Bukky Maybank, LLB, M.A Psych, MBACP
Confidential, depth-oriented psychotherapy for thoughtful, high-achieving professionals navigating the emotional cost of responsibility, ambition and constant adaptation.
For those who are capable, considered and relied upon, yet want more space to understand themselves, their relationships and the lives they are building.
Online internationally | Subject to local practice requirements
Perhaps you are the person people turn to when something needs to be handled. You make decisions, carry responsibility and find a way through. From the outside, your life may look successful. You may even feel grateful for much of what you have built.
And yet, something feels harder than it should.
Perhaps you are tired of thinking everything through, of being the composed one, or of meeting expectations that no longer feel entirely your own. Perhaps you have reached a point where achievement brings less satisfaction than it once did, or where the life you have built leaves little room to ask what you actually want.
You do not need to be in crisis to want a different kind of conversation.
My practice offers a space to look beneath the surface of things: to understand familiar patterns, make sense of conflicting feelings and become more conscious of the ways you relate to yourself and others.
Not to help you perform your life more efficiently, but to explore what it might mean to live it more fully.
"Your support and gentle guidance has had such a remarkable impact on me and will stay with me forever"
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Former Client
"I have learnt so much and truly admire how effortlessly you were able to be everything I needed and more. I felt heard and seen. Thank you. I will miss our sessions and I will miss you dearly"
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Former Client
"Words aren't enough to express the positive impact these sessions have had on my life"
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Former Client
"You have been the most patient, kind, gentle soul I've encountered in a long time"
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Former Client
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I work with thoughtful, high-functioning adults whose inner lives are often more complicated than their outward circumstances suggest.
Many of my clients are professionals who have spent years developing the qualities their environments reward: competence, resilience, independence, adaptability and the ability to keep going.
These qualities may have served them well. They may also have made it difficult to recognise when something needs attention.
My clients include:
Senior professionals and leaders navigating responsibility, pressure, difficult decisions or the loneliness that can accompany leadership.
Founders and entrepreneurs whose work is closely tied to their identity, ambition and sense of worth.
Lawyers and other professionals accustomed to intellectual rigour, high expectations and managing complexity.
Neurodivergent adults, including people with ADHD or autistic traits, exploring masking, overwhelm, identity and the effort of adapting to environments that do not always fit.
Internationally mobile and cross-cultural professionals negotiating belonging, identity, relationships and the experience of living between worlds.
People at a turning point questioning a career, relationship, familiar identity or definition of success.
You may recognise yourself in several of these descriptions, or none of them exactly.
What matters is not your title, your achievements or how well you appear to be coping. It is your willingness to become curious about your experience.
You might be considering therapy because:
✓ Anxiety, perfectionism or overthinking make it difficult to switch off.
✓ You find yourself repeating familiar patterns in relationships, work or the way you treat yourself.
✓ You are successful by conventional measures but feel disconnected from what gives your life meaning.
✓ You have become skilled at adapting to others and are less certain what you want for yourself.
✓ You are questioning an identity that once felt secure.
✓ You are navigating grief, a significant transition or a change you did not choose.
✓ You feel different from the people around you, or find the effort of appearing to fit increasingly tiring.
✓ You want to understand yourself more deeply, even though there is no obvious crisis.
Sometimes the difficulty is clear. At other times, it is a quieter feeling that something is missing, misaligned or asking to be understood.
You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis or a neatly defined problem. We can begin with what is present.
My approach is primarily existential and relational, informed by psychodynamic thinking, neuroscience and embodied awareness.
I am interested in more than what is happening in your life. I am interested in how you experience it, what it means to you, the patterns that shape your responses and the assumptions you may have come to live by without questioning.
Our work might explore the relationship between achievement and self-worth, the difficulty of resting without guilt, the tension between independence and intimacy, or the distance between the person others see and the person you experience yourself to be.
I will listen carefully. I will also offer reflections, ask questions and, when it feels useful, gently challenge the ways you understand yourself.
This is not about finding a formula for a better life or treating every uncomfortable feeling as a problem to solve.
It is about developing a deeper understanding of yourself, so that your choices and relationships can become less driven by automatic patterns and more connected to what matters to you.
The work is individual to you. We move at a considered pace, with space for uncertainty, complexity and change.
I work with thoughtful, high-functioning adults navigating the emotional complexity of work, relationships, identity and change.
My clients are often capable people who have spent years learning to manage, adapt and deliver. They may be accustomed to finding solutions for others while struggling to find space for their own experience.
Therapy offers a different kind of space: one in which you do not have to be productive, composed or certain of what comes next.
Before training as a psychotherapist, I spent more than a decade working in corporate law, including in Magic Circle firms and senior in-house legal roles.
I understand environments where decisions matter, standards are high and there is often little room to show uncertainty. I understand the discipline of being prepared, the instinct to find a solution and the responsibility of being the person others depend on.
My subsequent training and clinical experience have given me a different perspective on what happens when these qualities become difficult to put down.
I have worked in NHS mental health services, the Priory and private practice, supporting adults through anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship difficulties and questions of identity and direction.
Today, I bring my professional and clinical experience together in a practice centred on the person behind the role.
I work primarily from an existential and relational perspective, informed by psychodynamic thinking, neuroscience and embodied awareness. I am interested not only in what you are experiencing, but in the patterns, assumptions and relationships that shape how you experience your life.
My approach is warm, thoughtful and active. I will listen closely, offer reflections and ask difficult questions when they may help us understand something more fully.
I will not assume that professional success means you are well, that distress means something is wrong with you, or that there is a single correct way to live.
The work begins with your experience.
✓ Fully insured
✓ Registered and holds membership with the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and abides by its code of ethics (accredited registration number 403730)
✓ Receiving regular supervision
✓ Has years of experience working in places like the Priory Hospital and NHS counselling services, and runs her own therapy practice for individuals and groups
✓ Has lots of experience mentoring and volunteering with vulnerable communities
✓ Highly trained in the latest mental health practices
✓ Has a Level 7 Advanced Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling from Regent’s University
✓ Has a Master's degree in Psychotherapy and Counselling at Regent's University London, UK (accredited, postgraduate-level)
✓ Specialises in common mental health problems (Depression, GAD, Social Anxiety, OCD, Panic, Phobias, PTSD, Health Anxiety) as well as uncommon areas such as Bereavement (particularly by Suicide) as well as less common areas like bereavement and intuition
✓ Adopts an integrated therapeutic approach that relies on neuroscience, attachment theory, and neuro-linguistic programming, whilst also drawing wisdom from spirituality, existential analysis and philosophy
✓ Believes in openness, honesty, trust and humour
✓ Has a flexible and open-minded approach
✓ Thinks it's important to embrace each others 'madness' and explore our differences
✓ Believes in the incredible powers of therapy to repair souls, expand minds, and lead to important insights
✓ Has an approach is grounded in the belief that healing comes from within, and that each person has the capacity to grow, change, and thrive
✓ Acknowledges that distress and suffering are an understandable response to a traumatising world and offers you a non-judgmental, safe space to talk, scream, shout, swear, break down, rebuild yourself or simply just be
✓ Was a commercial lawyer for over a decade before becoming a therapist and understands the unique challenges to your mental health that come with a demanding career
✓ Worked within high-pressured, hyper-competitive environments, first for a Magic Circle law firm, and then for many years as a General Counsel in tech and brand giants
✓ Has worked with people from diverse backgrounds and communities (including with BAME clients, the racialised and the marginalised)
✓ I recognise life as cycles of repetition and practice. And believe importantly that, what we practice, grows. I am not a passive therapist in your journey of self-discovery.
✓ I am here to provide gentle accountability throughout your therapy and to actively support you to live a more enriching life filled with daily practices of embodiment, noticing, compassion, art, rest, play, radical acceptance, letting go, laughter, honesty, and much more.
✓ I understand the demands of modern life and offer innovative techniques from some of the most recent, data-led therapeutic models (such as attachment theory, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT), and mindfulness-based approaches) in order to help you navigate life's complexities and achieve lasting positive change.
✓ I blend art and science in a unique and integrated approach to deliver you optimal results. I combine the latest evidence-based techniques, with wisdom from age-old Eastern philosophy, Jungian psychology and existential analysis. I also continue to seek learning outside of what is institutionalised and deemed legitimate by academia, to ensure I offer you a complete experience on a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual level.
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Many high-functioning people are already skilled at managing their lives. They have systems, strategies and considerable insight into what they ought to do differently.
Yet the same feelings and patterns can persist.
You may understand why you overwork and still find it difficult to stop. You may recognise a familiar relationship pattern and still find yourself repeating it. You may have achieved what you once wanted and still feel uncertain about what comes next.
Psychotherapy gives these experiences room to be explored rather than immediately corrected.
Our work may help you to:
I can support you with simple and effective therapeutic techniques — practical exercises selected to help you gain clarity, calm and confidence, and take your growth out of the theoretical world and into real life.
Get the expert help and gentle accountability you need to let go of behaviours that do not serve you, better understand your individual needs and cultivate new ways of being.
My uniquely intuitive and holistic package of support is designed to help you feel calmer, more confident, and 'good enough' in your role at work and at home.
I invite you to see how you fit with others in your world, own who you are in these dynamics and take agency of your life and your relationships. I can support you in gaining understanding and finding meaning in your experiences with others.
Whether you're new to therapy or you've been before, I aim to meet you where you are. I believe there is no single path in your therapy, and encourage your uniquely personal and non-linear growth to emerge.
I recognise the structures and conditions that induce distress and suffering in this world, and so am particularly interested in supporting you to take up space and find your voice, where you are a racialised and/or marginalised person.
I have worked with women, in particular, as they transition into senior roles and have supported them to overcome the unconscious internal conflicts which impede their progress, come into their own peace and feel easier with their professional success and visibility.
I work with high-achieving people, helping them break free from high-functioning anxiety, overwhelm and self-doubt.
I invite you to bring your most authentic self to be seen and heard without judgement.
I can support you with rest, mindfulness, feeling emotionally attuned, and developing a more loving self-dialogue.
My aim is to support you in developing the lost art of imperfection and nurture your softness and vulnerability.
I offer a safe space to look inward, to think more deeply, and to deal with all the complex emotions that come with existing.
Counselling and therapy is not only for those with serious mental health problems. They are powerfully effective and impactful ways to maximise personal potential and to develop and maintain a healthy emotional life in an increasingly stressful world of personal and professional pressures.
I am committed to supporting you to resolve any issues of stifled creativity, over-critical self-image, and spiralling work/life balance.
The thought-provoking exercises aim to leave you stepping readily into your own sense of direction, connection and belonging in the world.
I help you find your own peace, be less worried, and better adjusted.
I create curious, explorative spaces, so you can get unstuck, dream big, delve deep and embrace who you truly are.
I work with clients in high-pressurised careers to consider the powerful impact that their career choices and self-imposed expectations, have on every aspect of their lives, happiness and general well-being.
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I maintain a deliberately small practice so that I can give the work the attention and continuity it requires.
Format: Online individual psychotherapy.
Session length: 50 minutes.
Frequency: Usually weekly, with arrangements discussed collaboratively.
Duration: Some people come during a particular difficulty or transition; others choose longer-term work.
Fees: Discussed transparently before we begin.
Confidentiality: Sessions are confidential within the limits of applicable law, professional ethics and safeguarding obligations.
International clients: I consider enquiries from professionals living internationally. Availability depends on location, suitability and the professional and legal requirements applicable to providing psychotherapy where you are based.
The initial conversation is an opportunity to discuss what brings you to therapy, what you are looking for and whether my approach may be appropriate.
Arrange a complimentary conversation →
You may have spent years learning to adapt, push through, meet expectations and keep things moving.
Sometimes those capacities are valuable. Sometimes they come at a cost that has become difficult to ignore.
Our work is not about removing every uncomfortable feeling, maximising your output or turning your inner life into another improvement project.
It is about making room for the parts of your experience that have been difficult to acknowledge, understand or share.
I will bring warmth, curiosity and professional rigour. I will also invite you to question familiar assumptions and take an active part in the work.
You do not need to arrive with answers. You do need some willingness to look honestly at your experience.
If that feels relevant to you, we can begin with a conversation.
Psychotherapy is a sustained, confidential professional relationship in which you can explore your thoughts, feelings, relationships and experiences with greater depth.
It is not simply advice or reassurance. It can help you understand recurring patterns, make sense of emotional difficulties and consider different ways of relating to yourself and others.
No. People seek therapy for many reasons, including anxiety, depression, grief and trauma, but also professional pressure, relationship difficulties, identity questions and major life transitions.
You do not need to reach a breaking point before seeking support.
Yes. My previous career in corporate law gives me first-hand familiarity with demanding professional environments and the responsibilities that can accompany senior roles.
I work with individuals rather than offering organisational consulting through the therapy relationship. My focus is your experience as a person, including the ways work, ambition and responsibility affect your wider life.
I welcome enquiries from adults exploring ADHD, autistic traits, masking, overwhelm and questions of identity and belonging. We can discuss your particular needs and whether my approach is suitable for you.
My approach is primarily existential and relational, informed by psychodynamic thinking, neuroscience and embodied awareness.
I listen closely, reflect what I notice and may gently challenge familiar patterns. The work is collaborative and tailored to the person rather than delivered through a fixed programme.
There is no universal timeframe. We usually begin with regular sessions and review the work as it develops. Some people seek support for a particular transition; others value a longer-term space for reflection and change.
I explain fees, payment arrangements and cancellation terms before we begin. The fee is agreed in advance so that you can make an informed decision about whether the work is right for you.
I consider international enquiries, subject to my availability and the professional, regulatory and legal requirements applicable in your location. Please include the country in which you are currently living when you get in touch.
We briefly discuss what has brought you to therapy, what you hope to explore and whether my approach and availability are a good fit. It is also an opportunity for you to ask questions.
The conversation is exploratory; there is no obligation to continue.
To arrange the complimentary conversation, enquire on Whatsapp or email BukkyMaybank@gmail.com.
Email BukkyMaybank@gmail.com or contact me via Whatsapp at +44 7803.
Please include your current country of residence, a brief outline of what is bringing you to therapy and your availability. I will respond personally to discuss the next steps.
I work with a limited number of clients and consider each enquiry individually.