About Summar
Summar Ali is a counsellor who works with people facing stress, anxiety, depression and relationship concerns. She offers practical, down-to-earth support for issues such as addiction, grief, sleep problems and struggles with self-esteem. Summ uses an approach that recognises the link between the body and emotions and aims to help people feel steadier day to day.
She draws on eleven years of experience in a range of settings. That includes work in child and adolescent mental health services, schools, drug and alcohol services, bereavement support and as a sexual trauma counsellor.
Background and approach
She has also lectured at the University of Southampton and the Anna Freud Centre and teaches trainees who work in the NHS. Summ holds a BA in Counselling and Psychotherapy and a Postgraduate Certificate in Evidence Based Interventions for Children and Young People’s Mental Health.
She also has a Postgraduate Certificate in Supervisory Skills and a Higher Education Certificate in Academic Practice with fellowship status. Her style is warm and practical. Sessions often blend talking with body-aware techniques so people can notice how stress shows up physically as well as emotionally.
She helps clients build small, manageable steps to cope and make changes that feel doable. Outside of online work she also practises animal-assisted therapy. Sessions are offered in English and she works with people in the United Kingdom and international clients.
How her approaches work online and in the body
Somatic-informed work focuses on noticing physical sensations and movement in the body as signals of stress and emotion. It helps people identify patterns held in the body and learn gentle ways to release tension and feel more present. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages clear values and small, committed actions while teaching ways to live with difficult thoughts rather than fight them. It is useful for anxiety, low mood and coping with life changes. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape expectations and behaviour now, and can help people change unhelpful patterns in current relationships.Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will explore your needs, goals and preferences and together you will decide which combination of methods feels most helpful. This is a collaborative process and plans can be adjusted as you go.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging to make counselling more flexible. These formats allow people to meet from home or work around busy schedules, and make it easier to continue work between sessions. The range of options can suit different communication styles and life demands while keeping the focus on practical steps and body-aware practice.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
Also works with
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English