Dr Banika Ahuja

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Banika Ahuja (She/her) is an HCPC-registered clinical psychologist. Born in India, her academic journey in psychology spans an undergraduate degree in psychology at Delhi University (India), an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University College London (UCL), UK. Currently, Banika serves as a Specialist Clinical Psychologist with the NHS and is set to become an Honorary Lecturer at UCL as an international CST trainer.

Banika has cultivated a wealth of experience working with individuals across the lifespan, across diverse backgrounds, identities and service contexts in the UK and in India (E.g. Forensics, neuropsychology, IAPT, private sector). She has developed a range of competencies and skills in offering person-centred therapy with people presenting a range of complex emotional difficulties, cognitive abilities and neurodiversity with variations in chronicity and severity (E.g. PTSD, generalised anxiety, OCD, Social Anxiety, health anxiety, Depression, relationship issues, personality disorders, psychosis, supporting caregivers, body image concerns, ADHD, Autism, stroke, brain injury, and dementia). She integrates different modalities in both individual and group settings, tailored to individual needs and contexts, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Systemic Narrative Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Compassion-Focused Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. She is fluent in both English and Hindi.

Banika’s practice is trauma-informed, curious, culturally sensitive and grounded within an overarching framework which helps you explore the various bio-psycho-social-political factors that may shape our mental health experiences. Banika deeply values intersectionality in her clinical work, recognising how our invisible and visible identities (e.g. culture, age, gender, sexuality, neurodiversity and abilities) may influence how we relate to ourselves and the world around us. Her approach is committed to centring your voice and unique needs in shaping the therapy sessions and empowering you to build self-awareness of your life’s patterns and take charge of the driving wheel of your life. Banika is open to working both with and beyond the mental health diagnoses or labels one presents with, depending on what’s most helpful to you.

Driven by values of social justice and equity, Banika actively engages in advocacy, grassroots initiatives (E.g. collaborating with NGOs to support marginalised communities), corporate/academic workshops, international collaborations/conferences (E.g. TEDx talk, VH1), social media campaigns to destigmatise mental health, and policy/research work to drive systemic change, outside of the therapy room.

Dr Elena Touroni

May 19, 2022 No Comments

Dr Elena Touroni is a skilled and experienced consultant psychologist with a track record of delivering high-quality services for individuals with all common emotional difficulties and those with a diagnosis of personality disorder. She is experienced in service design and delivery, the management of multi-disciplinary teams, organisational consultancy, and development and delivery of both national and bespoke training to providers in the statutory and non-statutory sector.

Having obtained a first degree in Psychology (BSc) at the American College of Greece, she completed her doctoral training at the University of Surrey. Dr Touroni is highly experienced in the assessment and treatment of depression, anxiety, substance misuse, personality disorder, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, adjustment disorder and relationship difficulties. She works with both individuals and couples and can offer therapy in English and Greek.

She is trained in several specialist therapeutic approaches such as Schema Therapy for individuals and couples, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-based approaches and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT).

Dr Touroni has held a variety of clinical and managerial positions including as Head of Service in the NHS. Further she has held academic positions for the University of Surrey and the Institute of Mental Health lecturing on specialist postgraduate Masters and Doctorate programmes. As well as holding a variety of NHS positions, Dr Touroni is the co-founder of a private practice in Central London that has been a provider of psychological therapy for all common emotional difficulties including personality disorder since 2002.

Dr Touroni has a keen interest in developing preventative approaches for psychological well-being and has been involved in the co-creation of bespoke wellness retreats for transformative change for the past 5 years. She is the founder and one of two directors of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic.