Meet The Team

Thomas van Berckel

Tom is a teacher & therapist, having taught CBT & emotional intelligence at universities and corporations. Over the last 7 years he has experienced many extreme health challenges. Adversity has provided the perfect opportunity to apply his knowledge & crystallise his wisdom. His passion is teaching practical, evidenced-based ways of thinking, helping people to make peace with suffering, overcome challenges and discover emotional freedom.

Sasha McBean

Sasha McBean is a fully qualified Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and member of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy. Along side this, Sasha is an accredited therapist for the Royal National Institute for Blind people. She is also a member of the Black African & Asian Therapeutic Network and takes an integrative approach to counselling. 

Rachel Cooke

Rachel (she/her) is a psychotherapist, educator and entrepreneur with over a decade of experience facilitating transformation, synthesising accessible neuroscience and therapeutic frameworks from around the world. She helps people tune into their bodies, understand and regulate their emotions and nervous systems, improve relationships, heal trauma along with attachment wounds, to live more wholeheartedly and resiliently. She’s passionate about social justice and creating anti-oppressive conditions for curiosity, compassion, insight and support, to bring about sustainable change. 

Dr Ana Costa

Ana is a Clinical Psychologist and provides evidence-based psychological treatments for a range of mental health issues, including anxiety disorders and depression. She also helps clients with “life issues” including work-related stress and burn-out, relationship issues, communication difficulties, bereavement, etc. Ana’s main therapeutic models include Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). In addition to providing one-to-one therapy, Ana also facilitates groups, delivers psychological assessments, training and supervision.

Susan McGrath

Susan is a transpersonal therapist and supervisor who has worked in private practice and a university setting for over 20 years.  She has worked with clients from 12-88 years and all ages in-between.  She lived and worked in Japan for 5 years and brings all of her life experience and wisdom to create the optimal atmosphere for healing and grow.  In the last 5 years she has specialised in working with Codependency and Love Addiction.  She is an advocate of the 12 steps approach seeing it as a modern day mystical path open to all.

Stuart Verity

Stuart is a Taichi, Movement Awareness and Meditation teacher who has trained in and  both Eastern and Western Movement and Meditation practices via Taichi, Qigong, Meditation, Feldenkrais Method and Integral Theory and Practice. Since 2003 Stuart has provided one to one coaching and classes in Movement, Awareness & Meditation, for recovery from injury and personal development. Also since 2003 Stuart has run an ongoing apprenticeship teacher training program in  Integral Taichi, Qigong & Meditation

Mays Ali

Mays’s passion lies in yoga, breathwork, healing and meditation. Mays has been teaching & studying yoga for the last 8 years, spending years travelling & learning deep spiritual practises from enlightening masters around the world. As well as teaching ashtanga, rocket, vinyasa & yin yoga styles, Mays is also a reiki master & offers deep yoga nidra meditation & pranayama breathwork teachings. Mays loves hosting transformational wellness & yoga retreats globally around the world. 

Claudia Boers

Claudia became an ontological coach to help people see and access their amazing potential. She loves helping people develop new perspectives so that they can overcome fear, get unstuck and embrace new possibilities. She enjoys sharing what she’s learnt as a coach and considers it a privilege to be a part of her clients’ journeys.

Albert Viljoen

Albert is a qualified medical doctor, and ICF-accredited life and executive coach in London. His medical training and work as a GP has taught him about human anatomy, physiology and pathology, while further training as an integral coach, has taught him about human psychology, relationships, and our optimal potential. Over the last 13 years, he has honed this knowledge across various industries, working in medicine, music, tech start-ups, mental health, and even television.

Today he brings this breadth and depth of knowledge and experience into the coaching room, so clients can unlock the breadth and depth of their own potential, and live life to the full. 

Ania Herbut

Since first entering the field of Psychology, over 20 years ago, Ania has three abiding interests: psychotherapy, counselling and personal coaching. As a therapist, she works in both NHS settings and in her own private practice, offering short-term solution-focused counselling and long-term psychotherapy to individuals and couples. As a registered coach, she works with people to inspire change and motivate them. As Transactional Analyst, she delivers group and work-place workshops, promoting effective communication, human relatedness and organisational growth.  She has a particular interest in developmental trauma, attachments and sensorimotor therapy. The focus of her therapeutic work is always to integrate how the body and mind work together.

Marcela Wakeman

Marcela is a Senior yoga teacher and a somatic movement therapist, over the last 12 years Marcela has been teaching anatomy and physiology of movement applied to yoga in the yoga alliance 200-hour curriculum, she has 18 years of experience teaching the subject of the chakra system through embodied movement, with a degree in dance she has been authorise in 2015 to facilitate Dance of Awareness™ sessions. Marcela’s main focus is to bring attention to the inner-self through movement, sensation, breath awareness and embodied journeys

Denise Porter

I am a certified Integral Master Coach ™ and Family Constellations facilitator with a passion to help my clients find meaning and purpose in their lives. My understanding of the systemic lens informs me of the hidden dynamics that may be blocking and holding my clients back. My approach aims to integrate the emotional, mental, physical and spiritual well-being of my clients.

Amanda Tizard

For the last 17 years Amanda has worked as a Conscious Breathworker. She is highly regarded within the wellbeing circles of London, Amsterdam and Ibiza. She has been featured in The Times, The Evening Standard, Get The Gloss and Conde Nast Traveller magazine who described her as one of the top body fixers in the world. She has delivered an impressive 10,000+ client sessions spanning a range of modalities including somatics, trauma-informed bodywork, yoga, yoga nidra, hypnotherapy, reiki, pulsing, advanced massage, meditation, wataflow and craniosacral therapy.

Isza Fairburn

Isza is an Ecstatic Dance DJ, Movement Medicine Teacher and Sound Therapist. She holds classes, workshops, retreats and ceremonies around the world.

Alexis Brink

Alexis Brink is the author of “The Art of Jin Shin” and “Healing at Your Fingertips” and is the President of Jin Shin Institute in New York City. A practitioner of the Art of Jin Shin since 1991, Alexis is a licensed massage therapist and Interfaith Minister and has taught self help classes and workshops in New York City and different countries for many years. She has taught Jin Shin in hospitals, schools, companies and wellness organizations around the world.

Pablo Medina

Pablo is a professional coach, venture optimist and a Stoic enthusiast. He co-hosts a Stoic philosophy group in Cambridge where people learn and discuss Stoicism principles that can be applied to modern life. Pablo is passionate about helping people, he uses his coaching knowledge as a vehicle to facilitate others finding their internal resources and build their desired lives

Ran Chen

Ran is a co-founder of UK I Ching Association. She is a consultant & independent researcher in Chinese five element philosophy, fengshui and well-being, advises on both personal and business development both in the UK and worldwide. Her passion is helping people to find their purpose in life with the tools of Chinese five element philosophy and Bazi theory.

Lottie Storey

Lottie is a trainee psychotherapeutic counsellor who takes an integrative person-centred/Gestalt approach in her work with clients. Lottie also works as a freelance writer, specialising in mental health and wellbeing, psychology and body image. She also co-hosts a podcast on body image and is particularly interested in embodiment. Lottie is a recent convert to cold water swimming and can often be found in a freezing lake with a smile on her face.

Rebecca James

Rebecca started her professional life as a teacher which led to her training as a therapist with the unique ability to work with individuals of all ages, couples and families. Rebecca’s enthusiasm for family systems was born out of adversity within her own family, as well as having the privilege of working with so many children and families throughout her career. Rebecca’s dream has always been to help others who are struggling and hopes to continue on this path at Awake by expanding people’s thinking, increasing self-awareness and helping people build new stories to take away with them.