A realistic frame is 3-6-12 months rather than weeks. The first 1-2 months are about safety and rest; months 3-6 are stabilisation; months 6-12 are reconstruction, often alongside a return to work with different boundaries.
Often, yes. Recovery needs sustained rest to re-baseline the nervous system plus a redesign of how you work. Patients who combine meaningful rest with boundary and role changes typically recover more fully without walking away from work they value.
No, but they overlap. Burnout has its own clinical profile — exhaustion, cynicism, reduced efficacy — tied to sustained occupational stress. Depression has broader diagnostic criteria including persistent low mood and thoughts of self-harm.
Skilled somatic therapy uses pacing techniques to ensure the nervous system doesn't get overwhelmed. Occasionally patients experience temporary activation as stored patterns begin to release, which should be discussed with the practitioner.
Overlap is significant. Anxiety has more focused worry content; chronic stress is broader sustained activation tied to current external demands. Many patients have both, and the body-level pattern is similar.
Coverage varies. Some private health insurers cover talking therapies, but somatic therapy and coaching are less consistently covered than CBT or psychiatry. We'd suggest checking directly with your insurer.
No referral is needed to book body-based or coaching support directly. But for clinical anxiety, we strongly encourage GP and NHS mental-health input as the lead pathway, and we work alongside that care.
It varies by person. Sleep often improves first, sometimes within 2-3 weeks where jaw tension is part of the picture. Broader nervous-system change is slower — most patients notice a measurable shift somewhere across 3-6 months of sustained work.
Not with diagnosis or clinical treatment, but a dentist often sees anxiety's physical signature before the patient names it — worn teeth, jaw tightness, headaches at the temples. Releasing the jaw with a splint protects the teeth and interrupts a feedback loop that reinforces tension.
CBT works primarily with thoughts and behaviours and is NICE first-line treatment. Somatic therapy works primarily with the body — the nervous-system pattern, held tension, the breath. They aren't competitors; many patients do best with both.
Somatic therapy can meaningfully support anxiety, but it complements clinical mental-health care rather than replacing it. The evidence base is moderate and growing — strongest as an adjunctive treatment, particularly where CBT has plateaued.
Highly individual. Some patients find meaningful shift within 6-12 sessions; others find deeper longer-term work over a year or longer. We agree review points to assess whether the work is moving in the direction you want.
Yes — trauma-informed practice is integrated into our therapeutic work where appropriate, covering developmental, single-event, and complex trauma patterns. We are explicit about pacing and approach during the discovery call.
£120 per 50-60 minute session. Weekly engagement typical. Block bookings (10 sessions paid in advance) £1,100. Initial discovery call complimentary. We do not currently offer NHS-funded sessions. Concessions sometimes available.
Confidentiality is maintained within standard professional ethical limits. The standard exception is significant risk of harm to self or others, where professional ethics require disclosure. We discuss this in the first session.
Weekly 50-60 minute sessions are typical for engaged work. Some longer-term work moves to fortnightly later in the engagement. Sporadic 'as-needed' sessions don't tend to produce the relationship-based change that consistent weekly work supports.
Anxiety, low mood and depression, life transitions, relationship patterns, grief, complex emotional patterns, trauma where appropriate, and existential concerns. Not primary care for severe mental illness requiring psychiatric medication — we refer where appropriate.
CBT is a specific evidence-based protocol focused on patterns of thinking and behaviour, typically short-term and structured. Integrative psychotherapy draws from CBT alongside psychodynamic, person-centred, and somatic traditions, and is typically longer-term and broader in scope.
Considerable overlap; the terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Counselling tends to be shorter-term and issue-or-event-oriented. Psychotherapy tends to be longer-term, deeper, and more focused on patterns and underlying structure. The discovery call helps establish which suits your work.
222 Essex Road, Islington, London N1 3AP — two minutes' walk from Essex Road station. Highbury & Islington is about 15 minutes on foot and Angel about 15 to 20 minutes. Monday to Friday, 8am-7pm (Tuesday from 9am) by appointment, no Saturday and no walk-in service.
This service is designed for women in the perimenopause transition, but our individual disciplines — nutrition, somatic therapy, coaching, Ayurvedic care — are available more broadly. Ask at the initial conversation.
Not at all. Most women begin with one or two disciplines and add others only if and when it makes sense. The plan is built around your priorities and budget.
A free 20-minute initial conversation, an integrative consultation at £125, individual practitioner consultations from £75, and a coordinated monthly care plan from £450. All prices are confirmed in writing before any work begins.
It depends on your most pressing concerns. Sleep and anxiety often point toward somatic work; weight, energy, and digestion toward nutrition; daily structure toward Ayurvedic lifestyle guidance; life and identity questions toward coaching. The free initial conversation helps us recommend a sensible starting point.
Ayurveda is a traditional system of medicine focused on diet, routine, and lifestyle tailored to the individual. We present it as a traditional practice, not as Western medicine. Some elements overlap with evidence-based approaches; others are traditional and not established by clinical trials.