About me
You've always been the one who holds it together.
Perfectionism has always been your armour — and keeping everyone around you happy, that's been part of it too. If everything is organised, planned, under control, and everyone is okay, then you're okay.
Then motherhood arrived. And something cracked open.
Maybe it was the birth that didn't go the way you'd prepared for. Maybe it's the relentless pressure of juggling everything and still feeling like you're failing. Maybe you don't recognise the person you've become; snapping in rage, then drowning in guilt. Anxious. Exhausted. Disconnected from yourself and your baby.
You're not broken. You're not failing. Your nervous system is doing exactly what it learned to do — survive.
The patterns that got you here weren't wrong, they just weren't meant to carry you forever. Together we can work out which ones still serve you, and which ones no longer need to work quite so hard. To create more space where you get to slow down, tend to your own needs, and rediscover a lighter, more playful and present way to live.
I'm Anjelena, a BABCP-accredited psychotherapist with over 15 years' experience, including specialist perinatal mental health training. I work with women whose coping strategies served them well until life, and often motherhood, pushed those strategies past their limits.
I know this terrain personally. I experienced my own birth trauma with my first daughter, and it was my own journey through that; learning to understand my body's responses, to grieve the birth I'd planned, and eventually to feel safe again. This shapes how I work today.
My approach weaves together talking therapy with body-based, nervous system-informed work. Because trauma isn't something buried in the past, it's a stress response your nervous system keeps reproducing in the present, doing its job of keeping you safe.
Together we work through the patterns and beliefs that have kept you stuck, getting to the root of where they came from and building a much deeper understanding of yourself and why you respond the way you do. This isn't just a space to talk and be heard, though that matters too. We also work directly with the nervous system and take practical, concrete steps to help you start responding differently in your day to day life.
Whether you're replaying a traumatic birth, struggling with the weight of early motherhood, or simply exhausted from years of holding everything together at great cost to yourself — this is a space where you don't have to perform or hold it together.
I work with women navigating:
— Birth trauma and traumatic pregnancy experiences
— Postnatal anxiety, rage, intrusive thoughts and low mood
— The pressure of modern motherhood and the loss of identity it can bring
— Deep-rooted patterns of people-pleasing, perfectionism, and over-functioning that no longer serve you
— Anxiety, burnout, and feeling stuck in survival mode
If you recognise yourself in this, I'd encourage you to reach out. Finding the right therapist matters — which is why I offer a free initial consultation so we can get a feel for whether working together feels right.
You've held it together long enough. This can be the beginning of something different.
Training, qualifications & experience
- Using Compassion Focused Therapy to Work with Shame Based Trauma Memories (2025)
- Breastfeeding Trauma and Grief (2025)
- Compassion Focused Therapy for the Self-Critical Mind (2025)
- Level 1-3 Somatic Therapy for Complex Trauma (2024)
- Perinatal OCD (2023)
- Acceptance Commitment Therapy in Practice (2023)
- Addressing Unconscious Bias & Systemic Microaggression (2023)
- Compassion Focused Therapy in Practice (2022)
- Postgraduate Diploma in High Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (2020)
- Perinatal Mental Health Training - West London NHS (2019)
- Masters degree (MSc) in Clinical and Forensic Psychology (2015)
- Bachelor degree (BSc) in Psychology and Counselling (2008)
Member organisations
The BABCP is the lead organisation for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in the UK. Membership is open to anyone with an interest in the practice, theory or development of CBT. BABCP also provides accreditation for CBT therapists. BABCP accredited members adhere to the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics in the Practice of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies, and are willing to be scrutinised in this adherence as required.
Accredited register membership
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.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£90.00 per session
Health Insurance/EAP
Additional information
My fee is £90 for a session, lasting up to 60 minutes. I also offer one-off, up to 2 hour Birth Debriefs. Please see my website for more details: www.santospsychotherapy.com
When I work
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Further information
I offer online therapy sessions from the comfort of your home and offer face to face sessions in Bingley town centre on Tuesdays only currently. I'm available Monday to Wednesday mornings and afternoons but happy to try accommodate alternative days and times where possible, so please get in touch to discuss.
