How I can help
I help people who are experiencing heightened sensitivity due to challenging life circumstances or who have been sensitive from birth.
I am an experienced, qualified counsellor/psychotherapist. I am also a highly sensitive person so I know from personal as well as professional experience that criticism or mocking of sensitivity by others can be deeply painful, and we often feel that we deserve such attitudes. In our sessions there is no worry that is “too silly”, no “overreaction”, only warmth and compassion that can help you to better understand and support yourself.
When you are ready to share, doing so without fear can be very healing, helping you begin to unhook from embarrassment or even shame that can make life so heavy and constricted. When we are constantly fight ourselves and who we are we consume an enormous amount of energy. Therapy can enable you to become aware of your strengths and direct energy to the areas of your life that are most open to change
In nearly 20 years in practice I have built experience in areas including anxiety, depression, trauma, bereavement, unintentional neglect in childhood, low self-esteem and self-criticism, perfectionism, burnout, neurodivergence, life transitions, family estrangement as well as sensitivity and high sensitivity. I am interested in getting to know you as a person and helping you to discover what is most helpful for you, not in pathologising you.
Please email me info@elizabethdowningcounsellor.com to arrange a free, no obligation initial call to see if we might work well together. Often the people that become my clients need time to process and feel anxious under pressure. There is no rush, and whilst I welcome questions I will not chase you for a decision. If you do decide you’d like to have therapy with me my fee is £75.00 for a 60 minute session. For clients who prefer a longer session to allow for time to warm up and more space to think deeply I charge £110 for 90 minutes.
I know that contacting a therapist can feel very daunting. I aim to respond to you within 24 hours (except at weekends or holiday times) so that you are not left with uncertainty. If you contact me by email you will receive a notification if I am on holiday. Please do get in touch.
Perhaps...
- You feel sensitive, seeming to be more affected by things than other people. You need more time to process things than the world seems to allow. You are worried that you over-react to things, overthink things, or you get tired of people telling you to toughen up or just get over it. You also tend to be very empathic and might describe yourself as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).
- You are experiencing fatigue or chronic illness and life is an uphill struggle. Most people in your life don't understand. You feel frustrated and a burden.
- Life feels really busy, but somehow empty. You’re exhausted and burntout, always trying to please others and fit in, ashamed and sad that you either have to hide your real self or take the risk that people will criticise you. Your life seems to be run by other people’s expectations and you've lost touch with yourself and what you want and need - or perhaps you've never known.
- You suffer with anxiety or sleep problems/insomnia and you don't know what's causing it or how to deal with it.
- Something is knawing away at you that feels too shameful, embarrassing, or too silly to share with anyone else, but it is getting in the way of you living the life you want to life.
- Quite simply, you know that you process things better when you can speak them outloud. You need to make sense of things to feel more settled.