Hello and a warm welcome

I wonder if you have reached this page because you feel anxious, stressed or overwhelmed? Or maybe you are struggling to heal from the legacy of past relationships, traumatic experiences, loss or bereavement which continue to impact your life, present relationships and energy.

Perhaps you feel physically and emotionally drained - whether constantly tense, reactive and chaotic, or disconnected, avoidant and withdrawn - and your nervous system, both mind and body, needs a break.

You might seem fine on the surface, but underneath you feel stuck, lost, or are struggling to hold it all together. Even if you are unsure what the problem is, you know you need something to change. Is this sounding familiar?

Hello, I’m Anita, an experienced BACP accredited integrative counsellor, trauma therapist and functional breathwork coach. Perhaps I can help?

I offer a calm, respectful and supportive space to help unravel and make sense of what is happening for you, whilst gently coming alongside when life feels hard. I will help you to understand and work through your difficulties, reset your system, and connect to your inner wisdom and resilience in life. And, let's face it, modern life is tough enough without the additional challenges we meet along our path.

Whether you are struggling with anxiety, stress, trauma, loss and bereavement, phobias, relational difficulties, or are trying to navigate mid-life challenges, it’s okay to need help. There's so much more to life than simply 'coping' or 'getting by'. Therapy is a place where change can happen and, with the right choice of therapist for your needs, you no longer need to feel alone in any of this.

I am used to working with adults experiencing emotional difficulties and dysregulation in both short and long-term therapy. I will support you to feel better and find balance, understanding and resolution, whilst regaining a sense of self, inner safety and strength.

I work with individual adults of all ages - from students and young adults (age 18+) just starting out in life, to those in or approaching retirement. I will tailor my approach to your individual needs and preferences, drawing from a broad and holistic blend of psychotherapies, including talking therapy, somatic therapy, EMDR, CBT, parts therapy, creative therapy, clinical hypnotherapy, NLP, TFT (tapping) and breathwork.

Whether you wish to access therapy in-person, in my dedicated therapy room in the Suffolk countryside (easily accessible from the A14 and A134), or online from anywhere in the UK, a warm and gentle welcome awaits. So, if you are finding things difficult, please take a moment to find out how I can help and, when you are ready, get in touch. 

How I can help

I take an intuitive, compassionate and creative approach to therapy, because healing and change differs for everyone. First and foremost, however, I offer a calm, respectful and empathic space to talk - and feel really heard. Throughout our time together I will stay consistently with you, supporting you to gently explore and make sense of whatever is going on for you. Together we will find a way to move you through your difficulties at a pace that feels right for you.

I am interested in hearing your whole story, not just easing your emotional and physical symptoms (although an important part of therapy). I look to understand not only what has happened to you, but what perhaps didn't happen, was missing, or still needs release and expression. In my experience it is this approach that brings about the most effective and long-lasting change - for both mind and body - when working with anxiety, trauma and loss, or whatever is keeping you stuck.

Whatever you bring to therapy I will work within my professional competencies and capacity to support you. I am passionate about championing emotional wellbeing and resilience - considering your mental, emotional and physiological needs as a whole. I have an active interest in the mind-body relationship and how anxiety, stress and trauma is held within the body and autonomic nervous system. For this reason I use a combination of traditional 'top-down' (talking) therapy with 'bottom-up' (body and breath-based) somatic approaches to best support healing, resolution and growth.

However we agree to work, it is important to me that we build an open, honest and healthy therapeutic relationship, and that you feel empowered with autonomy and choice within sessions. Our life stories, identities, skin colour and abilities may present both differences and similarities, but I will endeavour to stay open, curious and attuned to your lived experiences and needs, supporting you to access your personal power to the best of my ability. I value individual responsibility and choice but acknowledge the impact of social inequities on this, so am open to making reasonable adjustments to my practice where needed. I own my continual personal development to ensure my services remain as accessible as possible.

When you choose me as your therapist, I will do my best to come alongside you in life, seeing you, hearing you and supporting you to express and meet your needs, whilst growing in self-awareness, resourcefulness and emotional resilience. It is my hope that our time together will support you to move forward in life with positivity, hope, meaning, purpose and self-compassion.

How therapy will work

Whether we are working in-person or online we will agree a regular time and day, to be your 'space' for as long as you need. This is usually weekly, sometimes fortnightly. 

The length of therapy will be agreed between us. You may only require a few solution-focused sessions to work with a specific problem or goal, to learn coping and emotional regulation strategies, or for me to be alongside for a short while to ground and 'hold' you steady in uncertain times. Alternatively, you may benefit from us spending longer exploring the roots of your difficulties at a deeper level. 

As our journey together continues, I will invite curiosity and self-reflection, gently bringing awareness to any unhelpful thoughts, perceptions, defensive or unhealthy patterns that may be holding you back. Together we will explore these and look to find new, healthier ways of being. 

Longer term therapy, when working at relational depth and at the right pace, can help you to find a sense of inner safety. This supports the releasing and processing of deeper, painful and often distressing emotions to bring a sense of wholeness and change. Here, we might work more creatively, bringing in other trauma-informed approaches to access parts of the mind that sit outside of conscious awareness. This safely supports deeper level exploration and understanding to ultimately change any unhealthy, unconscious processes and behaviours. It is often these unconscious patterns, usually developed in childhood - helpful perhaps then, but no longer serving us in the present - that keep us stuck.

I am a strong advocator of ‘one size does not fit all’. Instead, I adapt and integrate a blend of what, over the years, I have found works best from the different psychotherapies I practice. Together, we will discuss and agree how to best move you toward the outcome you seek, and regularly review this. Whatever the length and nature of therapy, unless otherwise agreed, sessions are 1 hour.