Eight people, one quiet house. Psychotherapists, counsellors and two practitioners who work with the body. Read about
each of us, or tell us what’s going on and we’ll suggest someone.
Everyone 8 Anxiety and mood 3 Couples 2 Body and sleep 2 Grief and trauma 2
All eight practitioners, in person and online
Maya Okafor, read profile Integrative psychotherapist, founder
Isla Grant, read profile CBT therapist
Ruth Hallam, read profile Bereavement counsellor
Tom Reid, read profile Couples therapist
Clara Lindqvist, read profile Breathwork and somatic practitioner
Arjun Mehta, read profile Psychotherapist, EMDR
Hannah Bryce, read profile Nutritional therapist
Daniel Moffat, read profile Counsellor
How we match you. You don’t have to choose from a page of faces. On your free call, Maya or Isla
listens for four things, then suggests one or two people.
What’s going on In your own words. A rough sense is plenty; working out the rest is what sessions
are for.
How you’d like to work Structured, with short exercises between sessions, or more room to talk and see
what comes up.
When and where Daytime, evenings or a Saturday morning, in the house or by video from anywhere
in the UK.
Who you’d find easier Some people would rather see a man or a woman, someone older, or someone who
speaks their language. Just say.
If the first session doesn’t feel right, tell us. Switching is free, and nobody takes
it personally.
Profile “I wanted a practice where the therapists are looked after as carefully as the people
they see. Most of what that means happens out of sight.” Maya Okafor Founder, StillroomClinical supervision Every practitioner meets an experienced supervisor from outside Stillroom at least
once a month to talk through their work, anonymously. It keeps us honest and keeps
you safe.
Registered and insured Each of us is registered with a UK professional body for our field, follows its
code of ethics and holds professional insurance. Ask on your call and we’ll tell you
which.
Your notes Notes are brief, factual and stored encrypted. You can ask to read yours at any
time, and they are deleted seven years after your last session.
If something isn’t right Tell your therapist, or Maya directly. If you’re still unhappy, each professional
body has a complaints process and we’ll give you the details.
Not sure who? Ask us. Tell us a little on a free 15-minute call and we’ll suggest one or two people. Most
first sessions happen within a week.
“Nobody arrives knowing what to say. We start wherever you are, and I’ll do the
steering.” Maya trained as a nurse before moving into psychotherapy, then spent twelve years
in NHS and university counselling services. She opened Stillroom in 2016 because
she wanted a place that felt more like a home than a waiting room.
She sees a lot of people who have coped well for so long that nobody, including
them, noticed they weren’t fine.
Works with Anxiety and panic · Low mood · Health worries · Work stress ·
Self-criticism
Approach Integrative. Talking things through, practical tools for panic in the moment,
and some attention to what your body is doing. Open-ended, or a focused block of
twelve sessions.
Training Postgraduate diploma in integrative psychotherapy, MSc in counselling, trained
clinical supervisor
Languages English
Sees clients Monday, Tuesday and Thursday · In person and online Previous Daniel MoffatNext Isla Grant“We’ll find the rules you’ve been running on, and loosen the ones that are wearing
you out.” Isla spent eight years in an NHS talking therapies service before joining
Stillroom in 2019. She works in short, structured blocks, usually eight to twelve
sessions, with clear goals agreed in the first two.
Many of her clients are high achievers who are very tired: doctors, teachers,
parents, people running small businesses.
Works with Burnout · Stress · Perfectionism · Generalised anxiety · Insomnia linked to
worry
Approach Cognitive behavioural therapy. Practical and collaborative, with short
exercises between sessions that fit around a normal week.
Training Postgraduate diploma in CBT, degree in psychology, registered CBT therapist
Languages English
Sees clients Tuesday and Wednesday, until 8pm · In person and online Previous Maya OkaforNext Ruth Hallam“There’s no right way to grieve. You can be as sad, or as angry, as you actually
are.” Ruth worked for fourteen years as a counsellor in two hospices before coming to
Stillroom in 2018. She sees people after a death, before one, and after losses
that other people don’t always recognise as losses.
Sessions with Ruth are unhurried. Some people come for a few months; some return
around anniversaries for years.
Works with Bereavement · Anticipatory grief · Baby and pregnancy loss · Loss after suicide
· Divorce and estrangement
Approach Person-centred bereavement counselling. Ruth follows your lead, and doesn’t
expect grief to move through stages in order.
Training Diploma in counselling, specialist training in bereavement and end-of-life
care, registered counsellor
Languages English
Sees clients Wednesday and Friday · In person Previous Isla GrantNext Tom Reid“I don’t take sides. My job is to help you both hear what the other one is actually
saying.” Tom has worked with couples for fifteen years, first at a relationship
counselling charity and at Stillroom since 2017. He sees couples who want to stay
together, couples who are deciding, and couples who want to separate well,
especially where there are children.
He also sees individuals who want to talk about a relationship on their own.
Works with Repeated arguments · Trust and affairs · Becoming parents · Deciding whether to
separate · Separating with children
Approach Couples therapy drawing on emotionally focused and systemic work. 75-minute
sessions, usually fortnightly, with one individual session each near the
start.
Training Postgraduate diploma in couple psychotherapy, diploma in counselling,
registered psychotherapist
Languages English
Sees clients Monday and Thursday evenings, Saturday mornings · In person and online Previous Ruth HallamNext Clara Lindqvist“You can’t think your way out of a body that’s stuck on high alert. You can breathe
your way down.” Clara trained in physiotherapy in Gothenburg, then in breathing retraining and
somatic practice. She came to Edinburgh in 2015 and has led Stillroom’s breathwork
course since 2020.
Her four-session course is practical and calm. Nobody lies on the floor
hyperventilating; you learn slow breathing you can use on a bus.
Works with Waking at 3am · Panic attacks · Breathlessness with anxiety · Tension and jaw
clenching · Recovering from burnout
Approach Breathing retraining and body awareness, taught as a four-session course,
either one-to-one or alongside therapy with a colleague.
Training Degree in physiotherapy, certified breathing retraining practitioner, training
in somatic approaches to stress
Languages English and Swedish
Sees clients Thursday and Friday · In person Previous Tom ReidNext Arjun Mehta“We go at your pace. Some things take a while to say out loud, and that’s
fine.” Arjun has worked with trauma for eleven years, including six in an NHS
psychological trauma service. He joined Stillroom in 2021 and offers EMDR
alongside longer-term psychotherapy.
He works with single events, like an accident or an assault, and with harder
things that went on for a long time.
Works with Trauma and PTSD · Difficult childhood memories · Birth trauma · Anger ·
Nightmares
Approach Trauma-informed psychotherapy and EMDR. The first sessions are about feeling
steady; nothing difficult is approached until you’re ready.
Training Postgraduate diploma in psychotherapy, full three-part EMDR training,
registered psychotherapist
Languages English, Hindi and Gujarati
Sees clients Tuesday and Thursday, until 8pm · In person and online Previous Clara LindqvistNext Hannah Bryce“I’ll ask about your sleep, your job and your week long before I ask what you had
for lunch.” Hannah worked in hospital catering and public health before training in
nutritional therapy. She joined Stillroom in 2022 and works closely with Clara and
Isla when food, stress and sleep are tangled together.
She never prescribes a diet, and won’t ask you to weigh yourself.
Works with Low energy · Gut health · Eating on the run · Menopause · Food and mood
Approach Nutritional therapy looked at alongside sleep, stress and routine. A 75-minute
first visit, then a written plan built around a normal week and two or three
follow-ups.
Training Diploma in nutritional therapy, degree in public health nutrition, registered
nutritional therapist
Languages English and French
Sees clients Wednesday and Friday · In person and online Previous Arjun MehtaNext Daniel Moffat“Your twenties are meant to be the good bit. It’s fine to say they don’t feel like
it.” Daniel worked in a university counselling service and a young people’s charity
before joining Stillroom in 2020. Most of his clients are in their twenties and
early thirties.
He also sees couples at the start of their life together, and is the person most
of our online clients outside Edinburgh see.
Works with Identity and sexuality · Leaving home and big moves · Loneliness · Social
anxiety · Early relationships
Approach Person-centred counselling with some CBT. Relaxed and direct; weekly at first,
then fortnightly once things settle.
Training MSc in counselling, diploma in working with young adults, registered
counsellor
Languages English
Sees clients Monday and Friday, Saturday mornings · In person and online Previous Hannah BryceNext Maya Okafor
Maya OkaforFounder, Stillroom
