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About Vikki Harris, Psychotherapist and Counsellor
My approach is Humanistic and relational, which means that the relationship between us is at the heart of the work. I offer a steady, supportive space where you can explore what is happening in your life without judgement, pressure or expectation.
Sessions move at your pace. You may come knowing exactly what you want to talk about, or you may not know where to begin. We can take the time to gently explore what you're experiencing and make sense of it together.
I am committed to creating a warm, inclusive and respectful space where everyone is welcome, regardless of background, race, culture, religion, sexuality, gender identity, body or ability.
I blend talking therapy with somatic practice, bringing together the emotional, psychological and physical aspects of your experience.
Talking therapy can help us put words to what you're experiencing, explore your story and make sense of patterns, relationships and emotions. Somatic practice offers another way of listening, paying attention to what may be happening in your body, including sensations, tension, breath, movement and physical responses.
We can move between talking and embodied awareness, allowing both to inform our understanding of what you're experiencing. Sometimes your body may communicate something before you have words for it, and gently noticing this can open up new ways of understanding yourself.
Through this integrated approach, we can develop a deeper awareness of your whole experience and explore what feels meaningful and useful for you. I work collaboratively and at your pace, so the balance between talking and somatic exploration will be different for each person.
Sometimes it can also be helpful to use creative or imaginative ways of exploring your experience, depending on what feels comfortable and useful for you.
Alongside my therapeutic work, I offer eco-therapy through my Wild Kin practice on the South Downs. For some people, working outdoors and spending time in nature can offer a different way of slowing down, grounding and reflecting. Where appropriate, we can explore your experience in relationship with the natural world, allowing the environment itself to become part of the therapeutic space.
Therapy is a space where you don't have to perform, have the answers or hold everything together. My hope is that, together, we can create enough safety and trust for you to slow down, hear yourself more clearly, and begin to understand yourself and your life with greater compassion and care.
My journey into psychotherapy has been shaped by a lifelong interest in how our experiences live in both the mind and the body, and how this influences the way we understand ourselves and move through the world.
Before training as a therapist, I worked for many years as a professional dancer and teacher. I am also a Polestar Pilates Comprehensive, Reformer and Mat Teacher, as well as an educator and mentor to Polestar Pilates students and graduates within teacher training programmes. I am also the Director of V Pilates Studio, a bespoke integrative holistic studio.
My work in dance and Pilates has given me a deep understanding of the body and of the ways our experiences can be held not only in our thoughts and emotions, but also physically. These experiences continue to inform my somatic approach to therapy and my interest in movement, expression and embodied awareness as ways of understanding ourselves more fully.
My psychotherapy training at Homa London was an experiential and relational Humanistic training, with an emphasis on learning through lived experience and social justice. The training explored Humanistic approaches alongside embodied movement, somatic work, creative practices and eco-therapy, which has strongly influenced the way I work today.
I have also worked as a counsellor in a hospice, supporting people living with life-limiting illness, their families and those experiencing bereavement. This work deepened my capacity to sit alongside uncertainty, grief, transition and the deeply human experience of change.
Alongside this, I have supported women through an Initiation Programme focused on voice, agency and reclaiming personal power during times of transition and change.
All of these experiences continue to inform my therapeutic work, particularly around identity, self-worth, life transitions and the ways we come to understand ourselves through challenge and change.
At the heart of my work is a belief in the importance of relational safety, curiosity and compassion, and in the possibility that change often comes through being genuinely met and understood, rather than fixed.
Qualifications
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Registered Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (MBACP), adhering to the BACP Ethical Framework
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Diploma in Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy, Homa London
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Polestar Pilates Educator and Mentor
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Polestar Pilates Comprehensive, Reformer and Mat teacher
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Beyond Chocolate Practitioner Training, understanding the relationship with body and food
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UKATA Transactional Analysis 101
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Living Anatomy, Cranial Sacral Educational Trust
A BACP registered therapist based in Ditchling, Sussex
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