Ursula Kelly

Ursula Kelly is a psychotherapist working in private practice at The Awareness Centre in Clapham and within a specialist NHS service. She holds a Masters in Art Psychotherapy, is trained in EMDR, and has additional training in somatic, body‑based approaches, allowing her to work integratively across these modalities. Ursula is registered with the HCPC and BACP and is a member of BAAT. She is also a clinical supervisor and reflective practice facilitator. She works with clients individually and in groups, predominantly with adults, and has experience working with children.

Ursula offers a creative, relational, and body‑honouring therapeutic space where clients can explore experiences that feel overwhelming, confusing, or difficult to articulate. Her approach is trauma‑informed, intersectional, holistic, and aims to be culturally attuned and anti‑oppressive. She places strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship, believing it to be a central source of safety and change. Working collaboratively, Ursula supports each client to identify their goals for therapy and shape a process that suits their needs. This may involve working with a single modality such as EMDR to process a specific experience or combining creative and somatic approaches to deepen insight and regulation. She is attentive to her own nervous system and uses co‑regulation as part of the therapeutic process, offering steadiness and attunement for clients who may find direct relational contact challenging. Sometimes this means working side‑by‑side, including making art together, to create a gentler pathway into connection.

Before becoming a psychotherapist, Ursula worked for many years in education (mainstream and alternative provisions), museums, galleries, and the community sector (VCSE) as an artist and facilitator. Her early understanding that stories and emotions can be communicated symbolically through art shaped her belief in creativity as a powerful form of expression. This long-standing interest in the communicative & expressive potential of art led her to train as an art therapist. Ursula has also worked within the VAWG (Violence Against Women & Girls) sector, including rape crisis services, where she developed a deep interest in body‑based and culturally attuned approaches to trauma. These experiences continue to inform her specialisms in trauma, identity, relational difficulties, and supporting clients who may feel disconnected from their bodies or their sense of self.