Gabriella Maceiras — Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist
Gabriella Maceiras
Online psychoanalytic psychotherapy for children, teenagers, young adults and families.
Pronouns: She/Her
How Gabriella can help
I work with children, adolescents and young adults, helping them understand and explore how past experiences have shaped their lives, so they can regulate their emotions and behaviour and cope with life's challenges. The difficulties young people bring to therapy are often rooted in past trauma, or simply in the pressure of managing everyday life. I also work with families and parents who are struggling to make sense of the problems facing them as a family unit.
I offer a safe, non-judgemental space where, together, we can begin to understand what lies beneath the difficulties — and build the insight and resilience needed to deal with the past, manage the present, and move forward.
Qualifications and experience
I am a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist and a registered member of the British Psychoanalytic Council (BPC) and the Tavistock Society of Psychotherapists. I hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Family Therapy from the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital, and I am a qualified Registered Mental Health Nurse (RMN) with 30 years' experience in nursing, primarily as a Clinical Specialist in CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services).
Conditions & Difficulties Treated
Specialist Areas
Anxiety, Mood & Stress
Anxiety
Depression
Mood Disorders
Stress
Trauma & Loss
Trauma / PTSD
Sexual Abuse
Bereavement
Dissociative Disorders (DID)
Risk & Crisis
Suicidal Ideation
Self-Harming
Risk Management
Neurodevelopmental & Behavioural
ADHD
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Behavioural Disorders
Impulse Control Disorders
Eating Disorders
Family, Parenting & School
Family Work / Family Issues
Parenting
School Issues
Therapeutic Approaches & Models
Family Therapy
Psychodynamic therapy
Gabriella works with:
Children (Under 10 years)
Adolescents (10 - 15 Years)
Adolescents (16 - 18 Years)
Professional Training & Accreditations
Clinical Specialist with Lambeth CAMHS, in SLAM (South London and Maudsley NHS Trust) for over 20 years)
Post Graduate Diploma in Family Therapy from Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley (2005-2007)
Post graduate Diploma in Psychodynamic Infant Observational Studies
Tavistock Centre, London (2002–2004)
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Family therapy is a way of working with the whole family, rather than just one person. When a child or young person is struggling, it often affects — and is affected by — everyone around them. In family therapy, we come together to understand the patterns, pressures and communication difficulties within the family unit, and how each person experiences them. It's not about finding someone to blame; it's about helping the family understand each other better, so relationships can improve and everyone feels more able to support one another. Sessions may involve the whole family, or just parents, depending on what's most helpful.
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Psychodynamic therapy is based on the idea that our current feelings and behaviours are often shaped by past experiences — sometimes in ways we're not fully aware of. Rather than only managing symptoms, this approach explores what lies beneath them: early relationships, past events, and patterns that keep repeating. For children and young people, this might happen through talking, or through play and creativity. By making sense of these underlying experiences in a safe, trusting relationship with the therapist, difficult feelings become easier to understand and manage — and lasting change becomes possible.