Hygeia Healing
"Every story matters. Every feeling is valid. Let's walk this path together, towards hope and healing."
Gia D'Aprano
Meet Gia
Hello and welcome - I’m Gia.
I’m a counsellor who offers a warm, thoughtful space to explore what’s going on for you, supporting you through times of change, uncertainty, and growth.
My work is guided by your needs and experiences, at your pace, rather than following a fixed or prescriptive approach.
I draw on a range of counselling, creative, and holistic approaches, allowing the work to unfold in a way that feels right for you.
This may include talking therapy alongside methods such as sand play therapy, dream-work, eco-therapy and walk-and-talk sessions, mindfulness practices, and healing through craft weaving.
Together, these approaches can help you explore thoughts, emotions, creativity, and your relationship with the natural world.
Gia D'Aprano - owner of Hygeia Healing
A soul-full approach
I’m an accredited member of the NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society) and work in line with their professional ethics, offering a safe, respectful, and supportive therapeutic relationship.
I trained with the Devon and Cornwall Counselling Hub and am currently completing further training in Sandplay Therapy with the Nautilus Centre in Totnes.
Alongside counselling, I also bring over 15 years of experience as a homeopath, having trained with the Contemporary College of Homeopathy. This background supports a holistic understanding of physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing, and informs a whole-person approach to healing.
Nature, creativity, and connection are central to both my life and my work. I have a particular interest in nature-based therapy and believe deeply in the restorative power of reconnecting with the natural world.
I love weaving, spinning, sewing, and enjoy exploring how working creatively with our hands can be deeply therapeutic.
Plants are another long-standing passion of mine. I enjoy foraging - the subject of my PhD - and practise biodynamic gardening.
Community is equally important to me, and I volunteer my time helping to run a Compassionate Café and an after-school gardening club, creating spaces where people can come together, connect, and grow.
When I’m not counselling or gardening, you’ll often find me sea swimming all year round, drawn to the vitality, rhythm, and calm of the ocean.
If this gentle, integrative approach to counselling resonates with you, I’d be very glad to hear from you.
Counselling, and so much more...
Being a person-centred, integrative counsellor means I'm guided by your needs and aims for wellbeing, and can guide you towards your own intuitive wisdom through the use of a range of transpersonal techniques.
Click on the links to take a more detailed look at this, and the other services I provide.
Sandplay Therapy
Sandplay (or Sand Story) therapy is a unique and powerful form of counselling using the expressive and therapeutic qualities of sand to facilitate healing and personal growth.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a gentle, holistic approach which uses highly diluted natural substances with the aim of supporting the body's own healing processes.
Homeobotanical Therapy
A gentle, complementary treatment that uses specially blended herbal remedies to support the body's natural ability to rebalance and improve overall wellbeing.
The story behind the name
Who was Hygeia?
In ancient Greek mythology, Hygeia was the goddess of health, wellbeing and healing.
Rather than being associated with curing illness alone, Hygeia represented something gentler and deeper; the nurturing of balance, harmony and wholeness in everyday life.
Her name is the root of the modern word hygiene, reflecting an understanding of health as something that is cared for, protected and cultivated over time.
Hygeia’s presence reminds us that healing is not only about fixing what is broken, but about creating the conditions in which wellbeing can naturally flourish - emotionally, physically and spiritually.
Hygeia Healing takes inspiration from this philosophy, offering a space where care, connection and compassion support the body and mind’s own capacity to heal.
Qualifications and Accreditations
Hygeia Healing is fully insured with Balens Limited. Here are some of the qualifications I hold, please contact me if you'd like further details.
Level 4 Diploma
In Therapeutic Counselling. BACP Accredited
A.I.S.T.
Foundation in Integrated Sandplay Therapy
Licentiate
Of the Contemporary College of Homeopathy
Post Graduate
Certificate in Homeobotanical Therapy