Dr Bêne Otto

Dr Bêne Otto is a Counselling Psychologist offering online therapy to adults and couples. She has trained and worked in both the UK and South Africa, and brings an internationally informed and culturally sensitive perspective to her clinical work. She completed her professional training in Counselling Psychology and a PhD in Psychology at the University of Johannesburg, and also holds an MSc in War and Psychiatry from King's College London. Her doctoral research focused on disenfranchised grief, deepening her understanding of the many ways loss is experienced, expressed, and held, both individually and within society.

Bêne works from an integrative, attachment-focused and psychodynamic framework, with a strong emphasis on safety, attunement, and the therapeutic relationship. In her work with individual clients, she draws on Internal Family Systems (IFS), a compassionate, non-pathologising approach that helps clients understand and relate to the different "parts" of themselves with greater curiosity and care. Through IFS, clients are supported to gently explore protective patterns, emotional wounds, and inner conflicts, fostering greater self-compassion and internal balance. She is also trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), an evidence-based trauma therapy that supports the processing of distressing or overwhelming experiences that may continue to impact the present. EMDR is offered in a paced and relational way, with careful attention to safety and emotional readiness, helping clients feel less stuck in the past and more grounded in the present.

In her work with couples, Bêne offers Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), an attachment-based approach that supports partners to understand and shift unhelpful interaction patterns, express underlying emotional needs, and strengthen emotional connection. Her work with couples is collaborative and non-blaming, creating a space where both partners can feel heard and supported while working toward greater security, trust, and closeness.