If you're seeking support for childhood neglect or trauma, you're in the right place. I offer online therapy for trauma including EMDR and IFS. 

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One of the things I hear most often is, "Nothing terrible happened... so why do I feel like this?"

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Maybe your parents loved you, worked hard and did the best they could. Maybe there was no obvious abuse or major traumatic event. But perhaps you spent much of your childhood feeling alone with your emotions. Maybe you learnt that being easy, capable or independent was the safest option. Perhaps you became very good at looking after everyone else while quietly wondering why no one seemed to notice what you needed.

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Those experiences shape how we move through life and can increase our risk of burnout, anxiety or overwhelm well into adulthood.

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Trauma isn't always about frightening events. Sometimes it's about growing up without enough emotional safety, attunement or understanding. It's about what you had to do to cope, and the ways those coping strategies have followed you into adult life.

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Many of the women I work with arrive in therapy in their 30s and 40s. They're often navigating parenthood, relationships, work, perimenopause or caring for ageing parents, and suddenly old patterns that have always been there become impossible to ignore. The constant self-doubt. The people-pleasing. The exhaustion of holding everything together. The feeling that, despite everything they've achieved, they're somehow still not enough.

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I also work with many neurodivergent women, including those who are autistic, ADHD or gifted, whether they've known this for years or have only recently begun to wonder about it. Growing up feeling different, masking who you are, being misunderstood or trying to fit into environments that weren't designed for your nervous system can be extremely painful. It isn't always easy to separate what's trauma, what's neurodivergence, and where the two overlap. We don't need to force that distinction straight away. Instead, we stay curious together and allow it to unfold

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As a Clinical Psychologist, I don't believe in squeezing people into one therapy model. We begin by taking time to understand your story and making sense of how your experiences have shaped the way you relate to yourself, other people and the world. From there, we decide together what will be most helpful.

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My work is grounded mainly in EMDR and Internal Family Systems (IFS), while also drawing on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) and Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT). I also bring an understanding of how trauma interacts with women's health and cyclical ways of being, including the menstrual cycle, perimenopause and menopause. These aren't separate issues, they're part of the same story and intricately woven together.

 

My Approach to Trauma Therapy

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Every person's story is unique.

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As a Clinical Psychologist, I begin by developing a psychological formulation. Rather than assuming one therapy fits everyone, I take time to understand your experiences, relationships, nervous system responses and current difficulties. You don't need to convince me your childhood was 'bad enough' or have to have enough wounds to feel ‘deserving’ of therapy. One of the saddest consequences of early emotional neglect is that people often learn to dismiss their own experience. They minimise it before anyone else has the chance. If that's something you recognise, you're not alone. Developing a psychological formulation together – a kind of overview of your life, and how your experiences have shaped and affected you – can be profoundly validating and healing, and is an important first step before further therapeutic work can take place.

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We can then choose the therapeutic approach that best fits your needs at that point in your journey and based on what your hopes and goals are. Therapy is a creative process, and most importantly a relational process, so we co-construct the therapy.

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Inclusive and welcoming approach

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Many of the people I work with have sensitive nervous systems. Some identify as autistic, ADHD or otherwise neurodivergent, while others simply know they've spent much of their lives masking, over-adapting or feeling misunderstood. Traditional therapy can sometimes feel too structured, too cognitive or disconnected from lived experience.

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I aim to offer a therapeutic relationship where you don't have to perform or get therapy "right". You might need time to think before responding. You may prefer limited eye contact, movement, fidgeting, or moments of silence. You might communicate differently from what is considered typical. All of this is welcome. Together we'll find a way forward that feels safe, collaborative and attuned to your nervous system.

 

Working With Your Nervous System and Your Cycle

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Trauma doesn't exist in isolation from the body. Our nervous system, hormones, stress responses and emotional world constantly interact. For many women, childhood trauma, chronic stress and attachment wounds become more noticeable during different phases of the menstrual cycle, as well as during perimenopause and menopause.

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As part of therapy, where it feels relevant, we may explore how your menstrual cycle influences your emotions, energy, nervous system and access to different parts of yourself.

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Once we start to tune into the cyclical nature of things. many women notice that:

• self-criticism increases before their period

• protective parts become more active during certain phases of their cycle

• old attachment wounds feel closer to the surface or these wounds need different things at different times

• overwhelm, sensory sensitivity, rejection sensitivity or emotional vulnerability fluctuate across the month.

 

Rather than fighting against them, we can begin to understand them as valuable information and a route in to connection within. The empowerment that comes from knowing you are likely to feel a certain way on a certain day, and knowing why and that it's not your fault is a powerful antidote to the way trauma can leave us feeling.

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Developing awareness of your cycle can become another way of understanding yourself with greater compassion, helping you work with your nervous system rather than against it.

 

If this is sounding like an approach that may be helpful for you I would love for you to reach out. I offer a free introductory call so let’s get that booked in.