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“Hi there, I am counsellor Jo”

Emotional Support Counselling – Online or In Person in Wickford, Essex (SS11)

Are you feeling like you’re just about coping?

When we’re “coping,” it often doesn’t feel good. Our minds can be busy, overwhelming, and exhausting — like trying to stay afloat while pushed underwater. That’s how I understand coping.

Carrying an overwhelmed mind can feel lonely and frightening. Reaching out for support takes real courage, and by being here, reading this, you are already taking an important step for yourself.

You might be wondering if talking things through could help. Perhaps you’re looking for a space where you feel truly heard.

Sometimes, even when we talk to people who care about us, they may struggle to sit with our feelings. Often, loved ones want to make things better or encourage us to feel happier, which can leave us feeling misunderstood. My role is different — I aim to help you feel heard, understood, and validated. Many people come to therapy because of difficult or painful relationships, often within their family, and I honour how complex and sensitive those experiences can be.

Healing wounds caused by someone you love, or once trusted, can be deeply painful. As a humanistic counsellor, I work to gently lift the shame that can become attached to the ways you’ve coped.

Many behaviours we struggle with are, at their core, coping strategies for emotional pain:

• Addiction in its many forms
• Self-harm
• Restrictive or binge eating

You may feel that the ways you’ve coped aren’t “good enough.” I see it differently. You found ways to survive and manage the best you could at the time — and that has brought you to where you are today. Now, you may be seeking a calmer, more balanced way forward, and that takes courage.

All of us — you and me included — will struggle at times in life. We naturally look for ways to ease or avoid pain until we reach a point where we want to understand ourselves more deeply.

Together, we can explore what has brought you to this place of feeling overwhelmed. We might look at whether what you’re experiencing is rooted in the present, connected to past experiences that still feel very alive, or a combination of both. When we feel overwhelmed, it can seem like everything is black and white — good or bad — and we lose sight of the in-between. Part of our work is to gently rediscover those “shades of grey.”

Therapy with me offers a space where you can talk openly and begin to connect with your feelings in a safe, supportive way. I bring compassion and empathy to help you understand that, in the moments you struggled, you needed support — and perhaps didn’t receive it in the way you deserved.

It’s human to look back and think, “I should have known better.” But that often comes without self-compassion. The truth is, you were always doing the best you could with what you had at the time.

Through counselling, we can build your self-understanding and nurture a more compassionate relationship with yourself.Support isn’t about fixing you — it’s about helping you feel more like yourself again.

Anxiety, Relationships & Self-Worth

Anxiety often shows up in relationships — through people-pleasing, overthinking, or feeling “not good enough.”

Counselling can help you:

• understand unhelpful patterns
• strengthen your sense of self
• feel more secure and confident with others

When you feel steadier within yourself, relationships often feel easier to navigate.

Free 20-Minute Consultation

Choosing the right therapist is important.
That’s why I offer a free 20-minute consultation (by email).

This gives you the chance to:

• share what’s troubling you
• ask any questions
• see if I’m the right therapist for you

Take the First Step

You don’t need to wait until things feel unbearable to seek support.

👉 Use the Contact Me button below to get in touch.
Help is available — and feeling calmer is possible.

https://www.spill.chat/mental-health-statistics/anxiety-statistics (January 19, 2024).

You are not alone in looking for support. You are one of many people in the UK who need some support. The image above has been added in the hopes that you can see you are not alone in seeking counselling. 

If you would like to know what it is like to work with me, you can use the Recommendations button below to be taken to my Google page, where you can read my reviews.

Here is a link for some simple grounding techniques for you to try today.

Finding the right tools for your anxiety is like finding the right pair of shoes. Grounding techniques are similar to finding comfy shoes; you need to try them before picking the right ones for you. My favourite from the list is the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique. Which one do you feel would be most helpful to you?  

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