Dr Sam Russell

Therapy works best when you feel genuinely safe, understood, and able to bring your full self into the room. My aim is to create a space where you can speak openly about what’s happening in your life without fear of judgement, shame, or needing to “get it right.”

My Experience

My approach is relational, psychodynamic, and holistic. Basically, that means that rather than focusing only on symptoms, I’m interested in understanding you as a whole person: your relationships, emotional world, life experiences, patterns of coping, and the ways you’ve learned to navigate difficult experiences over time. Together, we make sense of what’s happening beneath the surface while also finding practical and compassionate ways forward.

As a Counselling Psychologist, I am specifically trained in providing psychological therapy. Counselling psychology places strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship and on tailoring therapy to each person’s individual needs, values, and experiences. I see therapy as a collaborative process built on curiosity, honesty, and connection.

I have over ten years of experience supporting people with a wide range of difficulties, including anxiety, trauma, grief, low mood, relationship difficulties, life transitions, self-esteem issues, and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

I also have a particular interest in working with emotional eating and binge eating. Over the years, I’ve worked with people experiencing eating difficulties across New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, and the UK. This experience has deepened my understanding of the many ways our relationships with food, body, self-worth, and emotions are shaped by culture, relationships, and personal history.

Reaching out for therapy can feel vulnerable, especially when you’ve been carrying fear, shame, self-criticism, or painful experiences for a long time. My hope is that therapy can become a place where you feel less alone with those experiences and more able to approach yourself with compassion and understanding.

I work with:

• Teens 17+
• Adults
• Older Adults

I’m a UK-trained Counselling Psychologist originally from New Zealand and registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board. Outside of work, I love spending time in nature, creating art, and being with my animals. These parts of my life help keep me grounded, connected, and curious, qualities I also try to bring into my work as a therapist.