Women's Health Counselling in Bristol & Online

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Tired of the old narrative?

Being a woman can come with a lot of expectations.

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Be nice. Be agreeable. Don't make a fuss. Look a certain way. Have children. Get on with things. Don't talk too much about your body.

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Somewhere along the way, many of us become very good at listening to everyone else.

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Our relationship with our bodies can be complicated too. Our first periods may have been something we were taught to keep quiet about. Painful periods can be dismissed as normal. Conditions such as endometriosis, PCOS and PMDD can affect how we feel about our bodies and ourselves. Fertility, pregnancy, pregnancy loss, perimenopause and menopause can all bring their own physical and emotional challenges.

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And then there is everything we've absorbed from the world around us about what a woman is supposed to be.

I'm interested in what happens when you start questioning some of that.

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What if you listened to yourself?

I think that somewhere underneath everything, we often do know.

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We might know that something isn't working anymore. That we're unhappy. That we want something different. That there is a part of us saying what if? or maybe I'd like to...

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But if you've spent years pushing those feelings down, listening to yourself can feel uncomfortable. There can be a fear of what you'll find when you stop keeping everything neat and manageable.

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Counselling can give those quieter parts of yourself some space.

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I'm not here to tell you what you should do. I'm not going to give you a list of answers or try to do the work for you.

I'm here as a sounding board.

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A place for the things you haven't said out loud yet. The what ifs. The maybe I'd like tos. The thoughts that feel messy, selfish, unrealistic or too much.

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We can explore them together and see what is underneath them.

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Your body, your story

Women's health has been part of my working life for many years.

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Before becoming a counsellor, I worked as a nurse, including in A&E, early pregnancy and gynaecology. I've seen how important medical care is, but I've also seen how much can be missed when we only look at what is happening physically.

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There is an emotional experience alongside the medical one.

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I've also lived some of these experiences myself. I'm now a perimenopausal woman, and looking back has made me realise how much of my own life was shaped by how I thought I would be perceived.

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I'm still figuring some of that out myself.

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I don't come to this work believing I have all the answers. I don't think there is one right way to be a woman.

I'm interested in helping you find out what feels right for you.

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What can we explore?

You might be coming to counselling because of:

• your relationship with your body

• periods, PMDD, endometriosis or PCOS

• fertility difficulties or IVF

• pregnancy and pregnancy loss

• perimenopause or menopause

• changes in your identity or confidence

• feeling that you've spent your life trying to be who you think you should be

• difficulty knowing what you actually want

• relationships, boundaries and learning to use your voice

• feeling disconnected from yourself

 

You don't need to arrive knowing exactly what the problem is.

Sometimes all you know is that something doesn't feel right.

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That's enough to start.

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A little about how I work

I won't tell you how to live your life. You're the expert on that.

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I'll listen, ask questions, sometimes challenge you and help you look at the things that might be difficult to see on your own.

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I'm not here to do the work for you. I'm here to help you hear yourself.

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And counselling doesn't have to feel heavy every minute. We can notice the wins, laugh together and make space for the lighter moments too.

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A space for you

Women's health isn't experienced in one particular way. I welcome trans women and non-binary people who are navigating questions around their bodies, identity, hormones, fertility, reproductive health or the expectations placed on them.

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You don't need to fit neatly into a category to have a place here. We can start with your experience, your story and what matters to you.

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You don't have to figure it out alone

Perhaps you're tired of the old narrative.

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Perhaps you're wondering what your life might look like if you stopped measuring yourself against everyone else's expectations.

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Perhaps you simply know that something needs to change, but you don't yet know what.

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You don't need to have the answers before you come.

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We can start with the what ifs.

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The maybe I'd like tos.

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And see where they take you.

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If you'd like to see whether we're a good fit, I offer a free, no-obligation call before you decide whether you'd like to work with me.