Alycia Szeto is a distinguished integrative psychotherapist who has Master of Science degrees in Psychology and Psychological Counselling. She is currently honing her skills through a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology at City, University of London, with an anticipated degree completion in 2025. She is a registered member of the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and a graduate member of British Psychological Society (BPS).
Alycia Szeto is bilingual and has ample experience of conducting effective therapy sessions in both English and Mandarin Chinese. She is trained in a wide range of approaches, including Psychodynamic Therapy, Systemic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT), Person-Centred Therapy, and Existential therapy. Alycia is a strong proponent of ongoing learning, and has a therapeutic style that integrates professional knowledge. Her exceptional work at the Private Therapy Clinic is marked by her ability to address a wide range of psychological challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex trauma, mood-related disorders, self-esteem related issues, family issues, anxiety, abuse, and relationship difficulties.
Background And Experience
Before becoming a therapist, Alycia had a career as an international marketing professional and earned an MBA degree. Her therapeutic practise arises from a life-long interest in social sciences and the humanities, with particular attraction to the nature of society and interpersonal dynamics. Nevertheless, her business background allows her to understand the perspectives of clients with stressful, demanding lives, and helps her collaborate with clients to identify goals and gain clarity of mind.
Alycia Szeto has made significant contributions to mental health in various settings from public sector to private clinics. She has extensive experience working with clients from cultural and linguistic diverse backgrounds and has a speciality of working with expatriates who live between different cultures as well as social-economic contexts. Alycia is sensitive to cross-cultural dynamics and attuned to nuances of multiple identities formation; her decades of international expatriate experiences in both eastern and western cultures allowed her an intimate understanding of expatriate life and equipped her to provide clients targeted support.
Treatment Approach
Alycia’s empathy is underpinned by her rich professional history, and her impactful approach is also notable for her warmth, creativity, and collaboration with clients. She believes that best therapeutic outcomes occur when there is a strong therapeutic relationship (client-therapist alliance), and at the heart of the therapeutic relationship is trust. Therefore, she is committed to fostering strong and trusting alliances with clients and offering clients a safe environment to just being who they are.
Once a trusting relationship is established, it can become the foundation of very successful therapy sessions. Alycia is particularly skilful at helping clients identify their relational patterns and view their situation objectively. This approach can lead to substantive progress for clients, who are able to gain a stronger sense of agency once they are aware of their own thought processes and take the initiative to make meaningful changes in their lives. This approach can be particularly effective for clients living or working in intercultural settings, whether because they are expatriates, third culture kids, or locals – simply because we live in a multicultural world.