{"id":75,"date":"2025-08-03T17:11:24","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T17:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/?page_id=75"},"modified":"2025-08-03T19:09:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T19:09:16","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/?page_id=75","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf3f Sonia Ozkaya<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Psychotherapist | Wellbeing Strategist | Educational Leader<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sonia Ozkaya is a seasoned psychotherapist and visionary wellbeing leader with over a decade of experience spanning clinical practice, higher education, and strategic service development. Her career bridges the personal and institutional \u2014 offering both compassionate therapeutic care and transformative leadership in wellbeing, disability, and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With roots in NHS primary care and private practice, Sonia brings a grounded, trauma-informed approach to mental health. Her work is deeply attuned to the emotional, cultural, and systemic challenges faced by students, staff, and professionals across academic and clinical settings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcbc Professional Journey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd39 Head of Undergraduate School (2022\u20132025)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>At Glyndwr University London, Sonia currently oversees 11 undergraduate programmes across disciplines including Health and Law. She leads a team of over 100 staff, driving academic excellence while embedding wellbeing into the heart of institutional culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd39 Head of Wellbeing, Disability &amp; Inclusion (2019\u20132022)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>At ARU London, Sonia spearheaded the creation of a comprehensive wellbeing and inclusion service \u2014 from vision to full implementation. She built and led a dedicated team, designed impactful processes, and cultivated a culture of support that saw rapid engagement from students and staff alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd39 Wellbeing Services Coordinator &amp; Course Leader (2009\u20132014)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>During her earlier tenure at Glyndwr University London, Sonia developed foundational wellbeing services and led the BSc Health programme. Her dual focus on academic delivery and mental health support laid the groundwork for her future leadership roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83e\udde0 Areas of Expertise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Psychotherapy (NHS and private practice)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Strategic wellbeing service design<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Disability and inclusion advocacy<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Trauma-informed leadership<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Academic programme management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Staff development and reflective practice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf31 Philosophy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Sonia\u2019s work is guided by a belief that wellbeing is not an add-on \u2014 it\u2019s a core pillar of human and institutional flourishing. She blends clinical insight with strategic vision, creating spaces where individuals feel seen, supported, and empowered to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her leadership style is collaborative, emotionally intelligent, and rooted in values of equity, compassion, and integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcde Connect with Sonia<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you&#8217;re seeking clinical supervision, wellbeing consultancy, or strategic collaboration in education \u2014 Sonia brings depth, clarity, and care to every conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\ud83d\udd39 <em>Available for speaking engagements, consultancy, and supervision<\/em><br>\ud83d\udd39 <em>Based in London, working nationally and online<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ud83c\udf3f Sonia Ozkaya Psychotherapist | Wellbeing Strategist | Educational Leader Sonia Ozkaya is a seasoned psychotherapist and visionary wellbeing leader with over a decade of experience spanning clinical practice, higher education, and strategic service development. Her career bridges the personal and institutional \u2014 offering both compassionate therapeutic care and transformative leadership in wellbeing, disability, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"iawp_total_views":31,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-75","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112,"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/75\/revisions\/112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/firststepsconsultancy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}