🌿 From Person to Presence: My Journey through Honey & Ash
Trauma-Informed, Presence-Centered Psychotherapy in Manchester – Reconnect with Your Inner Wisdom,
I'm Maria — a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and mother based in Manchester. Before I was a therapist, I was a client who burned out. I know what it's like when the old maps stop making sense.
What brought me to this work was lived experience instead of theory. This included neurodivergent exhaustion, migration and displacement, the relentless overwhelm that motherhood can bring when you're trying to force your authentic rhythm into someone else's template.
Who I work with
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01.
Mothers who are running on empty
If you're managing children, a household, work, and relationships while your nervous system screams for rest — and you can't remember the last time you felt like yourself. Not the role you play, but you.
02.
Neurodivergent Adults Facing Burnout
If you've spent a lifetime masking, accommodating, and translating yourself into neurotypical expectations — and now your body won't let you keep going. You need someone who understands that your brain isn't broken; the system is.
03.
People Carrying Relational Wounds
If past relationships — with parents, partners, or yourself — have left you feeling fundamentally unsafe in connection. The loneliness that shows up even when you're surrounded by people.
Professional Background
Qualifications and Training
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MSc Counselling Psychology (Distinction) — Keele University (BACP Accredited)
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PG Cert in Counselling Supervision — Keele University
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BSc Philosophy and Social Studies (1st Honours) — University of Rethymnon, Crete
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BACP Registered Psychotherapist — Accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
Specialised Training
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Ancestral Healing Practitioner (Thomas Hübl, 2025)
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Somatic Experiencing (Peter Levine)
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Intergenerational Trauma (Mark Wolynn)
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Sound Healing Practitioner Diploma — College of Sound Healing
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Trauma-Informed Mindfulness Facilitation
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Compassion Focused Therapy (Level 2)
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Internal Family Systems (IFS) informed practice
Experience
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16+ years of practice as a psychotherapist
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Clinical Supervisor to therapists and space-holders
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Trainer in embodied presence and therapeutic practice
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Author and published writer in studies of consciousness
How I work
My approach is grounded in what I call Presence-Centered Psychotherapy™ — a body-first, relationally-attuned way of working that doesn't pathologize your pain or try to fix you into someone else's idea of "healthy."
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Trauma-Informed & Somatic: We work with what your body knows, not just what your mind thinks. This includes training in Somatic Experiencing, NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model), and trauma-sensitive mindfulness.
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Neurodivergence-Affirming: I don't take eye contact, standard seating arrangements, or neurotypical social scripts for granted. Your neurology is not something to manage — it's intelligence we follow.
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Culturally Aware: As someone who has lived between cultures (Greek-Cretan heritage, UK-based practice), I understand migration, displacement, and the grief of not quite belonging anywhere.
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Depth With Safety: There's a spiritual dimension to healing that conventional therapy often misses — but I hold that within a clinically safe, ethically rigorous container. You get both the depth and the ground.
How I work
My approach is grounded in what I call Presence-Centered Psychotherapy™ — a body-first, relationally-attuned way of working that doesn't pathologize your pain or try to fix you into someone else's idea of "healthy."
Trauma-Informed & Somatic:
We work with what your body knows, not just what your mind thinks. This includes training in Somatic Experiencing, and trauma-sensitive mindfulness.
Neurodivergence-Affirming:
I don't take eye contact, standard seating arrangements, or neurotypical social scripts for granted.
Your neurology is the intelligence we follow. You may be used to approaches where it is "managed".
Culturally Aware:
As someone who has lived between cultures (Greek-Cretan heritage, UK-based practice), I understand migration, displacement, and the grief of not quite belonging anywhere.
Depth With Safety:
There's a spiritual dimension to healing that conventional therapy often misses . I hold that within a clinically safe, ethically rigorous container. You get both the depth and the ground.
" You do not have to be good .You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. "
