If you’re here you may be wondering who I am, how I work, and whether therapy with me might feel like a good fit for you. I offer a calm, supportive space for people who are feeling anxious, stressed or overwhelmed and want to find a more comfortable way forward.
About Joanne - From Meeting Rooms to the Therapy Space
Before training as a therapist, I worked as a Project Manager in the IT industry. I know first-hand how stress, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and the pressure to perform can quietly erode wellbeing. Having therapy myself helped me unpick rigid patterns and find a way of living that felt more authentic, not just productive. That experience planted the first seed for my career change, later strengthened by my transition into motherhood.
Becoming a Mum
Becoming a mum for the first time was a jolting experience for me, one filled with anxiety and self-doubt, as I found myself navigating the challenge of parenting differently from the way I was raised. Seeking support was a turning point. It deepened my empathy for others and led me to begin supporting new parents as a peer supporter in local children’s centres, before training as a Hypnobirthing Practitioner. Those honest, quiet moments with families clarified where my work truly lay: supporting others emotional wellbeing.
Finding My Own Rhythm
I trained first as a hypnotherapist and later as a counsellor, and I am now an Accredited Registrant Member of the National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society. Along the way, I discovered my own neurodivergence. This understanding helped me stop forcing myself into ways of thinking and being that never quite fit, and instead work with my natural rhythms.
This lived experience shapes how I work. I offer a flexible, gentle, and attuned approach, with close attention to pace, overwhelm, and the different ways people process thoughts and emotions. For neurodivergent clients especially, this often means less pressure to explain yourself or “get it right”, and more space to simply be as you are.
Clinical Experience
I’ve worked with several charities supporting individuals experiencing emotional challenges, relationship and family difficulties, trauma, domestic abuse, and high-stress environments, including The Wilderness Foundation, where I support people through one-to-one and group nature-based therapy. My focus is always on helping people feel safer in themselves so they can find a more manageable way forward.
A Gentle Space for You
Today, my practice brings together all of these experiences. I offer the empathy of someone who has sat in the client’s chair, alongside the steadiness of someone who understands workplace pressure, identity shifts, motherhood, challenging family dynamics, and neurodivergent ways of being.
My approach is warm, down-to-earth, creative and non-judgemental. I’m here to support you in finding your own rhythm in life — one that feels more comfortable, sustainable, and true to you.
How I Work
Healing begins when you feel truly listened to, understood, accepted, and cared for, so you can be yourself. It’s a space to build a steady, genuine connection, without having to earn your place or feel pressured to think, feel, or act in a certain way.
Therapy with me isn’t about sitting across from a blank slate. It’s about being with another real person, because the relationship we build together really matters. My approach is gentle, down to earth, and tailored to you. Many people tell me they feel steadier and more at ease when they begin working with me, and from there we can explore whatever feels most important, whether that’s anxiety, overwhelm, racing thoughts, self doubt, or something else.
There isn’t one right way to ‘do therapy’. What helps is different for everyone, so I work flexibly, drawing on different approaches depending on your needs, preferences, and goals. At the heart of my work is offering empathy, acceptance, and a genuine therapeutic relationship, so you feel heard and understood without judgement.
Where it feels useful, I may bring in practical tools to help you understand how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are linked. We might also explore how past experiences and unhelpful patterns could be shaping what’s happening for you today. We focus on what feels most helpful for you.
At the heart of it, you are the expert in your own experiences. I’m not here to tell you what to do, but to support you in making sense of things in your own way.
As a qualified hypnotherapist, I can also integrate hypnotherapy to support relaxation, access deeper states of awareness, or work with specific issues such as anxiety, phobias, confidence, habits, and healing old wounds.
I also offer outdoor walk and talk therapy. These sessions take place outside, walking at a gentle pace, and can help some people feel more relaxed, less self conscious, and more able to open up. Being in nature can bring a sense of calm and space while we talk through what’s on your mind.
Training & Experience
I am an Accredited Registrant Member of the National Counselling & Psychotherapy Society, which is accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.
In addition I'm a trained Hypnotherapist and an Easibirthing® Hypnotic Birth Practitioner, I also have additional training in breadtfeeding support and perinatal mental health.
My Qualifications and Training:
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Level 5 Professional Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling Practice
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NCFE Cache Level 3 in Perinatal Mental Health
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Level 4 Diploma in Counselling Skills & Theory
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Level 3 Diploma in Hypnotherapy and Counselling Skills
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NCFE Cache Level 2 in Mental Health First Aid
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Bushcraft Skills, an Introduction
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Hypnotherapy for Anxiety & Panic – The Hypnotherapy Academy
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Hypnotherapy for Phobias – The Hypnotherapy Academy
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The Rewind Technique for PTSD & Phobias – Uncommon Knowledge
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Easibirthing® Postnatal Mental Health & Early Parenting Relationships – National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
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Easibirthing® Hypnobirthing for Practitioners Course – National College of Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
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Love Your Birth Hypnobirthing Expansion Course – Fendant Accredited, Love Your Birth Training School
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Mindful Breastfeeding Practitioner Training – The Mindful Breastfeeding School
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Mindful Breastfeeding Reflections: Breastfeeding Listening Service – The Mindful Breastfeeding School
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Breastfeeding Management & Relationship Building – Unicef UK
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Mother Supporter – Association of Breastfeeding Mothers
