About me
I am a qualified Integrative Relational Counsellor and Psychotherapist and a registered member of the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists). My lifelong interest and curiosity for nature, life, psychology and the science of the mind has led me to work in mental health and psychotherapy. Being a British Asian woman, I have five decade's experience of living in between two cultures and the challenges that come with, such as striving to make sense of each and needing to feel I belong in both. My lived experience includes living with cultural difference, navigating change and loss as well as living with the basic human need for love, acceptance whilst handling traits like perfectionism, self criticism, shame and anxiety. Whether life is hard or easy, I do believe that there is always something to learn from all our experiences if we look deep enough. My view is, the harder the experience, the bigger the learning but facing it alone needn't be the only way. Human beings have brains built for connection and it is connection that can help us through the difficult and allow us to find meaning and growth.
For this reason, I set up Minds Be to offer a counselling, psychotherapy and therapeutic coaching/ mentoring service to adults and adolescents. When we (counsellor and client) let our minds be together in a professional and optimal counselling relationship, you (the client) may benefit from the opportunities of connection, discovery, learning, healing and growth. With our unique, warm, open minded and compassionate approach, Minds Be offers support for clients to work through and potentially overcome struggles relating to difference, intersectionality, anxiety, depression, loss, acute stress, abuse, relationship issues, low self esteem and much more.
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Whether you want to start with just one session, book a block of sessions or start long term therapy, contact me today for current availability and to discuss your requirements.
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Lai Shum
BA (Hons) MBACP
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The Minds Be View
Human beings are social beings. We are wired for connection and our mind and nervous system responds to the emotional environment around us. When life brings various difficult issues or our relationships are challenging, we may find our own responses and emotions to our environment hard to cope with alone. Consistently bottling up our feelings and keeping intense emotions inwards can over a long period of time, lead to suffering various problems such as sadness, loneliness, low mood, depression and anxiety. I firmly believe that reaching for support is a sign of courage rather than weakness and accessing professional support can be really important and effective for taking care of your mental health and overall wellbeing. Professional support with a qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor can provide you with an emotional environment that is holding, accepting, compassionate and non-judgemental. Being in such a therapeutic relationship may help you to feel supported and attuned to and accepted and therefore more able to work through your concerns and overcome your obstacles.
With a person centred approach, being mindful, compassionate and facilitating mindful awareness, self compassion, insight and resilience can be gained to help you withstand change and many of life's challenges. By working collaboratively our minds being together, you'll gain new insights and perspectives about yourself which will help you find your way forward. With opportunity to explore the relationships you have with others and the relationship you have with yourself, you may find yourself on a journey of personal growth and healing.​
With experience in psychotherapeutic counselling, mentoring, working with adults and young adults from diverse cultures in the NHS and in different universities and in the community, I have much to offer in terms of experience and expertise. To find out how I can be of help to you, just get in touch. A free telephone consultation can be arranged. Online session can be scheduled, and face to face sessions are available in a dedicated therapy room in Surbiton.
Lai Shum
BA(Hons) MBACP
For more details on locations click here.
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our responses lies our growth and our freedom."