About me
I’m Siana (pronounced “Shauna”)
I am
- a white cisgender woman
- neurodivergent
- a psychotherapist with 25 years clinical experience
- a survivor of complex trauma
- a survivor of religious trauma
- mum to a teenager
- cat mum of two
- new puppy mum
- a lover of books and learning
- an amateur dollshouse enthusiast
Who I am
I live in a small town called Carrickfergus in the north of Ireland. I work from a log cabin in my garden which for many has become a calm and grounded space to be in.
While I was brought up in Carrickfergus, I lived away for many years before returning in 2020. This move coincided with a rich period of internal transition, letting go of previously held beliefs, reclaiming parts of myself that had been denied, and learning what it means to be fully embodied and honest with who I am.
Over the past few years, I've been reading about and engaging with concepts such as neuroqueering and decolonising therapy. This is an ongoing exploration as I seek to relate thoughtfully and proactively with our ever more complex and rapidly changing local and global circumstances.
I hold both experience and openness in equal measure. I'm 50 and I've been a therapist for 25 years. I still have much to learn, and I also have much to offer. Therapy with me is a meeting between two humans, curious, authentic, and committed to understanding what it means to live with depth, intensity, complexity, and nuance.
I have engaged in psychotherapy myself over a significant length of time. I firmly believe that the safest and most competent therapists are those who have significant personal experience of the healing and neurological (brain and nervous system) "rewiring" processes of therapy.
“Kintsugi (金継ぎ?) (Japanese: golden joinery) Defined as the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum … as a philosophy it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.” (Wikipedia)
In my practice, you won’t be asked to mask, minimise, or fit yourself into someone else’s understanding of mental health. Instead, therapy is a space to explore and engage in real time with patterns, processes, identity, nervous-system experience and connection, at a pace that respects you and honours your lived experience.
I worked in large counselling agencies for over 15 years, predominantly with young people in schools and communities and in early suicide crisis support roles before establishing my own private practice. This move to independent practice gave me greater freedom to work in ways that felt true to my values: relational, open-ended, LGBTQIA+ and neurodiversity affirming.
I have been very intentional in terms of my commitment to and investment in reputable and high quality training programmes. The Internal Family Systems Institute and the Association of Sandplay Therapists are internationally acclaimed professional organisations and the CPD programmes I have taken, particularly in relation to safe trauma practice, are taught by current experts in the field.
I’ve been accredited with BACP since 2009, achieving my specialist accreditation as a supervisor in 2020. There's more about my professional journey here and about the way I practise here.
My Professional Journey
If you’re curious how therapy can support you, I’d be happy to connect.
Visit the Contact page to enquire or ask questions. View pages like Psychotherapy, Circles, Neurodiversity and What to Expect for more information on the ways I work.
Next Steps
Just for fun
I can't resist adding a photos of my pets.
Dusk and Phoebe are house cats who are extremely curious…therefore anyone who comes in person will be sure to catch a glimpse on their way in and out of the cabin.
Biscuit arrived with us in Feb 26, bringing lots of mischief and fun to our little family!
