Summar Ali

Summar Ali recognises that life can be difficult and that reaching out for counselling takes real courage. She offers a calm, compassionate space where people can explore what brought them to therapy and work through challenging moments with empathy and respect.

Whether someone has been hurt or has hurt another, Summ believes in the value of human connection and the capacity for recovery and growth. Her approach emphasises listening, understanding, and supporting clients as they make sense of their experiences.

Her training, clinical work and research inform a holistic view of wellbeing that acknowledges how mental, emotional and physical health interact. Summ draws on this perspective when helping people manage stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, trauma, loss and other concerns.

Summ has 11 years' experience working as a therapist. Her background includes posts in the NHS at CAMHS, work as a school counsellor, roles in drug and alcohol services and bereavement support, and work as a sexual trauma therapist for a local charity. She has lectured at the University of Southampton and the Anna Freud Centre, teaching trainees who work in the NHS, and she currently practises animal-assisted therapy when not offering online sessions.

Her qualifications include a BA in Counselling & Psychotherapy, a Postgraduate Certificate in Evidence-Based Interventions for Children and Young People’s Mental Health, a Postgraduate Certificate in Supervisory Skills, and a Higher Education Certificate in Academic Practice with HE Fellowship status. She has also completed continuing professional development courses in the neurobiology of trauma.