Hello…

My name is Michaela Stansfield, a.k.a. The Women’s Therapist, and I am a fully qualified counsellor and registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).

I work with those who identify as women at all life stages, and the unique challenges, expectations and duties that come with being a woman. In particular, I work with a lot of mums as they navigate matrescence - the ongoing process of becoming a mother - and the often distressing, overwhelming and conflicting feelings that come with this.

My passion for supporting mums, and the lack of support for maternal mental wellbeing there is, spurred me into creating Raising Mum™ - with the signature programme being for first time mums, along with soon to be launched ones to support mothers in pregnancy, the school-aged and teenage years. The aim - to change the narrative around motherhood and empower mums to reach out for the support they deserve!

Whether you are a mother or not, it’s my experience that women tend to take on caregiving roles (or have these put upon them), and messages from childhood and society such as ‘be a good girl’, ‘be perfect’ or ‘please others' can result in us trying to live up to other’s often unrealistic expectations, chipping away at our self-esteem and sense of identity, leaving us feeling like we’re failing or that there’s something wrong with us, or feeling unworthy of having needs, let alone being able to meet them.

Over the years I have worked in a number of counselling services including a domestic abuse charity. I bring my past experience as a nanny and primary school teacher, applying my knowledge of child development and passion for inner child therapy as well as my own personal experience with anxiety, depression, burnout and loss. I believe no one size fits all and that’s why I trained as an integrative counsellor, meaning I can draw upon many different modalities and theories to best suit you. My integrative approach draws from humanistic person-centred therapy, psychodynamic attachment theory, transactional analysis (TA) and inner child therapy, cognitive and behavioural acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), along with polyvagal theory and neuroscience which bring in the lens of the nervous system. I also work creatively if you choose to, which can not only be transformative and offer language where there are no words, but can also help to externalise trauma or painful feelings and experiences in a way that feels safer to work with.

I work relationally, bringing my authentic self to our collaborative partnership - I am not a robot or a nodding, blank-faced therapist. I will help you to connect with yourself, your feelings, your mind-body connection, by modelling this myself and by empathically experiencing with you.

If you have any questions or would like to book a FREE 20 minute consultation to learn more about the therapy I offer please get in touch.

I keep up to date with my enhanced DBS check and first aid certification.