Chandana Rathnayake , BACP, NCPS

Chandana Rathnayake brings a distinct blend of life experience and professional training to his counselling practice. He began practising as a counsellor in Malaysia in 2013 and relocated to the United Kingdom in 2019, where he also serves as a mental health adviser supporting young adults in the higher education sector. He holds credentials with BACP and NCPS - BACP denotes membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and NCPS is a professional counselling credential.

Before entering formal counselling, Chandana spent twenty years living as a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka, a period that shaped his outlook and informed his later study of psychology and counselling. After leaving the monkhood he chose to focus on family life, a change that now sits alongside his clinical work and informs his relational perspective.

His therapeutic style draws on both traditional practices and contemporary counselling methods, encouraging clients to notice and make use of the resources they already carry. He often works with difficult material - loss, betrayal, anxiety, overthinking and low self-regard - treating these experiences as raw ingredients that can be reshaped into something more resilient. He is particularly suited to people searching for purpose, motivation or direction in areas such as career, education or spirituality, and to those facing grief or major life transitions. He also works with clients struggling with self-worth and with individuals experiencing relationship difficulties, noting his work is focused on individuals rather than couples. Chandana conducts therapy in English and Sinhala and accepts international clients.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Support

Chandana uses client-centered therapy to create a respectful, empathetic environment where the client leads the pace and focus of sessions. This approach emphasizes understanding each person’s experience and can be particularly helpful for issues like low self-esteem, grief, and struggles with direction. He also draws on Internal Family Systems, a model that explores how different parts of a person, such as protective or wounded parts, interact. This work can be useful for trauma, shame, compulsive behaviors and internal conflicts. When appropriate, existential ideas are woven into therapy to explore questions of meaning, purpose and responsibility, aiding those facing life transitions or a sense of emptiness.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey and Chandana treats it as a collaborative process. He works with clients to identify goals, test what helps, and adjust methods over time so the work fits each person’s needs, values and preferences.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility - sessions can take place by video call or phone, or through live chat and text-based messaging - making it easier to fit therapy into busy lives or to continue support across distances. These options allow regular contact, smoother scheduling and continued access to a licensed professional regardless of location.