Counselling & Talking Therapies

Here to help during life's challenges

At the Tree of Life Centre, our central mission is to be here for you when you need support the most. Our compassionate and professional team of specialist therapists offer a wide range of services, tailored to meet your individual needs. You’re always welcome to arrange a free initial conversation to explore the options that might be right for you.

On this page, you can meet our team members and learn more about some of the key services we offer, helping you find the right support for your journey.

• Counselling

• Psychotherapy

• CBT

• EMDR

• Couples Therapy

• Somatic Therapy

Counselling

Counselling provides a safe, confidential, and non-judgemental space to explore challenges and life’s difficulties. People seek counselling for many different reasons, at different times in their lives. Current or unresolved issues can bring pain, confusion, or stress, and at such times, a trained counsellor can offer valuable guidance and support. Counselling helps you understand yourself better, connect with your inner resources, and discover positive ways to move forward.

A Person-Centred Approach

Based on the work of Carl Rogers, the founder of the Person-Centred Approach, counselling is about helping clients live in a more satisfying and resourceful way. Rather than telling you what to do, a counsellor works with you to explore your concerns, offering encouragement and, where helpful, gentle challenge to enable change.

A key part of this approach is feeling truly heard, understood, and validated. This support helps you gain clarity, build confidence, and support personal growth.

The Benefits of Counselling

Counselling can support people from all walks of life to navigate challenges, overcome past difficulties, and embrace change. Common areas where counselling can help include:

• Times of change or crisis

• Depression and anxiety

• Relationship difficulties

• Bereavement and loss

• Sexuality or identity questions

Each counsellor has their own approach and areas of specialisation. Please visit individual team member profiles to learn more about their experience and ways of working.

Psychotherapy

Integrative psychotherapy takes a holistic approach, recognising the importance of the whole person - mind, body, and emotions. It looks beyond symptoms to explore the underlying causes of distress, helping clients understand themselves more deeply, without judgement or pathologising.

The therapist works with you to acknowledge and accept “what is,” supporting you through imbalance and areas that need healing, while creating a safe and compassionate space to explore your experiences. With rigorous training in experiential, clinical, and academic methods, our team combines expertise with empathy to guide you through your journey.

Psychotherapy offers a confidential space to examine the issues affecting your life. Our therapists work with adults facing a wide range of challenges, including:

• Anxiety and stress

• Depression

• Low self-esteem

• Emotional difficulties

• Trauma or abuse

• Family or relationship difficulties

• Feeling stuck or facing life crises

• Loss and bereavement

Each person’s goals in therapy are unique, but the overall aim is to help you gain greater balance, wellbeing, and resilience. Through psychotherapy, you can strengthen your sense of agency, expand your capacity for choice, and develop greater flexibility in navigating life’s challenges.

Somatic Therapy

Somatic therapy gently explores and supports the connection between mind, body, and nervous system. Rather than focusing only on thoughts or symptoms, this approach recognises how stress, trauma, pain, and emotional experiences are held in the body.

Emily Kennedy-Barnes is our specialist practitioner in somatic and neuroscience-informed therapy. Her sessions are client-led, trauma-informed, and inclusive, combining conversation with simple body awareness, breath, and gentle movement where appropriate. The aim is to help regulate the nervous system, build resilience, and support a greater sense of safety, ease, and self-connection.

This integrative approach can be helpful for people experiencing anxiety, chronic pain or fatigue, trauma, Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), or for anyone wishing to feel more balanced and at home in themselves. Grounded in both neuroscience and somatic practice, it offers practical tools to support emotional wellbeing, nervous system health, and overall quality of life.

Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT)

RTT is a powerful, evidence-informed approach that helps people uncover the root causes of their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. Rather than only addressing symptoms, it identifies the origin of limiting beliefs and patterns, supporting clients to transform them into more positive, empowering ways of thinking.

Laura Paton, our experienced RTT hypnotherapist, guides clients gently through the process, helping them access subconscious patterns and understand how early experiences may shape present challenges. This awareness enables lasting changes that boost emotional wellbeing, resilience, and self-confidence.

RTT can help with anxiety, stress, depression, grief, past trauma, addiction, weight management, and life transitions. Sessions use personalised techniques, including hypnosis, regression, and reframing, along with a bespoke audio for ongoing support. Many clients experience meaningful change in just 1–3 sessions, making RTT a fast, practical route to personal growth.