About me

Who I am

Hi, I’m Ayanda (she/her).

I am a Black, cisgender, heterosexual woman living with ADHD. I’m originally from South Africa, and I have lived in the UK for over 15 years. I speak Zulu and English.

Before training as a counsellor, I worked in market research. That part of my journey deepened my curiosity about how people make sense of themselves and the world around them: how our histories, cultures, relationships, and social contexts shape our needs, choices, and values.

I believe that who we are, where we come from, and how we have been shaped by the worlds we have moved through all influence how we come to know ourselves and others. To me, this feels central to ensuring that we are understood in our own terms, a crucial step when exploring and understanding our experiences.

This idea is shaped by my own experience as well as my MA in Psychosocial Studies, which focused on exploring questions of race, diaspora, culture, and belonging. This MA also helped deepen my understanding of the relationship between our inner world and how it can be shaped by the society that we live in.

Why this work matters to me

My own experience of being in therapy, particularly with a Black woman therapist, was life-changing.

It showed me how powerful it can be to feel seen in your fullness. It showed me that I could be in a space that does not ask you to leave parts of yourself at the door, but instead makes room for all of who you are without needing you to account for your presence. That who you are in your wholeness can contribute to your healing.

This experience led me to retrain as a counsellor in the hope of being able to offer the same kind of space for others.

How I understand therapy

I trained at The Minster Centre where I received a Diploma in integrative counselling. This means I am trained in different approaches so I can tailor my approach according to each client’s needs.

In our work together, this may include exploring:

• how your past continues to shape your present experience

• the role relationships have played in how you have come to know yourself

• how wider systems and experiences of oppression may have shaped how you are seen, and how you have come to see yourself

• the meaning you make of your experiences

• how emotional experiences may also be held and expressed through the body

• the strengths, ways of knowing, and resources that have helped you survive and make meaning along the way

At the heart of my work is a belief that healing involves making sense of your experience in a way that honours all of who you are and all the ways you know, including through your culture, your spirit and embodied knowledge.

Training and memberships

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.