About

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The many forms of burnout.

In the latest reboot of my business, getting my ship in order to be able to offer a more comprehensive offer, I have needed to take some time to reflect.

Reflection is not new to me, but branding, marketing, streamlining and any general form of business organisation certainly is!

My mental meanderings have been taking stock of the journey of my years practicing. Considering the various extra trainings and new directions based on the needs of my client groups… Starting as a Counselling Psychologist; an integrative practitioner based on the foundations of humanistic practice. Belief in the fundamental ability of the soul to heal itself, given the right support and experience of being psychologically held. 

Add to this the years in the NHS. In the trenches so to speak. This enhanced my practice and my learning to cover the whole range of the human experience. From young people in crisis to older adults struggling with grief, mourning and chronic pain. The full spectrum of the challenges that face us in life. 

Then to private practice, where my seemingly endless quest to offer therapy to people free at the point of contact took me to the corporate world. Where day after day, hour after hour my work took me to supporting individuals in significant distress. Not distress like the damage caused by a flood. But the distress of a thousand paper cuts. Of the wound created by needing to carry on day to day in a job that is destroying you from the inside out. Chained to your desk. Separate from nature. Separate from your values, your supporters and yourselves. 

Then. I became a parent. And not just a parent. A SEN parent. A parent to a wonderful child. A parent to a child with autism. High masking autism, the type that isn’t easily seen. Unless you are looking (or unless you are with them when they unravel in the safety of their home). And systems are so stretched. And professionals are so tired. And to be honest people are so  judgemental. They don’t tend to look anymore.

So, then my compass spun again. Because I became a service user. And it wasn’t fun.

So, just exactly what type of therapist am I?

Well firstly, I sincerely hope I am a Kind One. As Kindness is a top value of mine and, as a practitioner I always try to walk my talk. So as much as I might gently bang on about aligning to your values in our sessions together, equally I try to check my own compass to ensure I am steering my own ship on the right course for me. 

So I am practitioner who appreciates kindness, integrity and understands the many many forms of distress and how it manifests. And not just the forms of distress, also the context within which the distress is experienced. I understand the feelings of powerless you can experience trying to navigate support. And I understand burnout.

I understand the burnout of an older adult navigating loss after loss in a body that experiences pain everyday. 

I understand the burnout of an individual working a corporate job that is slowly sucking the resilience and joy out of their daily life.

I understand the burnout of the autistic person who is forced to mask and perform in a world that does not understand them, and does even care to look anymore. 

I understand the burnout of a SEN parent who is desperately trying to get support for their child in a society which turns to judgement and blame rather than compassion and understanding. 

I understand the overwhelming fatigue and sense of hopelessness which can wash over you when you are struggling and don’t know how to get back to you again. I understand the fear of knowing you are stuck in cycles of toxic relationships and don’t know how to break free. 

So I blend the psychological with the holistic. Training as a children and family yoga instructor, developing my knowledge of eco therapy and taking on board some therapy ponies for my kids. 

Because making my practice neurodivergent friendly has made me diversify in a way that has been beneficial to all my client groups. I am a therapist who can get you out of your head and back into your body so you can heal, make positive choices for yourself, understand and be in charge of your nervous system and live a life reconnected to yourself. 

With a Kind Mind, A Steady Breath and A Strong Heart. 

Thanks for reading to the end

Namaste x