New English-Language Counselling Practice Opens in Florence

Scandicci, Florence Oct 8, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Natalia Douglas, a UK-qualified counsellor and psychoanalytic psychotherapist, has opened a new counselling practice in Florence for English speakers living in and around the city.

Florence has a large English-speaking community, from university students on study abroad programmes to people who have moved for work, family or a change of pace. For many of them, finding a qualified therapist they can talk to in their first language is hard. Talking about anxiety, grief or a relationship that is falling apart is difficult enough without having to search for the right words in Italian.

The new practice is built for exactly that gap. Clients can see Natalia in person at her studio at Via Maggio 16, just off Piazza Santo Spirito, or online. Online sessions mean the work can carry on if someone is travelling, goes home for the summer or leaves Italy altogether.

It also means English speakers can work with a therapist trained to standards they will recognise. Natalia is a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP, No. 422269) and a Doctor of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy candidate with the University of Exeter, the British Psychotherapy Foundation and the British Psychoanalytic Council. She completed an MSc in Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytic Clinical Practice at Exeter in 2026, and a PGCert in Child, Adolescent and Family Work at the Tavistock and Portman in 2023.

Her work is supported by weekly supervision with Michael Brearley OBE, Dr Carlos Tamm Lessa de Sá and Professor Daniel Pick, all Fellows of the British Psychoanalytic Society.

Students are a big part of the English-speaking population in Florence, and Natalia already provides counselling in collaboration with James Madison University and Charles Cecil Studios. The practice works with adults aged 18 and over.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy looks at how patterns from our earliest relationships shape life today. It can help when problems feel long-standing or keep coming back, such as anxiety, low mood, difficult relationships or a sense of not being able to be fully yourself. Those feelings can be sharper when you are far from home and the people who know you best.

Every new client starts with an initial consultation of three sessions: one 80-minute first session followed by two 50-minute sessions, at a total cost of 240. Ongoing sessions cost 80 each and can take place once, twice or three times a week. Natalia keeps two reduced-fee places for people with financial need and can work with Cigna and CISI insurance.

"Florence has a big English-speaking community, but it isn't always easy to find support here in your own language," says Natalia. "When you're struggling, you want to be able to say exactly what you mean, without translating it in your head first. I've opened this practice so English speakers in Florence have somewhere close by where they can be properly heard."

"Moving to a new country can be exciting, but it can also be lonely and daunting," she adds. "The first three sessions give people time to explore what is going on and decide whether this is the right kind of help, with no commitment beyond. If I'm not the right fit, I'm always happy to recommend a colleague who might be."

Details of sessions, fees and credentials, along with a contact form for booking a first consultation, are available at nataliadouglas.com.

About Natalia Douglas:

Natalia Douglas is a UK-qualified counsellor and psychoanalytic psychotherapist from London, now based in Florence. Her practice offers confidential counselling and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in English to expatriates and students aged 18 and over, in person at her studio in the Santo Spirito area and online. She is a BACP registered member and a Doctor of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy candidate with the University of Exeter, the British Psychotherapy Foundation and the British Psychoanalytic Council.

Media Contact

Natalia Douglas, English Counsellor & Therapist in Florence

[email protected]

Via Maggio 16, 50125 Firenze

https://nataliadouglas.com/