I'm Nilima — a Person-Centred Psychotherapist based in London, raised in Birmingham, with Bengali heritage and just enough family expectations to power a small nation.
Where I'm Coming From
I didn't have a spiritual calling to this work. I googled "what job should I do?" and therapist won out over teacher because frankly, I hate marking. Before retraining, I worked as a journalist and editor in energy and environmental media, and later in private equity - where I funded my therapy training while unpicking corporate nonsense with military precision. That path shaped how I listen, how I think about stories and power, and how comfortable I am with complexity and difference.
I now work with people navigating identity, burnout, grief, religious transitions (yes, even the complicated ones involving aunties), and the feeling of being on the outside looking in. Especially if you've ever thought: "Is it just me?" (It's not.)
I'm British Bangladeshi, born in Bedford, raised in Birmingham - not to be confused with Bengali Indian, which is a surprisingly common conversation at bus stops.
What Therapy With Me Is Like
I won’t sit in silence nodding meaningfully until your hour’s up. Nor will I pretend to have all the answers (if I did, I’d have written a bestselling book and bought a vineyard by now).
I work from a classical Person-Centred Approach — which means I believe you already have what you need to heal and grow. My role is to create the kind of space where that becomes possible.
This isn’t about fixing you (you’re not broken), or giving you a five-step plan to happiness. It’s about listening deeply, responding honestly, and being fully human with you in the room — mess, humour, contradictions and all. Laughter is as welcome as tears.
Who I Work With
I work with adults from all walks of life - but I seem to be a magnet for the thoughtful, the questioning, and the quietly rebellious. The ones who’ve always felt a bit on the edges, even in spaces that were meant to feel like home.
My practice is inclusive and warmly welcoming to LGBTQ+ clients, people from racialised communities, those navigating cross-cultural identities, and anyone dealing with religious shifts or spiritual disillusionment.
My clients have included climate scientists, lawyers, teachers, restaurateurs, PhD students, people working in finance, data, AI and the arts - from their early-twenties to their seventies. What they tend to have in common isn’t their job title - it’s the feeling of carrying something they haven’t been able to put down.
Outside the Therapy Room
When I’m not working, I’m probably reading, running, or rewatching Star Trek for the fifth time.
I also co-host Sci-Fi Therapy, a podcast that puts science fiction on the couch. Each episode takes a specific sci-fi story and examines its themes through the lenses of psychotherapy and theology - exploring identity, trauma, guilt, power, and what it means to be human in times of crisis. We’ve been working through Battlestar Galactica and it turns out a show about the last survivors of humanity has quite a lot to say about therapy.
If that sounds like your kind of thing, you can listen here: Sci-Fi Therapy
Why I Do This Work
Therapy saved my life. Not in the dramatic, made-for-TV kind of way - more in the slow, surprising “oh… I can be myself here?” kind of way. That’s what I want to offer others: a space where you don’t have to perform, fix yourself, or explain everything from scratch.
I also do this work because it keeps me going. Most of my clients are my kind of people: thoughtful, funny, curious, occasionally sweary. Being with them makes me feel less alone. It’s a privilege - and I don’t take it lightly, even if I do try to bring some lightness into the room.
Qualifications & Experience
I've been working with clients since 2017.
Advanced Post Diploma Certificate in Person Centred Couples Psychotherapy, 2025
MSc in Contemporary Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Applications — Metanoia Institute / Middlesex University, 2022
Postgraduate Clinical Diploma in Person-Centred Psychotherapy — Metanoia Institute, 2022
Diploma in Person-Centred Psychotherapeutic Counselling — Metanoia Institute, 2021
Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills — City Lit, 2016
I attend regular CPD and additional training throughout the year.
Professional Memberships
UKCP — Full clinical member (no. 2011172641)
I am also a member of The Pre-Therapy International Network, The Person-Centred Association UK, and the World Association for Person-Centred & Experiential Psychotherapy & Counselling.
I follow Metanoia's Code of Clinical Ethics & Professional Conduct and carry professional liability insurance.