Counselling for women shaped by relational trauma in childhood | Peterborough & Online
A calm place to begin
If you're someone who seems capable, dependable, loyal, but privately you're actually exhausted and unsure why real closeness still feels so hard, that's not a coincidence. These patterns usually started a long way back, in relationships that taught you how to stay safe by adapting.
I'm so glad you're here.
Trying harder isn't the answer anymore
From the outside, your life may look settled. You cope, achieve and keep going, even when things feel difficult.
Underneath, however, you may feel exhausted from always being the one who holds things together. You might find yourself putting others first, dismissing your own needs, or struggling to know what you actually want.
Perhaps you've spent years adapting to what was needed of you by being capable, dependable and self-sufficient. Those qualities may have helped you in many ways, but they can also leave you feeling disconnected from yourself and your emotions.
You might recognise yourself in some of these experiences:
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You've read the books, listened to the podcasts, tried the routines, but things don't feel any easier.
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You can tell intuitively when your partner's had a bad day and usually make space for it. But you wouldn't easily be able to say how your day has been.
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Someone asks if you can help with something you don't have capacity for, and yet you find yourself agreeing.
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Your life looks like it's going well. But truthfully you're running on empty and not sure how much longer you can keep this pace up.
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You always remember what's going on for your loved ones, but somehow you end up feeling forgotten.
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You struggle to rest even when you're exhausted.
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You've always been the one who gets things done, so you're wondering why you can't just sort things out yourself.
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You want to feel truly close to someone (to matter, to be missed), but the moment someone gets that close, part of you wants to run.
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You know theoretically what might help, but you find you can't stick to things.
You know something needs to change but you don't know how.
How I Work
In our work together, we slow things down.
Rather than trying to fix or push past what you’re feeling, we begin to understand it; where it comes from, and why it makes sense.
If you experienced relational trauma in childhood, you may have learnt early on that being easy, capable or useful was the best way to stay safe, feel close to your loved ones or manage relationships.
Over time, this can lead to feeling disconnected from your own needs and responses.
Therapy offers a space to reconnect.
We might explore:
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how earlier experiences have shaped the way you relate to yourself and others
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the patterns that keep you feeling stuck
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what your body is signalling, and how to begin listening to it
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how to respond to yourself with more understanding and compassion
This isn’t about becoming a different person. It’s about feeling more like yourself; and having more choice in how you live and relate.
Meet Anna
Integrative Counsellor
I understand how it feels to be doing all the 'right things' but still to be overwhelmed and stuck.
I spent many years pushing myself to my absolute limits, stuck in cycles of burnout and totally confused about why I didn't feel happier and why I couldn't just be myself.
This is what brought me to therapy, and to counselling training. I discovered first-hand how transformative the counselling relationship could be, and I decided to complete my psychotherapeutic counselling degree so that I could offer this to others in my position.
And here I am, having qualified in 2022, building a life that fulfils and nourishes me, stumbling and learning every day, but so grateful that I get to do this work.
