Petina Walker

Petina Walker is an integrative therapeutic counsellor based in Devon, United Kingdom, who combines practical methods with an intuitive approach to support people through a wide range of life difficulties. As an Ambassador for Betterhelp, an Advanced Integrative Therapeutic Counsellor and a Belief Coding Facilitator, she brings a breadth of training and experience to her work and is a member of the BACP.

Her practice is primarily solution-focused and intuitive, with Transactional Analysis (TA) as the underpinning framework. Petina also draws on cognitive behavioural techniques, NLP and mindfulness where these fit the needs of the person in front of her. Her work is led by what each client brings to a session, and she tailors interventions to suit changing needs from session to session.

Petina has particular experience supporting people with addictions, anxiety, stress and anger management, and she has a strong interest in relationship issues, especially co-dependency. She explores the links between stress, trauma, addiction and dependency and how these relate to Driver behaviours described in TA.

Clients can seek her help for many concerns including abuse, addiction, anxiety, bereavement, depression, health-related issues, identity questions, loss, obsessions, personal development, post-traumatic stress, relationships, self-esteem, spirituality, trauma and women’s issues.

Petina trained at The Iron Mill Institute in Exeter and qualified in 2008. Since then she has worked as a counsellor, trainer and drugs and alcohol professional, providing 1:1 online interventions, facilitating groups and treatment programmes, triaging and completing assessments as part of a Clinical Assessments & Brief Interventions Team within a local drugs and alcohol service.

Alongside clinical work she previously ran a wellbeing centre in Exeter for 21 years, an enterprise recognised with a Best Small Business Award for high-quality service and standards of care. That earlier work as a beauty therapist, where she often supported people through major life challenges such as gender reassignment, cancer, divorce and significant loss, informed her move into psychotherapy and deepened her commitment to helping others.

In recent years Petina has focused on developing her private practice and on personal and business development. She also aims to write a book describing her integrative approach to supporting people who struggle with addiction and co-dependency. Petina values active listening, a tuned-in empathic stance and a safe, private space where clients can be heard and begin to gain clarity and change.