Chandana Rathnayake , BACP, NCPS

Chandana Rathnayake is a counsellor who began practicing in 2013 in Malaysia and relocated to the United Kingdom in 2019. He is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and holds an NCPS credential, reflecting additional professional training in counselling. In the UK he also works as a mental health adviser for young adults within the higher education sector.

Before formal training in psychology and counselling, Chandana spent twenty years living as a Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka. That period offered a traditional education and life experience that now informs his clinical work. He left the monkhood to focus on family life and later integrated those personal insights with formal counselling skills.

Across his practice Chandana blends contemplative experience and clinical methods to create a flexible, improvisational style. He encourages people to notice and use the resources they already bring to sessions, reshaping losses, betrayals, setbacks, and overthinking into materials for rebuilding. This collaborative approach emphasizes awakening personal strengths and practical steps toward clearer direction.

Chandana often works with people who are searching for purpose, motivation, or direction - including in career, education, and spiritual matters. He also supports those facing grief, dramatic life changes, low self-esteem, and individual relationship difficulties. He offers therapy in English and Sinhala, accepts clients in the United Kingdom and internationally, and is open to working with adults seeking a thoughtful, grounded counselling approach.

Therapeutic approaches for online care and personal growth

Chandana draws on client-centered therapy and existential therapy as core ways of working online. Client-centered therapy focuses on creating a supportive, nonjudgmental environment where the client leads the pace and content of sessions; it helps with issues like low self-esteem, overthinking, and emotional overwhelm. Existential therapy explores questions of meaning, purpose, and identity, which can be useful for people facing life transitions, career or educational choices, and spiritual concerns.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Chandana collaborates with each person to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting techniques as the work develops so therapy stays responsive and practical.

Online sessions by video, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging make it easier to access regular support from licensed professionals without travel. These options offer flexibility in scheduling, the ability to maintain continuity during life changes, and multiple ways for people to engage according to comfort and communication style.