i know from the inside how frightening it is to be seemingly coping on the outside while quietly running on empty.

i am here to meet you in that space in between longing and fear.

hello, i am kristina chapala barker - a psychotherapist, former corporate lawyer, parent and someone who arrived in this country alone at thirteen.

for a long time i mistook fitting in for belonging. i have spent years finding my way back to the difference, and that is at the heart of how i work.

we do our best to keep going. and then one day the struggling starts to feel like proof of something. about who we are. about what we are worth. about what we deserve. about what others seem to manage that we cannot.

something can begin to change in that uncomfortable space. it shifts when there is someone willing to stay in it with you. we are not meant to do it alone. no one is.

together, we can begin to get to know you. we can explore how your past experiences continue to shape the way you feel and respond now. we can question whether the stories you’ve come to believe about who you are are still serving you. we can make room, slowly, for a different way of living and loving and being in the world, one that feels more like yours.

i offer a free 30-minute online conversation with no obligation, and online and in person therapy sessions in London (chiswick).