Anna Chainska

It’s not in your head. It’s in your body.

If you’ve been in therapy for years and still feel stuck, it doesn’t mean you’re beyond help. And it doesn’t necessarily mean therapy failed you.

It may mean a crucial piece was missing.

Many therapies help you understand your story. They help you make sense of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. That understanding is valuable—but insight alone doesn’t always change what your body has learned through trauma.

Trauma lives in the nervous system. It lives in the body’s survival responses.

But there is another piece that is often overlooked.

Trauma and attachment cannot be separated.

Many people living with anxiety, depression, chronic stress, emotional overwhelm, sleep difficulties, chronic pain, or persistent health challenges carry not only unresolved trauma, but also attachment wounds. If therapy helps you process trauma but doesn’t address the relational patterns that were shaped by it, an important part of healing can remain untouched.

This is why some people leave therapy knowing why they struggle, yet still find themselves repeating the same patterns.

My work brings these two essential pieces together.

I integrate body-based trauma therapy with attachment repair because healing isn’t only about calming your nervous system—it’s about experiencing the safety of a secure therapeutic relationship, where your nervous system can begin to learn something different.

We are wounded in relationships, and we often heal in relationships.

When trauma is processed and attachment begins to heal, change is no longer something you simply understand.

It’s something you finally experience.

Nothing is wrong with you.

Your body has been protecting you the best way it knows how.

You don’t need fixing—you need the safety to heal.

With the right therapeutic relationship and the right approach, lasting change becomes possible.

About me
I’m a BACP-accredited counsellor with nearly two decades of experience, including many years working in a high-security mental health setting — work that taught me to stay steady with whatever arrives in the room. Alongside psychodynamic training, I bring somatic practice, financial therapy, and yoga teaching into an integrated approach to the whole person: body, history, relationships, and the life you’re actually trying to live.
Practical details
I see clients in person in Watford and Berkhamsted, and online wherever you are.     Here’s what some of my clients have shared about their experience of working with me (shared anonymously with permission):  

“Working with Anna has been an incredibly powerful and unique experience."

From the very beginning, she created a warm, welcoming, and safe space where I felt genuinely heard and understood. Through our work together, I have felt empowered to trust my own feelings and intuition in a way that had been missing in my previous experiences with therapy.

Anna’s approach is thoughtful, compassionate, and unlike anything I have experienced before. I look forward to continuing this journey with her and would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone looking for a deeper, more meaningful therapeutic experience.”

"Working with Anna has genuinely changed my life."

When I first started therapy, I didn’t fully realise how much of my life was being driven by pressure, fear, survival, and the need to prove myself. I was constantly striving to achieve and improve, but beneath it all I felt disconnected from who I really was. I struggled to sit with difficult emotions and measured my worth by my achievements and how successful I appeared on the outside.

Anna helped me slow down and understand what was really happening beneath the surface.

What made our work together so powerful was that I never felt judged or broken. She created a space where I felt safe enough to be completely honest, while also gently challenging me to take responsibility for the patterns that were keeping me stuck. That balance of compassion and honesty helped me understand myself in a way I never had before.

Through therapy, I began to recognise how much my relationship with success, money, family, and identity was shaped by deeper emotional and relational patterns. I learned how to experience difficult emotions without becoming overwhelmed, communicate in healthier ways, and stop running from the parts of myself that needed understanding, compassion, and healing.

The greatest transformation has been my emotional connection—to myself and to the people I love.

For years, I believed that health, wealth, love, and happiness were things I had to chase. Now I understand that lasting fulfilment comes from within. Success means very little if I lose myself in the process. Today, I strive to build my life from a place of peace, purpose, love, and emotional safety, rather than pressure, proving, or fear.

One of the most meaningful moments came when I became a father. I felt fully present, open-hearted, and deeply connected. I was able to experience love, gratitude, responsibility, and purpose in a way I never thought possible. That moment showed me that the work I had done in therapy had created real and lasting change.

Anna has helped me become more self-aware, grounded, emotionally connected, and aligned with the kind of man, partner, and father I want to be.

I will always be grateful for the impact she has had on my life. Therapy with Anna has transformed the way I see myself, my relationships, and my future, and it has given me the tools to live with greater presence, authenticity, and meaning.                                                          

“I’ve been working with Anna for over two months now, and I genuinely look forward to our sessions each week.

I always leave feeling calmer, more grounded, and better equipped to manage my anxiety. Anna has shared practical resources and techniques that have helped me reconnect with myself during difficult moments, and they continue to support me between sessions.

As I continue to grow and better understand myself, I’m incredibly grateful for Anna’s guidance and support. She creates such a warm, safe, and non-judgemental space that I feel completely comfortable being open and honest with her.

I highly recommend Anna to anyone looking for a compassionate and insightful therapist.”

I offer: 1-1/ online or in person session. Couples Therapy.

My Approach: From Darkness to Light

My primary focus is on helping you break free from the burdens weighing you down, so you can fully reclaim your life, your body, and your path. I am here to guide you toward embracing your gifts, realizing your life’s purpose, and feeling abundant—not just in love, health, and happiness, but also in financial prosperity. It’s about stepping out of darkness and into your own light, where you can live true to yourself and shine brightly in your life and in the world.

What You Can Expect

With every session, you’ll feel a gradual yet powerful shift—more light, more alignment, and more clarity in your body and spirit. As you release what no longer serves you, you’ll experience more authenticity, freedom, and fulfilment in your life. During our sessions, I will be holding space for your growth and transformation. Together, we will work on peeling back layers of unresolved pain, limiting beliefs, and old patterns, allowing you to step fully into your authentic power. Whether you’re navigating life’s challenges, seeking to heal from trauma, or aspiring to align with your higher purpose, my goal is to support you in embracing the wholeness that already resides within you.