Stress, Anxiety, and Overwhelm
Perhaps it’s a persistent hum of anxiety, old patterns you can’t seem to shake, or the kind of tired that rest doesn’t fix. Maybe your nervous system is buzzing with stress, making it difficult to relax or cope with your life. Or you may feel completely overwhelmed and burned out.
If this sounds familiar, I offer you a space to slow down and creatively explore what is lying beneath the surface.
Together, we will look at how old patterns and survival strategies continue to shape your present-day experiences, while helping you stay grounded in real time events. By creatively engaging with what’s underneath and gently supporting your emotions and nervous system to release/regulate, improved well-being becomes possible. From this place, you are better resourced to deal with the stressors you face.
Support for ME/CFS
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious, complex, and debilitating physical, multi-system illness. It fundamentally impacts every aspect of a person's life and there is currently no cure. Up to ninety percent of those diagnosed are women, and so it is women I support therapeutically, as an adjunct to treatment offered via your GP.
Navigating this illness can feel deeply isolating - a reality I understand intimately, having lived with ME/CFS myself since 2012.
I must stress that the therapy I offer is not a cure, nor is it designed to treat the underlying physical pathology of ME/CFS. The global medical community are busy working on that. However, in 2015 I did undertake a limited piece of postgraduate clinical research in support of an ME/CFS client, as part of my Master’s Degree in Dramatherapy. This proved to be life enhancing for that client - and for me.
The science and methodology behind "The Two Sisters Approach'
My approach is informed by my clinical research into the neurobiological links between long-term physical dysregulation, childhood stress, and habits of chronic emotional suppression.
When children learn that it is unsafe to express difficult emotions, they may survive this by becoming numb and dissociating, or through hiding their true feelings and building survival strategies to gain their caregivers' approval. This can become ingrained as patterns of people pleasing, perfectionism, and over-achieving / busyness that lasts into adulthood.
The Two Sisters approach supports your quality of life by helping you:
- Recognise Autonomic Activation: Safely track when your nervous system slips into fight-or-flight or collapse states.
- Support Pacing: Learn to monitor stress and energy limits in the moment, to help prevent post-exertional distress.
- Process the Emotional Toll: Provide a safe, non-judgmental space to hold the grief, anxiety, and frustration of navigating a chronic illness.
- Healthy self-regulation: Explore how the ingrained habits - such as perfectionism, over-exertion, or people-pleasing - can make it difficult to establish the strict resting boundaries your body physically requires.
If you would like to discuss whether 'The Two Sisters' approach, offered as a 10 week programme, might be a supportive resource for your journey, please reach out for an initial consultation.
A Note on ME/CFS Safety: Consistent with UK clinical guidelines, this therapy is designed entirely as an adjunctive, supportive space to manage the impact of your chronic illness and protect your energy limits. To protect your physical safety and prevent relapse, I am unable to offer this gently active therapy to individuals currently experiencing severe or very severe ME/CFS
Cost and Time
No charge
Initial 30-minute telephone or online consultation.
£70 per hour
Most clients choose fortnightly 2-hr sessions as this is best for working outdoors.
£700 per programme
A 10-week managed process for ME/CFS clients.
£630 if paid in full in advance (10% discount)
I can come to you...
I am based in Newton Abbot but if you have ME/CFS I am also available to travel to you. Areas covered are Ashburton, Bovey Tracey, Chudleigh, Teignmouth, Torbay and Totnes, and villages close to any of these.
£0.55 per mile travel cost
This charge applies only to ME/CFS home visits.
Get in touch
E-mail: susie@wildandwise.co.uk