Sunah Akhtar, BACP

Sunah Akhtar is a BACP-registered psychotherapist with nine years of clinical experience who supports people navigating stress, relationship difficulties, trauma, addiction, and other emotional challenges. Working from The Awareness Centre in Clapham, she draws on evidence-based methods such as cognitive behavioral techniques and mindfulness alongside a person-centered, empathic stance to help clients build clarity, resilience, and healthier patterns of thinking and relating.

Her professional background includes a four-year placement at WeStand and Renaissance Horizon where she offered emotional and practical support, and she also provides therapy via online channels. Sunah has worked with a broad range of concerns including work-life balance, life transitions, panic attacks, depression, low self-esteem, attachment difficulties, grief, and ongoing personal development, tailoring her approach to each person’s unique needs.

Sunah’s practice reflects a commitment to compassion, adaptability, and collaborative care. She combines clinical training with lived experience-informed interests in social entrepreneurship to support clients as they set goals, process painful experiences, and develop coping skills for lasting change. As a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, she keeps her work aligned with professional standards and contemporary therapeutic practice.

Therapeutic approaches suited to online care

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages people to notice difficult thoughts and feelings without being driven by them, and to identify values-driven actions that build a more meaningful life. It is often helpful for stress, anxiety, and coping with life changes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and testing unhelpful thoughts and patterns, then developing practical skills and behaviors that reduce distress and improve daily functioning. CBT is commonly used for anxiety, depression, sleep difficulties, and low mood.

Attachment-Based Therapy explores early relationship patterns and current attachment needs to improve how people relate to themselves and others, offering benefit for relationship issues, attachment difficulties, and intimacy concerns.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey. Sunah works collaboratively with each person to understand their goals, preferences, and life context, and together they tailor methods and pacing to find the best fit.

Online therapy with a registered professional offers practical flexibility - sessions can be held by video call or phone, or through live chat and text-based messaging to suit different schedules and comfort levels. This range of options helps make regular, consistent care more accessible for people balancing work, family, and other commitments.