is recognised as one of the UK’s foremost training colleges for clinical hypnotherapists. Leading a team of highly qualified professionals and overseeing the tuition of Clinical Hypnotherapists who graduate through the ICH each year is my personal way of contributing to the field of hypnosis. Ensuring that only those students, who meet the highest standards and ethical considerations established by the ICH, graduate as Clinical Hypnotherapists through this organisation. I lecture on the ICH Foundation and Professional Courses in the UK and in Finland and on NLP Master Practitioner courses in Finland. 

Education and Background

I have a BACP accredited qualification in Integrative Counselling.  and  I hold a Doctor of Health Science (DHSc) from the University of West London, where my doctoral research explored intuition in hypnotherapy practice.   My previous qualifcations include MSc (Distinction) in Clinical Hypnotherapy, Post-Graduate Diploma in Clinical Hypnosis combining Practitioner as well as Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy studies and numerous diplomas prior to my doctorate. 

I am a Certified NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Trainer and Consultant and a NLP Master Practitioner, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy  (CBT) Coach and a trained Clean Coach (Clean with Emergent Knowledge, Clean Language, gutting edge coaching methods developed by David Grove) and practitioner of EMDR.

My background is in Electronic Engineering, and as a Project Management Professional and Prince 2 Certified Practitioner, I gained over 20 years of experience in working in the Investment Banking and the Energy Trading Technology in the City of London Financial Sector. During this time I worked in Programme and Project Management roles, managing teams of varying sizes, from 2 to 120 people, around the world.

My extensive experience in working for multinational companies in demanding delivery roles  and  exposure into the modern corporate culture have given me a deep understanding and training-on-the-job to the stresses and issues people face at work. I became initially interested in Neurolinguistic Programming and other coaching techniques in order to balance my own personal and professional life and soon realised I could use these techniques effectively to help my teams and colleagues perform better at work and feel better about themselves. My passion and ability to help people make significant transformations in their lives lead me undergo extensive training and to my choice of career today. Alongside work, I am completing my Doctorate in Health Sciences at the University of West London.

As a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (MBACP), Royal Society of Medicine, Senior Practitioner (SQHP) of The General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR) and the Complimentary & Natural Healthcare Council (CNCH), British Society of Clinical Hypnosis (BSCH), American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH), the International Hypnotherapy Association (IHA) and the Association of the ICH (AICH), I abide by their code of ethics and confidentiality.