Why I Work With a Small Number of Clients and How I Can Still Support You if We Don’t Work Directly Together

“Life events first interrupt you; then they quietly rewrite you.” ~Dr Patapia Tzotzoli 

A Different Way of Working
For quite some time now, I have been offering 1:1 therapy to only a small number of clients. That was not always my model. Once, I ran a full time thriving practice in Covent Garden and later in Richmond. I enjoyed every single session – what a privilege it has been to have honest and meaningful conversations that brought about real change! I was never tired of the work. I loved it deeply.

When Life Intervenes
Then life happened to me. A family relocation that I did not initiate, and later my daughter’s unexpected open heart surgeries. That week in the hospital had such an impact on me that I am still learning to understand it. I had lived through serious challenges before, but this was different. Pain and I met at a new depth. Something changed in me.

I stepped back. I sought supervision and support, and did the slow, honest work of finding myself again – both personally and professionally. Who was I now as a woman, wife, mother, daughter, friend… as a person? And who was I as a therapist?

The Quiet Reinvention
That was the backstage period during which I was laying the foundations for a new service: My Triage Network. It was the answer that perfectly met my brief: an online service within the mental health field that creates real social impact and embodies innovation and entrepreneurship, while supporting colleagues to build and sustain their own private practices. Through this service, I reinvented myself as a mental health concierge, drawing on my decades of clinical experience and positioning myself in a role where I could help many people in distress who are seeking assessments or therapy for themselves, their loved ones or their clients, but do not know where to start or who the right mental health professional might be.

I now offer free consultations and facilitate introductions between individuals, third-party referrers, or organisations and the appropriate psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, and other mental health specialists – while also supporting colleagues in maintaining autonomy and growing their independent practices. All they need to do is call me or fill in this short form, and I’ll get back to them with tailored recommendations for their needs and preferences.

Alongside this work, I also curate two free Newsletters – one for clients and one for mental health professionals – as a way of personally guiding them through relevant insights, resources, and support in mental health. The Seasonal edition features free and paid offerings from mental health professionals, while the Monthly edition includes informative, interactive, and inspiring content, either through the Live Well series, which offers original content with clear insights and practical takeaways that translate into everyday life – or through the Ask the Experts series – where readers submit their questions to be addressed by a panel of trusted professionals from My Triage Network.

It was also during this broader period of personal and professional evolution that I returned to another long-standing thread of my life: writing. In 2025, my poetry book, Seventeen Shots of Life in Five Acts, was published by Pigi Publications – a collection of poems written over two decades, reflecting the inner landscapes that gradually shaped the way I experienced loss, pain, growth, resilience, and human connection – the very themes that underpin my clinical and entrepreneurial work today. The book is available in Hardcopy and e-Book format.

All my work is intentional, thoughtful, and manual, free from automation or AI – an extension of the same philosophy that underpins everything I do: that mental health support must remain rooted in real human connection.

For those who see value in my work, there is an opportunity to donate to help keep this service going.

Still Holding Space for Therapy
At the same time, I still see a small number of clients via My Psychology Clinic, to whom I offer a fully focused, committed, and flexible service. Through this, I experience again that quiet, powerful sense of genuine and meaningful human connection that first made me fall in love with this work.

Coming Full Circle
Balance is slowly returning. Alongside it, a renewed sense of purpose, passion, and excitement for leading change in how people access mental health support. Reflecting on this today, this path has led me to give back to the UK in manifold ways – a country that shaped me through four university degrees and many years of clinical and research work. As long as I am able and needed in the mental health field, I will continue to serve. And when this chapter comes to an end, it will have been time well spent.

My heart is full of gratitude. I wanted to share this with you and thank everyone – clients and mental health professionals alike – who have trusted me with their stories. Together, we are shaping our lives on our own terms.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Patapia Tzotzoli is a UK-trained, HCPC-registered Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience. She is the Director of My Psychology Clinic, where she offers one-to-one online therapy tailored to a select clientele and the Founder of My Triage Network, where she provides free consultations and personalised introductions to trusted UK-based mental health professionals for anyone seeking assessments or therapy.

Looking for support? Start with a free consultation – Get Triaged today.