What I help with

People rarely arrive with a tidy label. More often it is a feeling that something is not right, or that they are somehow harder work than everyone else. Here are the themes that come up most in my practice.

Shame and self-criticism

The sense of being fundamentally flawed, rather than having simply done something wrong. Shame makes us want to hide, which is exactly what stops it being examined.

Self-criticism often travels with it, in a voice that sounds like it is helping. This is the area I work in most, and it is what CFT was developed for.

Low self-worth

Feeling that you have to earn your place. Difficulty accepting warmth or praise. Apologising for taking up space. Being the person everyone relies on, while quietly believing that if they knew you properly they would think less of you.

Anxiety

A threat system working overtime. That can be constant background worry, anticipating the worst, replaying conversations, or physical symptoms that arrive before you consciously feel worried.

Perfectionism

Standards that only ever move upwards, and relief that never comes because achievement resets the bar. Perfectionism is often a drive system recruited by a threat system, which is why simply lowering your standards does not work.

Trauma and difficult experiences

Support with the ongoing effects of frightening, overwhelming or repeatedly painful experiences, including things that happened a long time ago.

We work at your pace. There is no requirement to give a detailed account of anything before you are ready, and quite often that is not what helps most anyway.

Not sure where you fit?

Plenty of people cannot name what is wrong, and that is a perfectly good reason to come. If you would like to talk it through first, the free 15-minute call exists for exactly that.

If you need support today rather than in a few weeks, please see urgent help.