Hello my name is Tracy

I am a neuroaffirming counsellor with an interest in working with clients with attachment issues from dysfunctional childhoods. I have lived experience of this background.

There is hope. We can learn to Talk, Trust and Feel.

"We are born in relationship, we are wounded in relationship, and we can be healed in relationship." (Harville Hendrix)

Are you struggling with your inner critic or as Brene Brown calls it, the 'shame gremlin'? Whatever is present for you, it's always good to connect, feel heard and like someone really gets you.

Looking at ourselves is not always comfortable, but perhaps you have reached the point where it feels necessary?

I offer a gentle space in which I aim to understand what your life is like for you at the moment. I believe that people have the innate resources to heal, live and thrive in spite of adversity. I have witnessed this both as a counsellor and throughout the 16 years I worked in mental health and addiction support.

I am a trauma informed therapist and work with clients who have mental health and addiction issues as well as other difficulties. I have experience working with people who are bereaved or have long term health conditions. Recently, I worked with Macmillan cancer patients as well as for the NHS working with renal patients.

I have been a qualified counsellor for 8 years.

I am also a breathwork coach with an interest in working with the body to process trauma and distress.

I can offer to work creatively with clients using artwork and story-telling using Gestalt interventions when appropriate.

"If we don't know the trees, we can get lost in the forest. If we don't know the stories, we can get lost in life."

However this is not the only way I help and will adapt to a client's needs and preferences.

Breathwork

As well as a physical and emotional body we also have a breath body.

Breathwork has been called the forgotten pillar of health. Lung function is now thought to be as important as diet and exercise for human longevity.

It is possibly the best natural resource we have for self-regulation and stress reduction. Conscious breathing techniques have a direct link to our nervous system activation and it's brake (the parasympathetic nervous system).

It is the only system in the body that happens unconsciously but that we can also control when we want or need to.

Apart from the more dynamic breathwork practices, there are few contraindications and it can lower blood pressure.

The benefits of breathwork are accumulative so the more you practice it the more benefits this can bring to your mental and physical wellbeing.

Story Medicine

Stories have been with us since we started communicating as a species. The stories that have survived the test of time have done so for a reason. They have themes that many can relate to and are about all of human experience. Some are cautionary tales, many are initiation blueprints and good stories incorporate our shadow side as well as the parts of us that we like.

From when we are young, stories introduce us to loss, vanity, inequality, death, love, lust, trust, greed, isolation, connection, helpers, magic and more....

Stories work on many levels and herein lies the medicine. There is the surface level of story as it is told, then the themes which can be realised unconsciously and in our conscious minds. Yet there is also a deeper level. The witch is never just a witch - she is the part of us that we have to overcome to move forwards. Metaphor is accessed through our right brain and the pattern of problem solving inherent in good stories stays with us. It guides us in times of need. It eases our existential aloneness. It says others have been here before you and here is how they navigated this.

And how we talk about ourselves and our stories matters. Re authoring our lives is important to look at especially if the story we are telling about ourselves is limiting, hopeless or introjected by others.