Ally Kennedy-Bearman

Verified Professional Verified Professional
Verified Professional

Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.

she/her
Relationships; Individuals; Sex Therapy: MBACP; COSRT; SEAUK
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

Inverness, Highland, IV2
Available for new clients
Available for new clients

This professional is available for new clients.

About me

Sometimes life can throw us a curve ball, leaving us feeling overwhelmed, confused or stuck. Sometimes, with no apparent curve ball, we can still experience these feelings. Somatic Experiencing® helps regulate the nervous system, which helps us become more embodied, allowing us to find a deeper understanding of ourselves and our experiences. Essentially, we move from fixity to flow. 

I offer a  confidential space that is non-judgmental, to help you work through your concerns and any sensations and feelings that may arise in doing so. This space helps enable you to explore current experiences and feelings from your past, where new ways of understanding yourself and the people you have relationships with, will have a chance to emerge.

I believe the best therapy happens when the relationship between Client and Therapist clicks and when the client comes with an open mind and the willingness to discover. I firmly believe the body holds the answers we seek resolution to – what's needed is nervous system regulation and embodiment,  which is when we discover the way forward.

As a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP) - check out https://www.seauk.org.uk/ for further information - and an Integrative Therapist, I use various tools from my therapeutic toolbox, to help meet your current needs and to try to find the cause and not just treat the symptoms of your discontent or distress. We do this using a bottom-up approach, promoting embodiment and nervous system regulation. We always work at a pace set by your nervous system, with an aim to feeling more embodied and connected to self. 

Key themes I see in practice include subjects such as (but not exclusively): overwhelm; stuck behaviours; PTSD; accidents; chronic pain; anxiety; affairs; depression; family issues; financial worries; lack of connection; lack of intimacy; life changes and loss (such as bereavement – including abortion; death; illness; menopause; miscarriage; pets, redundancy; retirement); low self-esteem; stress; trust issues; trauma; childhood wounds. My Sex Therapy practice can help with people struggling with a sexual connection and that may include issues around porn; erectile issues; delayed ejaculation; premature ejaculation; vaginismus; vulval pain; low desire and many more issues you or your partner may feel are preventing you from having the sex life you desire and deserve.

My clients are aged 18+ and are from a diverse range of backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientation and gender identity. I have specific training in Relationship Counselling & Psychosexual Therapy, with an avid interest in trauma and all things neuroplasticity and nervous system healing.

~I do not see children or adolescents nor clients who are actively misusing alcohol or drugs at the time of our scheduled appointments~

I offer one hour sessions and my fee is £75. 

* More on Somatic Experiencing®

THE SCIENCE

Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life-threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict. My favourite definition of Trauma is: too much; too soon; too fast.  An experience we have had (this may be from our very infant days of living with parents who were mis-attuned to our needs or indeed something happening to us in utero or during our birth) that has been overwhelming to us (and to our nervous systems) is ultimately stored in the body, at a cellular and visceral level and can really shape our behaviour unconsciously, fixing our responses to certain situations. Developmental trauma does not necessarily equate to caregivers not loving us, although sometimes we deeply feel that was the case, but more that our individual needs were not met and therefore we adapted our behaviour to maintain the attachment to those who looked after us, in order to survive.

Somatic Experiencing® can help move us from this fixity to flow, thereby freeing our nervous systems to act according to the situation that arises in the here and now and not responding in a fixed way that may not generate the best outcome for us. For some people this can look like being struck silent when confrontation arises, and then afterwards beating self up over not being able to fight your corner. It may also look like always being quick to defend or jump to aggression, when on reflection you don’t understand why you felt so enraged or mad about the situation. It may look like acting out - by drinking to excess; abusing drugs; finding self in unsafe situations; abusing self sexually; overthinking; catastrophising; shutting down or withdrawing; procrastinating; being super-busy and ignoring the need to take a break or rest etc. etc. Stuck survival stress or energy can manifest in so many different ways and Somatic Experiencing® is a gentle way of building capacity for the body to discharge or integrate the stuck, thwarted processes, allowing us to show up differently in our relationships to self and to others.

HOW IT WORKS

The Somatic Experiencing® approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.

Dr. Peter Levine (the founder of Somatic Experiencing®) was inspired to study stress on the animal nervous system when he realised that animals are constantly under threat of death, yet show no symptoms of trauma. What he discovered was that trauma has to do with the third survival response to perceived life threat, which is freeze. When fight and flight are not options, we freeze and immobilise, like “playing dead.” This makes us less of a target. However, this reaction is time-sensitive, in other words, it needs to run its course, and the massive energy that was prepared for fight or flight gets discharged, through shakes and trembling. If the immobility phase doesn’t complete, then that charge stays trapped, and, from the body’s perspective, it is still under threat. The Somatic Experiencing® method works to release this stored energy and turn off this threat alarm that causes severe dysregulation and dissociation. SE® helps people understand this body response to trauma and work through a “body first” approach to healing.

Planned breaks from Practice for 2024/25 are as follows:

From Tuesday 16th July '24 , returning Tuesday 23rd July '24

From Tuesday 29th Oct '24, returning Tues 12th Nov '24

From Tues 23rd Dec '24, returning Tues 14th Jan '25

Training, qualifications & experience

  • I am a *Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP), a Relationship Therapist and a Psychosexual Therapist. I have successfully completed a three-year Somatic Experiencing® course with https://sosinternationale.org/ and I hold a Diploma in Relationship Counselling (DiRC) and a Diploma in Sex & Relationship Therapy (DipSRT), gained from Relationships Scotland (Scotland's largest provider of Relationship Counselling and the equivalent of RELATE) & validated by Napier University, Edinburgh. As such, I am specifically trained to work with couples & individuals who are experiencing: Trauma; PTSD; stuck behaviours; general or specific difficulties in their relationships and would like to explore, change and/or enhance their current situation. Sometimes, it feels like we are stuck or that we are unable to react the way we would like, in the moment;  relationships may have reached crisis point, and although this can be scary and uncertain, Somatic Experiencing® can provide a more embodied experience, that helps regulate the nervous system, helping us move from fixity to flow.
  • My Sex Therapy practice can help with many sexual dysfunctions, such as, but not limited to: issues around porn usage; painful sex; intimacy issues; erectile problems; delayed ejaculation; vaginismus and other vulval pain and many other sexual issues that inhibits you living life to the full.       

I regularly see a clinical Supervisor and attend Group Supervisions/Case Consults, where my caseload may be discussed, as per the requirements of every professional therapist, but please be assured that my clients' identities are not revealed in order to maintain our confidentiality agreement. I am a member of the following professional bodies: SEAUK.org; COSRT; COSCA and BACP and as such, I work within their ethical guidelines.

I also attend personal Somatic Experiencing® sessions, with the belief that regulating my nervous system is in service to my clients.

* More on Somatic Experiencing®

THE SCIENCE

Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life-threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict. My favourite definition of Trauma is: too much; too soon; too fast.  An experience we have had (this may be from our very infant days of living with parents who were mis-attuned to our needs or indeed something happening to us in utero or during our birth) that has been overwhelming to us (and to our nervous systems) is ultimately stored in the body, at a cellular and visceral level and can really shape our behaviour unconsciously, fixing our responses to certain situations. Developmental trauma does not necessarily equate to caregivers not loving us, although sometimes we deeply feel that was the case, but more that our individual needs were not met and therefore we adapted our behaviour to maintain the attachment to those who looked after us, in order to survive.

Somatic Experiencing® can help move us from this fixity to flow, thereby freeing our nervous systems to act according to the situation that arises in the here and now and not responding in a fixed way that may not generate the best outcome for us. For some people this can look like being struck silent when confrontation arises, and then afterwards beating self up over not being able to fight your corner. It may also look like always being quick to defend or jump to aggression, when on reflection you don’t understand why you felt so enraged or mad about the situation. It may look like acting out - by drinking to excess; abusing drugs; finding self in unsafe situations; abusing self sexually; overthinking; catastrophising; shutting down or withdrawing; procrastinating; being super-busy and ignoring the need to take a break or rest etc. etc. Stuck survival stress or energy can manifest in so many different ways and Somatic Experiencing® is a gentle way of building capacity for the body to discharge or integrate the stuck, thwarted processes, allowing us to show up differently in our relationships to self and to others.

HOW IT WORKS

The Somatic Experiencing® approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.

Dr. Peter Levine (the founder of Somatic Experiencing®) was inspired to study stress on the animal nervous system when he realised that animals are constantly under threat of death, yet show no symptoms of trauma. What he discovered was that trauma has to do with the third survival response to perceived life threat, which is freeze. When fight and flight are not options, we freeze and immobilise, like “playing dead.” This makes us less of a target. However, this reaction is time-sensitive, in other words, it needs to run its course, and the massive energy that was prepared for fight or flight gets discharged, through shakes and trembling. If the immobility phase doesn’t complete, then that charge stays trapped, and, from the body’s perspective, it is still under threat. The Somatic Experiencing® method works to release this stored energy and turn off this threat alarm that causes severe dysregulation and dissociation. SE® helps people understand this body response to trauma and work through a “body first” approach to healing.

Member organisations

BACP
British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP)

BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred).

Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision.

Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training.

All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.

COSRT
College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists (COSRT)

COSRT is the UK’s leading membership organisation for therapists specialising in sexual and relationship issues.

All members must abide by their Code of Ethics and the performance of accredited members is regularly monitored.

Accredited register membership

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
Accredited Register Scheme

The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.

British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy

Other areas of counselling I deal with

Somatic Experiencing®  Practitioner 

Individual Therapist

Relationship Therapist

Sex Therapist

Couples Counsellor

Photos & videos

Fees

£75.00 per session

Additional information

My consultations are one hour long, online on a secured platform or face to face in Inverness city centre, and cost £75. I have no concessionary appointments available in my Private Practice.

Often weekly sessions work well, but this arrangement can be more flexible if this does not suit your situation. And, you may only want to try one session. I don't currently offer face to face consultations.

Planned breaks from Practice for 2024/25 are as follows: 

From Tuesday 16th July '24 , returning Tuesday 23rd July '24

From Tuesday 29th Oct '24, returning Tues 12th Nov '24

From Tues 23rd Dec '24, returning Tues 14th Jan '25

When I work

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Night

I practice Tuesdays; Wednesdays and Thursdays and will respond to any enquiries during these days, except when on holiday when I take a break from practice. 

Further information

*Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP); DiRC (Diploma in Relationship Counselling) and DipSRT (Diploma in Sex & Relationship Therapy) and I am an Online and Telephone Counselling Certified Counsellor, having successfully completed the online course with The Counselling Tutor.

* More on Somatic Experiencing®

THE SCIENCE

Trauma may begin as acute stress from a perceived life-threat or as the end product of cumulative stress. Both types of stress can seriously impair a person’s ability to function with resilience and ease. Trauma may result from a wide variety of stressors such as accidents, invasive medical procedures, sexual or physical assault, emotional abuse, neglect, war, natural disasters, loss, birth trauma, or the corrosive stressors of ongoing fear and conflict. My favourite definition of Trauma is: too much; too soon; too fast.  An experience we have had (this may be from our very infant days of living with parents who were mis-attuned to our needs or indeed something happening to us in utero or during our birth) that has been overwhelming to us (and to our nervous systems) is ultimately stored in the body, at a cellular and visceral level and can really shape our behaviour unconsciously, fixing our responses to certain situations. Developmental trauma does not necessarily equate to caregivers not loving us, although sometimes we deeply feel that was the case, but more that our individual needs were not met and therefore we adapted our behaviour to maintain the attachment to those who looked after us, in order to survive.

Somatic Experiencing® can help move us from this fixity to flow, thereby freeing our nervous systems to act according to the situation that arises in the here and now and not responding in a fixed way that may not generate the best outcome for us. For some people this can look like being struck silent when confrontation arises, and then afterwards beating self up over not being able to fight your corner. It may also look like always being quick to defend or jump to aggression, when on reflection you don’t understand why you felt so enraged or mad about the situation. It may look like acting out - by drinking to excess; abusing drugs; finding self in unsafe situations; abusing self sexually; overthinking; catastrophising; shutting down or withdrawing; procrastinating; being super-busy and ignoring the need to take a break or rest etc. etc. Stuck survival stress or energy can manifest in so many different ways and Somatic Experiencing® is a gentle way of building capacity for the body to discharge or integrate the stuck, thwarted processes, allowing us to show up differently in our relationships to self and to others.

HOW IT WORKS

The Somatic Experiencing® approach facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions.

Dr. Peter Levine (the founder of Somatic Experiencing®) was inspired to study stress on the animal nervous system when he realised that animals are constantly under threat of death, yet show no symptoms of trauma. What he discovered was that trauma has to do with the third survival response to perceived life threat, which is freeze. When fight and flight are not options, we freeze and immobilise, like “playing dead.” This makes us less of a target. However, this reaction is time-sensitive, in other words, it needs to run its course, and the massive energy that was prepared for fight or flight gets discharged, through shakes and trembling. If the immobility phase doesn’t complete, then that charge stays trapped, and, from the body’s perspective, it is still under threat. The Somatic Experiencing® method works to release this stored energy and turn off this threat alarm that causes severe dysregulation and dissociation. SE® helps people understand this body response to trauma and work through a “body first” approach to healing.

Planned breaks from Practice for 2023/24 are as follows:

From Tuesday 27th February 2024 returning Tuesday 12th March 2024

Inverness, Highland, IV2

Type of session

In person
Online

Types of client

Adults
Older adults
Couples

Key details

Wheelchair user access
Wheelchair user access

Wheelchair-accessible premises should have step-free access for wheelchair users and individuals who are unable to climb stairs. If a Counsellor's premises aren't step-free, they may offer alternative services such as telephone/web-based appointments, home visits, or meeting clients in different location, so you can choose the option that suits you best.

You can contact the Counsellor to discuss the options available.

Under the Equality Act 2010 service providers have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that individuals with disabilities can access their service. You can read more about reasonable adjustments to help you to access services on the CAB website.

When f2f, the building I practice from in Inverness is accessible, with level access, a practice room and WC on the ground floor - please indicate when enquiring if this space is desirable/necessary, so I may book the correct space for your needs.

Online platforms

Zoom

Social

Ally Kennedy-Bearman
Ally Kennedy-Bearman