Francesca Sciandra
Integrative Therapist and Psychotherapeutic Counsellor
I’m an integrative therapist working with individuals and couples in ongoing therapy.
I’ve been in practice for over six years. My clinical focus has progressed from individual depth-oriented hypnotherapeutic work toward relational and attachment-focused therapy. My work explores how early relational experiences and development shape adult desire, conflict, and self-concept. I am particularly interested in the intersection of attachment theory, depth psychology, and lived relational experience.
My training began with analytical hypnotherapy, an approach that uses hypnosis to access unconscious material and examine its influence on present experience. I later trained in integrative psychotherapy to work with more complex psychological material, which led me toward relational psychotherapy with a particular interest in attachment dynamics. This included exploring how hypnotherapy could address attachment-related concerns that may not be fully accessible through talking therapy alone.
My interest in attachment naturally extended to couples work. I trained as a couples therapist and received specialist training in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy and couples intensive work. This included the study of systemic theories that explore not only what happens within a person (intrapsychic experience) but also what happens between people (interpsychic dynamics). This shapes how I work: therapy addresses both internal psychological structures and the relational patterns that form between self and others.
I am trained in psychedelic-assisted therapy and provide psychedelic integration within my practice. I am currently writing my psychotherapy dissertation on the use of integrative hypno-psychotherapy for psychedelic integration, with a focus on aspects of the self.
I work online with individuals and couples, and offer in-person couples therapy intensives in the UK.
Clinical Orientation
My work is integrative, grounded in psychodynamic and person-centred orientations. For couples, I work within Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT). I draw on hypnotherapy, parts work, and attention to early relational experience, adapting the approach as the work develops.
I’m engaged and direct in sessions. The work requires both participants to notice what’s happening, including what’s uncomfortable, repetitive, or emerging between us.
The therapeutic frame itself (consistency, structure, reliability) creates conditions within which patterns can be observed and engaged with over time. Long-term work allows for this kind of sustained attention, where change emerges through repeated engagement rather than intervention.
My areas of clinical focus include relational difficulties, attachment dynamics, developmental experience, emotional regulation, intimacy and sexual concerns, and psychedelic integration. For couples, I work with recurring conflict, emotional disconnection, infidelity recovery, and attachment-based difficulty.
I also provide clinical supervision for hypnotherapists and am an acknowledged supervisor with the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR).
Background
I’m originally from the northeastern United States. I lived in Spain, Italy, and Portugal before settling in the UK over a decade ago.
Being outside one’s culture of origin offers a particular vantage point: it reveals what we accept without questioning. This experience informs how I work with clients navigating cultural complexity, questions of identity and belonging, and the process of examining assumptions that may have felt fixed.
Writing
My ongoing interests include attachment theory, relational psychoanalysis, systemic approaches, and psychedelic research. I write Everyday Lovers, a newsletter that examines attachment patterns, relational dynamics, and the work of sustained psychological change.
I also maintain a blog addressing therapeutic concepts and the realities of long-term therapy.
Professional Credentials
Registrations & Memberships
UKCP Trainee Psychotherapist, United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)
Registered Hypnotherapist and Acknowledged Supervisor, General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR)
Member, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
Associate Member, The National Society of Talking Therapies (NSTT)
International Affiliate, Society for Humanistic Psychology, American Psychological Association (APA), Division 32
Primary Qualifications
Diploma in Hypno-Psychotherapeutic Counselling, The National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
Diploma in Analytical Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy, Jacquelyne Morison Hypnotherapy Training
Additional Training & Certifications
Professional Certificate in Couples Therapy, Institute of Couples Therapy
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Externship, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
Foundations of Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, Beckley Academy
Certificate in Trauma Informed Practice, Holistic Trauma Course, Weekend University
Certificate in Online Therapy, The National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
Certificate in Hypnotherapy Supervision, Yorkshire Hypnotherapy Training
De-Escalating Psychedelic Crisis Certification, PsyCare UK
Continuing Professional Development
To support my ongoing learning, I regularly attend continuing education courses and workshops, including:
Psychedelics and Psychoanalysis with Dr Jeffrey Guss, Fluence
Intimacy From the Inside Out (IFIO) - Internal Family Systems (IFS) for Couples, IFS Institute
Intensive Couples Therapy: An Accelerated Approach to Repair, Stabilize, and Strengthen Couples in Crisis with Elizabeth Earnshaw, LMFT, CGT
Relational Life Therapy (RLT): Level 1, Relational Life Institute
An Introduction to Systemic Practice, Center For Family Based Training
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) with Robin Williams Blake, Dr James Hawkins, and Kathryn de Bruin
Financial Therapy Master Series, Financial Therapy Clinical Institute
Self-Led Sexuality through Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy: A Parts Work Approach for Healing, Intimacy, Pleasure and Connection with Patricia Rich
The Somatic Processing of Pre-Verbal Trauma In Psychedelic Assisted Therapy with Rob Ó Cobhthaigh
Healing Emotional Neglect: Trauma-Informed Somatic Tools for Co-Regulation and Repair in Psychedelic Sessions with Atira Tan
A Psychoanalytic Understanding of the Couple Relationship with Mary Morgan, TR Together
The Presence of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapist with Nancy Sowell
The Psychology of Erotic Fantasies and Behaviours with Professor Brett Kahr, TR Together
Integrating Psychedelic Experiences, Centre of Applied Jungian Studies
Working Effectively with Parts, The National College of Hypnosis & Psychotherapy
Dreaming on Purpose: Exploring the Inner Landscapes Through Psychotherapeutic Dreamwork, The National College of Hypnosis & Psychotherapy
Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Psychedelic Therapy, Psychedelic Support
Unveiling the Mind: Convergence of Hypnotic and Psychedelic Realities, The Netherlands Society for Hypnosis
Pelvic Health and Sexual Function, Contemporary Institute of Clinical Sexology
The Role of Spirituality and Meaning-Making in Recovery with Guy du Plessis
Internal Family Systems (IFS) for Addictive Processes with Cece Sykes
Harm Reduction: A Foundation for Addiction Treatment with Andrew Tatarsky
Identifying and Disrupting Financial Shame, Trauma of Money
Unpacking Complex Trauma, UK Trauma Council
Freud and Jung on Dreams with Keith Barrett, Freud Museum London
Clinical Hypnosis in the Treatment of Anxiety Disorders with David B. Reid, PsyD, The Chicago School
Psychoanalysis after Freud: Donald Winnicott and ‘Playing and Reality’ with Keith Barrett, Freud Museum London
Re-thinking Depression: Insights Emerging from Hard Times with Michael Yapko, PhD, The Chicago School
Trauma, Dissociation and the Body with Dr. Pat Ogden, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute
Introduction to Liberation Psychologies for Social Justice with Sylwia Korsak, Therapy and Social Change Seminar
Psychedelics and the Mind, University of California, Berkeley, edX
How Trauma Shapes our Attachment Style with Dr Diane Poole Heller
Childhood Adversity: The Impact of Childhood Maltreatment on Mental Health, University College London
Too Much of Nothing: The Quiet Trauma of Neglect with Ruth Cohn, MFT
Political Movements and Decentering Privilege with Dr Orna Guralnik, Therapy and Social Change Seminar
Working at Relational Depth in Psychotherapy with Mick Cooper
Ethics and Standards of Care
My practice follows UKCP and GHR codes of ethics. I receive ongoing clinical supervision from a UKCP-registered supervisor.
Beginning Therapy
Initial consultations are 20 minutes by Zoom or phone to explore whether this work is appropriate for your situation and whether there is a mutual fit.
