About me

Natalia JigounovaWelcome to my e-business card. I am Dr Natalia Jigounova, PhD, BA Psych, B.Ed., MBPS. For the last 20 years I'm helping my clients solve a wide variety of problems, linked to family conflicts, couple relationsips, children behavioural and learning difficulties. Since 2001 I actively consult as a leading psychologist on Psyonline.ru

I consult both in-person in Reading, Berkshire, and remotely over video calls.

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About me

Natalia Jigounova

Hello and welcome to the world of psychology!

My name is Dr Natalia Jigounova, I am a counselling psychologist with 20 years of practice.

As any practicing psychologist, I have a particular speciality. I specialise in relationships, meaning a wide range of personal relationships with the world. Therefore, I specialise in couples’ and family relationships, child-parent relationships, group relations, but also intra-personal relationships, such as reactions to stress or self-esteem issues. Therefore, as a psychologist, I help people create happy and harmonious relationships with themselves and others.

My interest in psychology is a very long-standing one. From the early adolescence, I was interested in all aspect of human behaviour, especially relationships. I was curious to learn why people rate love and romantic relationships as the highest requirement for happiness, and yet so often can’t find or sustain such relationships, or why people often strive to raise their children very differently to how they themselves were raised, only to unconsciously bring beliefs and values of their parents into their own adult life. Search for the answer to these questions led me to studying psychology, and later sociology and pedagogical science.

My search led me to obtaining a PhD degree in Psychology, diploma in applied psychology and counselling and a certificate in Child Neuropsychology. I am a member of British Psychological Society.

In my counselling practice I use methods of cognitive-behavioural therapy, neurolinguistic programming, drama and logotherapy, systemic family therapy and play therapy.

Alongside counselling, I teach Psychology, Sociology and Child Development at A-Levels and conduct research into romantic relationships and mental health provisions in schools.

As a result, my counselling practice is firmly grounded in modern psychological and counselling research.

I hope that my services will help you to better understand yourself and people around you, allow you to create loving and happy relationships with yourself and others, as well as satisfy your curiosity about the nature of human behaviour.

My expertise

Anxiety and depression

Help with developing techniques to combat anxiety and cope with symptoms of depression in day-to-day life.

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Anxiety and depression

Experiencing depression and anxiety can be scary and soul-destroyig.

I will help you develop a range of individualised, practical and effective techniques to combat these states, using cognitive-behavioural therapy and rational-emotional therapy techniques. I work with wide range of anxieties, such as phobias, panic attacks, generalised anxiety disorder and social anxiety.

It usually takes between 6 and 10 sessions, depending on the issue, for you to start using the techniques confidently on your own, with a recommended two-sessions review approximately 6 month after the completion of the course.

Relationships

Help with resolving interpersonal conflicts and creating balanced, happy personal relationships.

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Relationships

‘People are by nature social animals’, said Aristotle. We look for others for companionship, belonging and for that ultimate reward of social interactions: love. However, our everyday social relationships are often far from easy: we are tangled in a web of misunderstandings, conflicts and social anxieties.

Without promising you a magic solution that would take all you troubles away, I will give you a range of techniques that could allow you to understand others better, handle arguments effectively and create harmonious relationships with others, be it a couple, family, friends or co-workers. I use systemic family therapy, cognitive – behavioural therapy, integrative behavioural couples therapy and elements of psychodrama to work with the relationships issues.

The length of therapy is usually between 10 and 15 weekly sessions, with compulsory tasks you would complete between the sessions to put the techniques into practice.

Stress

Help coping with the effects of persistent stress and more serious stress disorders, such as post-traumatic stress and grief.

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Stress

Even though stress is an inevitable part of modern life, sometimes it gets ‘too much’ and can seriously affect you health and well-being.

Using cognitive-behavioural therapy techniques, I will work with you on creating personalised repertoire of effective, easy-to-use techniques to combat chronic stress.

The typical length of therapy is 6 weekly sessions, with two recommended review sessions, 6 month and 1 year after the completion of initial therapy.

Confidence and self-esteem

Techniques to help you accept yourself, build a healthy self-esteem and become a confident person.

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Confidence and self-esteem

Confidence and assertiveness are the cornerstones of social success, be it in the workplace, personal relationships or public performances.

Using methods of psychodrama, cognitive-behavioural therapy and logo synthesis I will help you build your self-esteem to a healthy level, as well as feel confident in situations where you need it the most.

The length of therapy is 5 to 8 sessions, depending on the case.

Behavioural difficulties

Working with children aged 3 to 18 and their parents to overcome behavioural difficulties ranging from night-time fears to aggression.

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Behavioural difficulties

As a psychologist and educator with 18 years of experience, I have dealt with a wide range of behavioural issues children can display in everyday life: temper tantrums, aggression, adolescent mood swings, anxiety and so on.

This can be very overwhelming to parents, but using play therapy, drama therapy and cognitive-behavioural therapy techniques I will teach your children to regulate their behaviour effectively and help parents support them in the process.

Therapy length depends on the issue, but typically takes between 7 to 10 weekly sessions with compulsory homework for both children and parents.

Learning difficulties

Help with overcoming difficulties with remembering, processing and communicating new information and adapting to the school environment.

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Learning difficulties

Working with a wide range of learning difficulties, including dyslexia, dyspraxia, short- and long-term memory problems and difficulties adapting to the learning process.

Using neuropsychological techniques, I will help your child to become a more efficient learner.

Therapy length depends on the issue, and typically takes between 10 and 15 sessions held twice a week, with compulsory homework for both children and parents.