Carleen Kirk

Programme Lead

After completing a Business Degree in the Netherlands and moving to the UK for her first job, Carleen retrained in Counselling and Psychotherapy. She completed a foundation diploma in counselling and psychotherapy at the Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education and went on to provide one-to-one support to children with special educational needs whilst undertaking Psychoanalytical Observational Studies training at the Tavistock.

At Victim Support, Carleen supported young victims of crimes and piloted a restorative justice programme with the Sutton Youth Offending Team, which fuelled her passion for early intervention. She has experience working as a school counsellor in both primary and secondary schools, including setting up a whole school project. Carleen has a passion for children and young people’s voices and has been involved in the Learning Together research project led by UCL, which aims to improve wellbeing in schools.

She completed the L3 and the Post Graduate Diploma at Place2Be herself and after becoming a tutor on the Programme, she became Acting Lead and has subsequently taken on the role of Programme Lead. She runs a small private practice and has a particular interest in intergenerational trauma, compassion focussed therapy, transpersonal perspectives and the mind body connection. She is an accredited member of the BACP.

Paul Lucia

Programme Manager

Analy Reed

PGDip Tutor

After studying for her chemistry degree, Analy retrained as a Montessori teacher before enrolling on the Postgraduate Diploma for Counselling Children and Young People in Schools with Place2Be. She completed further training to work with couples and individuals and in Psychopathology.

Analy currently works with children, young people, parents and adults at Rephael House Counselling Centre while running her Private Practice using psychodynamic, relational and attachment-based techniques. She is a member of BACP.

Eleni Vambouli

PGDip Tutor

With an academic background in philosophy, Eleni trained as a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education. She has worked for over ten years in both primary and secondary schools, setting up, supervising and running therapeutic services and offering support to children, families and staff.

Eleni maintains a clinical and supervision practice. She is particularly interested in treating inter-generational trauma and integrating neuro-scientific research into therapeutic processes.

Esther Pozzani

PGDip Tutor

Esther has a background in outdoor learning and Forest School. She trained with Place2Be to gain a PGDip and master's and has worked within Place2Be school services for over eight years. Esther is an accredited member of the BACP.

Samia Quddus

PGDip Tutor

Samia initially trained as a primary school teacher, working in schools for over 15 years, during which she developed an interest in working with pupils exhibiting challenging needs. She specialised in the special educational needs (SEN) area of social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) before re-training as a specialist child and adolescent therapist with Place2Be.

Samia is a published BACP writer and has self-published the UK’s first psychospiritual Islamic gratitude journal and an award-winning children's title. She still works as a clinician in secondary schools and appears on Islam Channel discussing mental health and wellbeing-related topics.

Kali Turabi

PG Dip Tutor

Kali Turabi has over 16 years’ experience working in various mental health settings. She has worked with children and young people as an Art Psychotherapist in mainstream and special educational needs schools. Kali has also worked with adults in community settings and at Studio Upstairs. Kali provides Sand play workshops for students on the Postgraduate Diploma at Place2Be as well as at other organisations. Kali has a passion for creative expression, including writing and painting. Her first novel, The Last Beekeeper was published in 2021 by Harper Collins and she's currently working on her second.

Kali has worked as a Place2Be Postgraduate Diploma Tutor for several years including acting as Interim Programme Leader during the pandemic for one year. She is passionate about the role of nonverbal communication and play in the therapeutic relationship.

Sachiko Kishi

Experiential Group Facilitator

Sachiko trained in group and individual Gestalt psychotherapy and creative supervision. Her background is in the arts, mental health in the community, and higher education.

Sachiko provides individual and group supervision for Third sector organisations and NHS staff specialising in trauma work and has a private practice. She runs experiential workshops and is also a member of the teaching faculty at the Gestalt Centre.

Elena Konstantinova

PG Dip Tutor

Sally Stamp

Experiential Group Facilitator

Matthew Audley

Experiential Group Facilitator

Bushra Abdul Khaliq

Programme Coordinator