Atakan Karakas

Atakan Karakas is a counsellor who uses practical, collaborative approaches to help people facing strong emotions and life challenges. She welcomes straightforward conversations and focuses on what each person needs now. Her style is calm and direct, and she aims to make starting therapy easier for people who feel unsure or overwhelmed.

With seven years of experience, Atakan draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Attachment-Based Therapy. She helps people work through stress, anxiety, grief, relationship and intimacy concerns, anger, addictions, and changes in mood. She also addresses issues like parenting strain, career questions, and self-esteem struggles.

Sessions usually centre on simple, practical steps. That might include noticing unhelpful patterns, learning short skills to manage strong feelings, and trying small experiments between sessions. The emphasis is on what clients want to change and on workable strategies they can use day to day.

Atakan communicates in English and Turkish and works with people in the United Kingdom and internationally. She holds NCPS as a recorded credential. The intake process begins with a short questionnaire to match needs and preferences before scheduling.

She encourages people to take the first step even when it feels difficult. Her aim is to make therapy approachable, goal-focused, and relevant to everyday life.

Online approaches that focus on practical change

Atakan commonly uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in her work. ACT helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. This can be useful for anxiety, grief, and ongoing stress. CBT looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and teaches straightforward techniques to shift patterns that maintain distress, which often helps with low mood, anger and sleep problems.

She also draws on Attachment-Based Therapy to understand how early relationship patterns influence current reactions and close connections. That approach can help people who find themselves repeating the same relationship patterns or who feel stuck with trust and intimacy worries. Deciding which approach to use is a collaborative process; the therapist will discuss goals, preferences and what feels most helpful, and adjust the plan as work proceeds.

If you are considering online therapy, confirm the session formats available before booking as they are not listed in the biography. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also let people continue therapy when living abroad, since international clients are accepted. Registered and accredited professionals can adapt exercises, homework and coping skills to work well in remote sessions.