About me

Hi, I’m Ayanda (she/her). I’m a Black, non-disabled, cisgender, heterosexual woman, originally from South Africa and have lived in the UK for over 15 years.

Before training as a therapist, I worked in market research. That part of my journey gave me a deep interest in how people make sense of themselves and the world around them as well as how things like culture, history, and identity shape our needs, choices, and values. My MA in Psychosocial Studies helped deepen that understanding, exploring ideas of diaspora, race, and culture using post-colonial and cultural studies frameworks.

My own experience of being in therapy, particularly with a Black woman therapist—was life-changing. It showed me how healing it can be to feel seen and supported in a space that doesn’t ask you to leave parts of yourself at the door. That experience eventually led me to retrain as a counsellor, so I could offer the kind of space that had meant so much to me: one where your story is understood not just on a personal level, but within the context of the systems, relationships, and histories that have shaped it.

My approach

I trained at The Minster Centre in integrative counselling, which means I draw from a range of approaches to support you in the way that best fits your concerns. This may look like

• exploring how your past has impacted you,

• how the systems of oppression that we navigate shape how you are known, and have come to know yourself,

• the role that relationships have played in shaping your experience, 

• the meaning you make of your experiences and 

• how you may be experiencing your concerns through sensations in your body. 

My approach is grounded in the belief that therapy isn’t just about thoughts or behaviour—it’s also about culture, identity, spirituality, emotion, and embodiment. I hold space for all the different ways we come to know ourselves and make sense of our pain, our stories, and our strengths.and the integrative training I received means I am able to tailor my practice to address your individual concerns. I draw primarily on relational and embodied approaches. This means considering the role relationships (both past and present) have played in shaping your experience (including with yourself, within your family and wider society) and ways that your concerns can manifest themselves in/through your body. What clients bring is looked through the frame of the social and the cultural and incorporating the different ways that we know/have been taught to know – the mental, the physical, emotional and spiritual.

I’m a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (MBACP), and I follow their ethical framework. I also engage in regular supervision and continued learning to support my work.

I am also a practitioner member of the Black and Asian Therapist Network (BAATN), which works to improve access to therapy for Black, African, Asian and Caribbean people in the UK.