About
Dr Chia Barsen
Counselling Psychologist and Integrative Psychotherapist offering thoughtful, trauma-informed care for adults — including support around trauma, PTSD, and adult ADHD.
- Pronouns: he/him
- Regulators: HCPC · UKCP
- Doctorate: DCPsych (Metanoia / Middlesex)
Training and registration
I am a Counselling Psychologist (HCPC Registered) and a UKCP Accredited Integrative Psychotherapist (DIT • EMDR). I hold a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy (DCPsych) from Metanoia Institute / Middlesex University.
My clinical training is integrative. I work with EMDR (EMDR Europe-accredited), Dynamic Interpersonal Therapy (DIT), Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills, and integrative psychotherapy drawing on psychodynamic, humanistic, existential and narrative traditions.
NHS experience
I have around ten years of NHS experience and have worked continuously in the NHS since 2017.
- Current (May 2024–): Psychologist Band 8a, Community Rehabilitation Team (supported living)
- Prior: Band 7, Primary Care Mental Health Team
- Prior: Band 7 Counsellor, NHS Talking Therapies
Research
A paper is currently in the process of publication in the European Journal of Qualitative Research in Psychotherapy: More Than Objects: Photographs as Relational Events in Psychotherapy (with Dr Janet Penny). It explores what happens when a client spontaneously shares a personal photograph in ordinary talking therapy — eight therapists’ lived experience of vulnerability, alliance, and poignance in those unplanned moments of shared looking.
Earlier, I published a 2014 outcome study of problem-based learning with MSW students in the Journal of Social Work Education, comparing a PBL pilot with the usual teaching approach on knowledge, values, skills, and how students learn.
Full synopses on the research page
How I think about therapy
Good therapy is both relational and skilled. I aim to offer a calm, respectful space where difficult experiences can be named without shame, and where change is paced to what your nervous system can manage. We agree goals together, revisit them as needed, and keep the work grounded in what matters to you — not a one-size-fits-all protocol.
Whether we use EMDR for traumatic memory networks, DIT for interpersonal patterns, or a broader integrative frame, the foundation is a trustworthy working alliance.
Therapist Circle
Alongside this practice, I steward Therapist Circle — a free UK peer network for registered therapists and allied professionals, with a public Find directory for people seeking support. Professions share equal standing: counselling, psychotherapy, psychology, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, arts therapies, and related fields.