Compassion says:
how I am in this moment
is worthy of welcome.
- Francis Weller
Working with me is…
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Curious
I have a lot of training and a lot of tools - but when it comes to your body and your journey, YOU are the expert. It’s not my job to tell you what to do - it’s my job to get curious with you as we learn together what works best for your unique nervous system and uncover your unique path to healing and growth.
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Creative
When we’re seeking healing, change and growth, we’re creating a new experience of life! Even if you don’t want to explore traditional art therapy as part of your path, the process we’re engaging in together is a creative one. We’re looking at the story of your life so far, and actively deciding what kind of chapter you’d like to write next.
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Gentle
We work at a pace that feels good to your unique nervous system. Pushing too hard, trying to do too much, too soon doesn’t tend to work. So we listen to the worries and needs of your body and mind, and find a way forward that feels spacious and manageable (note - manageable doesn’t necessarily mean comfortable! Change is an uncomfortable place to hang out much of the time. But we want it to feel like a manageable level of discomfort).
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Kind
It’s normal to feel at times (or all the time) like disowning various parts of ourselves and our experience of life. On this journey though, ALL of you is welcome. The sad parts, the angry parts, the parts that just want to get on with it, the parts who wonder what the point is. A strange kind of magic starts to happen when all of us feels welcome - we tend to feel more easeful, more open, and the healing and growth we’re seeking tends to happen with more grace and ease.
There isn't a way things should be.
There's just what happens, and what we do.
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky
Working with me is a bit like one of those choose your own adventure books - there are so many different things we can explore together to support you to feel good, tend to your trauma and write a story with your life that feels truly meaningful and authentic to you.
Because everyone is different and everyone’s journey is unique, there is no one size fits all approach. My job is to be curious and to find the path that works best for you.
I bring elements of all my training and experience into my work with clients - and the rest flows from there. There’s lots of room for flexibility and what we do is based on what you bring to each session and what might feel fun and supportive to explore.
Scroll down for some of what’s on offer - it’s also important to note that everything I suggest is optional, and if I invite you into something you’re not interested in or don’t want to do today but might want to do tomorrow - you get to say no.
Everything we do together is invitational, always.
Read on for some more info to feed your curiosity!
Art Therapy
Art therapy is a way of using the creative process (a fancy way of saying ‘making stuff’) to support greater self-understanding and wellbeing. It’s a great way to gain new and often unexpected insight, experience the power of imagination as a healing tool, explore emotions in new ways, cope with stress, support self esteem and develop new coping skills… and it’s pretty fun.
And (this is important) you don’t need to see yourself as creative, or know how to draw to gain a lot of benefit from it! You have full permission (and encouragement) to make images that aren’t ‘pretty’ - often our internal struggles are not pretty! And that is so okay and welcome.
The point of art therapy isn’t to create a masterpiece that will hang in the National Gallery, it’s to express externally some of what you’re feeling inside, so it’s visible in front of you and you can interact with it in new ways.
Somatic Experiencing
Somatic Experiencing is a gentle way of working with the body and nervous system to support healing from trauma and stress disorders, creating more resilience and capacity for navigating your way through life.
Our bodies are very wise - they know how to overcome trauma and stress when we give them the conditions they need to heal. Through tuning into your ‘felt sense’ - the awareness of sensations in your body - we begin to learn the language of your unique nervous system, so we can meet the conditions needed for healing and offer support your system to re-negotiate and resolve the effects of trauma and stress.
This is slow and gentle work, moving at a pace that feels manageable for your unique nervous system. Somatic Experiencing helps to bring back a sense of aliveness, wholeness and relaxation.
Life Coaching
Sometimes we’re thrown into the middle of change with no say, and sometimes we’re aware that something needs to be different and so we actively choose the path.
It can feel like our identity and our old life doesn’t quite fit any longer, we’re not really sure who we are or what we want or how to get there. It’s often a messy and emotional time - it can feel confusing, uncomfortable, unsettling, irritating, maybe like we’re hanging out in a fog.
The way I offer life coaching provides support for times of change - it’s a non-linear process of acknowledging how things were, spending time with how things are now - looking for treasure in the foggy annoying unknown place, and starting to dream up and step into what’s next.
Eco Psychotherapy (Nature therapy)
For a lot of us, being outside in nature makes us feel better. And if we don’t feel better, we’ll often feel something, and then we feel better. You might already know that being in nature helps you feel:
More peaceful, less stressed out with less unhelpful mental chatter.
A more positive perspective on life and a sense things will be okay.
More of a sense of connection and belonging with something outside of yourself.
So how do we ‘do’ eco psychotherapy? It’s a bit like asking the question: how do we do art?
My answer to both those questions is: with curiosity, an open mind, and a willingness to engage with the world around you.
It's no use going back to yesterday,
because I was a different person then.
- Alice in Wonderland
Testimonials
Testimonials
It can be challenging to find a coach who can hold me with love and safety in a way that I feel comfortable enough to focus on my own transformation.
Ellen has a core of stillness, a beautiful way of being during our coaching sessions that allowed me to fully drop into my body – creating a space for me to unlock some deeply held life experiences. Her gentle probing, her wicked humour and her loving presence combining to keep me focused and safe within our sessions.
Reflecting back on how I have evolved has surprised me – we had such fun in our sessions… yet deep shifts happened.
Kym L
Being coached by Ellen has been deeply supportive of my healing journey.
Prior to working together, I was in a very painful space, struggling with intense self-loathing and experiencing a dark night of the soul. The opportunity to work with her felt like a lifeline.
I have a plethora of practices in my own tool kit, and yet trying to work through the state I was in, alone, was an impossible task. I needed the compassionate space-holding and gentle guidance of another, and Ellen provided that in abundance.
She held a container, each week, of deep witnessing and acceptance, through which I`ve been able to develop greater levels of self-acceptance and trust within myself; A more stabilized state of Self, with which to move forward in my life and create the life of thriving that I desire. Ellen`s method of coaching provided the context within which I was able to experience and be present with all parts of myself, with a sense of safety and at my own pace.
I am very grateful to her, for her skillful and loving support and guidance.
Rebecca (Self-employed, single mother of two), UK
Ellen has a soft and calming nature and takes you on a beautiful journey of self discovery and for me, that has helped on my continuous path of self love.
I felt completely comfortable and safe in her presence, when I was vulnerable with many strong mixed emotions that surfaced.
I am very grateful for her time and patience, trust and honesty from our sessions together.
Juliet M, Primary school teacher
I started to work with Ellen at the beginning of the year. I was moving through a massive spiritual uplevel. My health fell pretty quickly, got misdiagnosed with an illness which layered trauma into my healing crisis. At one point suffering with anxiety and panic attacks.
Ellen supported my nervous system to come back to alignment and balance. She created a safe place for me to call back my spirit, without any judgment.
For ever grateful x
Jaye M
Here are some blogs you might like to check out for more info…
…and of course questions are very welcome! Contact me here and I’ll get you some answers.
There's a saying:
How you do anything is how you do everything.
Have you heard it?
What does it make you feel? What do you think about when you read it?