Maria Kefalogianni — Neurodivergent-Affirming Soul centred Psychotherapist, Supervisor & Educator;

Maria Kefalogianni — Neurodivergent-Affirming Psychotherapist, Supervisor & Educator

I am a humanistically trained, Person-Centred Counsellor and Psychotherapist. My work is rooted in presence, relationship and the belief that we can only offer what we are willing to embody ourselves.

Over the years, I have explored deeply into my own psyche through Jungian psychotherapy and shadow work, and into the impact of intergenerational trauma and the patterns we inherit within our families. This has been an ongoing journey of understanding, healing and breaking chains — for myself and for the generations that follow.

My training spans a range of approaches, including Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy, Compassion-Focused Therapy, Group Analysis, mindfulness, somatic approaches and parts work. Later in my journey, I explored shamanic practices, Reiki, energy work and the power of sacred sound.
I have also trained in Ancestral Healing with Thomas Hubhl ; and currently in a container in Marion Woodman’s lineage. I am grateful for the eldership and wisdom that has been passed down to me over great elders over the years.

Receiving my neurodivergence diagnosis in 2019 was one of the biggest missing pieces of the puzzle for me. Around the same time, I experienced a profound shift in consciousness that opened new questions about being, presence and the relationship between mind, body and spirit. I awakened into the I AM, in profound and significant way… I am changed for ever since.

These experiences deepened my belief in the gifts and possibilities within neurodivergence. I am interested in what becomes possible when we move beyond trying to fit ourselves into expectations that were never designed with us in mind, and begin to understand our own ways of sensing, processing, relating and being in the world.
As neurodivergents we “think with our bodies”… and my journey has been an ever deepening spiral into my Soul’s wisdom through my body.
I hold a deep belief in our neurodivergent community. I believe there is so much to discover when we are given the space to understand ourselves, honour our differences and explore the gifts that may have remained hidden beneath years of adaptation, masking or trying to belong.

I am rooted in presence, and I invite you to explore your own deepest sense of presence.

If you are neurodivergent and also on a spiritual path, this is a particular area of interest and experience in my work. You may be exploring questions of consciousness, mystical experiences, identity, belonging or the relationship between your neurodivergence and your spirituality. You do not need to leave these parts of yourself outside the therapeutic space.

My work is body-based, relational and very much a moment-to-moment unfolding. We collaborate to discover what feels supportive for you. Sometimes this might mean creating structures, finding language or establishing a sense of safety; at other times, it might mean allowing space for spontaneity, curiosity and following what emerges. There is no single way you need to process or be.
I have a working hypothesis that my born body of work The Ancient Mother Spiral is a beautiful map to hold all our incredible ways of being, and to initiate us back to our decolonial nature.

I have also undertaken further training in creative therapies, which I integrate when appropriate. Our work might include attending to bodily experience, exploring inner parts, working with imagery or creative expression, or simply staying with something that has not yet found words. We approach these experiences with curiosity rather than assuming we already know what they mean.

Alongside my therapeutic practice, I have worked as a trainer in psychotherapy for over 14 years in a local university setting, and as a supervisor and trainer of supervisors. I also offer neurodivergent-affirming supervision to qualified counsellors, psychotherapists, supervisors and trainers, creating space to reflect on practice, professional identity and the complexities of working with human experience.

My work is deeply informed by my ongoing exploration of spirituality and consciousness. I am particularly interested in the places where psychology, embodiment, spirituality and lived experience meet — and in how we can remain open to mystery while retaining our capacity for reflection and discernment.

I am also a sound-healing practitioner working with the voice. I offer face-to-face sound-healing sessions in Manchester, exploring voice and sound as gentle, experiential ways of supporting relaxation, embodied awareness and connection. This can be particularly appealing to neurodivergent people who are curious about approaches beyond talking alone.

Alongside my psychotherapy and supervision work, I am developing Presence-Centred Psychotherapy, an evolving framework exploring presence, embodied awareness and relational depth, and the Ancient Mother Spiral, an emerging body of experiential work exploring women’s thresholds of transformation, motherhood, grief, rage, creativity and our relationship with the deeper currents of life.
I offer packages for this , and Ancient Mother Spiral might be for the ones who have done a lot of healing work already, worked and cultivated states of consciousness and are ready to embody more the liminality of life. Working together will inevitably offer you a holding hadn to surrender deeper toyour life’s purpose.

I also offer a number of community spaces and gatherings, some free of charge, for people who feel drawn to explore these questions together. These include the AMS FREE series i have been running, found on my website, and also the Mystical Heart a space for spaceholders, who are willing to bring more of the ineffable consciously and with greater awareness into theri practice.

I also facilitate a regular group supervision centred on presence, connection and what I experience as the universal heart that interconnects us all.

If something here resonates with you, you are welcome to get in touch for an initial conversation. You can find more about my work and community offerings on my website:
https://www.presencecenteredpsychotherapy.com/s-projects-basic