Dr Irene M C Soldavini
Relationships, identities, and intercultural counselling.
I offer a warm, reflective, and non-judgemental space where we explore your experiences together- with curiosity, compassion, and care. I offer individual counselling and couples therapy online across the UK, and walk-and-talk sessions in Edinburgh. Sessions are in English and Italian.
A different kind of counsellor. A therapist's care, an anthropologist's eye.
What makes my approach distinctive is my background in anthropology. Alongside my therapy training, I have spent years studying how culture, relationships, beliefs, and social environments shape our experiences and sense of self. This makes me particularly well-placed to work with people from migrant and diaspora backgrounds, bilingual individuals, and anyone navigating questions of identity and belonging.
I am a BACP-registered counsellor and couples therapist based in Edinburgh. I offer online therapy across the UK and walk-and-talk counselling in Edinburgh. I have worked in LGBTQIA2S+ counselling services, relationship counselling, and low-cost services in London and Edinburgh.
Therapy shaped around you
I define myself as a pluralistic counsellor. I offer a collaborative, flexible approach that recognises that no single therapy works for everyone. Drawing on psychodynamic therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, and existential philosophy and anthropology, we find the methods that best fit your needs. This approach is especially well-suited to people who have not found conventional therapy helpful, or who want to think deeply about their lives rather than just manage symptoms.
Psychodynamic therapy
Exploring how past experiences and unconscious patterns shape the present.
Existential philosophy
Finding meaning, purpose and direction through life's deepest questions.
Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT)
Building self-compassion and emotional resilience, including for grief and loss.
Existential anthropology
How culture, identity, and social context shape who we are and how we struggle.
Adults of all backgrounds, identities and relationships
1 Relationships & intimacy
Couples counselling, consensual non-monogamy and polyamory, and other relationship structures (GSRD). An affirming space for all the ways people love and connect.
2 Identity, culture & belonging
Migration, displacement, bicultural and bilingual experience, and the questions of self that come with living between worlds.
3 Gender & sexuality
LGBTQIA2S+ affirmative therapy, and affirmative therapy for sex workers and people with unconventional lifestyles.
4 Grief & loss
Bereavement, and the "living losses" of change, separation, and letting go.
5 Anxiety & feeling stuck
When life feels overwhelming, isolating, or hard to make sense of.
Two ways to meet
Online Counselling
I offer online counselling sessions via ZOOM, providing a flexible and accessible way to support from the comfort of your own space.
Sessions are available in English and Italian. I offer short and long-term counselling.
Walk and Talk Therapy
I offer walk-and-talk therapy in the Edinburgh area of Leith.
Taking the First Step
Finding the right therapist is important. If you would like to arrange an initial conversation or have any questions about how I work, please get in touch. I would be happy to discuss whether therapy with me feels the right fit for you.
I offer a warm, professional, and compassionate space where your experiences can be heard and understood.
The title "Dr" denotes an academic qualification, not a medical one.
AWARENESS, COMPASSION, INCLUSIVENESS
AN INCLUSIVE, AFFIRMING PRACTICE
I offer LGBTQIA2S+ affirmative counselling, relationship therapy for polyamorous couples, and intercultural therapy for people of migrant, diaspora and multicultural backgrounds. I work with adults from a wide range of backgrounds and identities, and all relationship structures are welcome.
AREAS OF INTEREST
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Anxiety
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Bereavement
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Consensual non-monogamous relationships
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Couple counselling
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Death and living losses
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Diasporic issues
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Displacement
- Epistemic, Hermeneutic, and Testimonial Injustice
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Gender, Sexual, and Relationship Diversity (GSRD)
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Grief
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Hoarding
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Identity
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Isolation
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LGBTQIA2S+
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Loneliness
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Losses
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Politics
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Polyamory
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Sex workers affirmative therapy
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Unconventional lifestyles
INDIVIDUAL COUNSELLING
My practice provides an inclusive and compassionate approach to helping individuals through emotional complexities. My areas of interest include anxiety, bereavement, death and non-death related losses, identity issues, binary and non-binary genders, and unconventional lifestyles and sexuality.
I provide a non-judgemental environment where individuals can explore their feelings and experiences. I aim to help people better understand themselves and create a therapeutic space to find their own path and feel empowered.
RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING
I specialize in existential and pluralistic relationship counselling. I provide a tailored environment for people of all lifestyles and backgrounds. My services include support for those who practice consensual non-monogamous relationships, polyamory, and other unconventional lifestyles (GSRD). I understand the importance of creating an inclusive and empowering space for clients. My approach is empathic and inclusive.
Professional summary
QUALIFICATIONS
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BA Anthropology and Communication, Goldsmiths University of London
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MA Anthropology of Media, SOAS University of London
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PhD Anthropology and Film Studies, SOAS University of London
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Diploma in Couple Counselling, Relationships Scotland
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Foundation Course in Core Process Psychotherapy, Karuna Institute
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MSc in Existential Psychotherapy, New School of Psychotherapy and Counselling (ongoing)
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Introduction to Compassionate Focus Therapy, The Compassionate Mind Foundation
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Compassion Focus Therapy for Grief, The Compassionate Mind Foundation
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Compassionate Focus Therapy for Hoarding, The Compassionate Mind Foundation
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Compassionate Focus Therapy Conference, The Compassionate Mind Foundation
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Introduction to Walk and Talk therapy.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
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BACP registered member number 398713
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UPCA trainee member
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Member of the Society for Existential Analysis (SEA)
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Member of the British Society for Phenomenology (BSP)
EXPERIENCE IN COUNSELLING AND PSYCHOTHERAPY:
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Counsellor/psychotherapist in private practice
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I worked as a counsellor/psychotherapist at
an LGBT Edinburgh-based counselling service
a relationship counselling service in Argyll and Glasgow
a low-cost counselling service based in London
a low-cost counselling service in Edinburgh
Clear and simple pricing
Individual counselling: £80 /50 minutes
Relationship counselling: £160 /50 minutes
Concession rate for individual counselling: £65 /50 minutes
A limited number of concession-rate spaces are available. If you believe you qualify, please get in touch .
Contact
