Joshua Machado

Joshua Machado is a trainee Integrative Counsellor and a registered member of the BACP. He is currently working towards an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling, with the aim of later qualifying in Art Psychotherapy (MA). Joshua works within The Awareness Centre’s short-term, solution-focused talking therapy service for NHS and also supports young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) through a number of creative education charities. He works from an integrative approach, drawing on a range of therapeutic modalities to meet the individual needs of each client.

Joshua provides an open, safe space where clients can speak freely and feel listened to without judgement. He believes therapy is a unique and powerful relationship that, through openness and a shared commitment to healing, can help clients recognise and draw upon their inner resources to build a richer and more meaningful life. His integrative approach allows him to adapt his way of working according to each client’s needs, recognising the ever-changing nature and complexity of life. Depending on what is most helpful, Joshua may draw on Gestalt techniques to increase awareness of feelings in the present moment, psychodynamic ideas to explore how past experiences continue to influence the present, and transpersonal theory to encourage self-transcendence and the realisation of each person’s innate potential. His flexible and collaborative approach places the client at the centre of the therapeutic process, supporting them in moving towards meaningful and lasting change.

Before training as a counsellor, Joshua worked as a Creative Education facilitator, helping others broaden their perspectives and imagine new possibilities for their future. This experience gave him valuable insight into how limiting life narratives can develop and why people can become stuck in negative, repetitive patterns. It continues to influence the way he works with clients who feel powerless, whether in response to their inner emotional world or the challenges of external circumstances. Joshua has a particular interest in supporting clients experiencing anxiety, including workplace and social anxiety, as well as depression and the many ways it can present itself, from unhelpful behaviours to persistent patterns of negative thinking. Whether clients are facing personal, relational or wider life challenges, Joshua works alongside them to help them develop greater awareness, reconnect with their strengths, and move in the direction that feels right for them