Jenny MacSharry

Perhaps you're here because your teenager is struggling and you're running out of ways to help.

They might be anxious, overwhelmed, withdrawing from you, struggling with friendships or school, experiencing big emotions, or losing confidence in themselves. Perhaps they're neurodivergent and finding the demands of everyday life increasingly difficult to manage.

Or maybe you're looking for therapy for yourself, on the outside you may appear to be coping, but underneath you're exhausted from overthinking, people-pleasing, anxiety, difficult relationships or patterns you can't seem to change.

I specialise in working with teenagers, young people and adults where trauma, anxiety, neurodivergence, attachment and emotional overwhelm are part of the picture.

I've spent over 20 years working therapeutically with children and young people, including those who find it difficult to engage with conventional approaches.

And that's important, because not every teenager wants to sit opposite an adult and talk about their feelings. Some don't know how to explain what's happening. Others have had enough of adults asking questions, giving advice or trying to get them to open up.

Building trust comes first.

My approach is relational, creative and informed by the nervous system. Alongside counselling and psychotherapy, I can integrate somatic therapy, EMDR and EFT when appropriate. This gives us different ways of working when words alone aren't enough.

For teenagers and young people, I commonly support difficulties including anxiety, school-related distress, neurodivergence, low confidence, friendships, emotional regulation, trauma, grief and difficult family experiences.

For adults, much of my work focuses on trauma and complex trauma, attachment and relationship patterns, abandonment and rejection, anxiety, people-pleasing, dysfunctional family systems, ADHD and the feeling of understanding your patterns intellectually but still being unable to change them.

My work isn't about forcing change or giving you a set of techniques to make difficult feelings disappear, it's about understanding what sits underneath them.

Sometimes anxiety is more than anxiety.

Behaviour can be communication.

Withdrawal can be protection.

And patterns that don't make sense today can make much more sense when we understand what your mind and nervous system have learned along the way.

Therapy gives us somewhere to explore that safely and begin creating something different.

I work online with teenagers, young people and adults across the UK. For many clients particularly neurodivergent young people or those experiencing anxiety being able to access therapy from their own familiar environment can make it easier to feel comfortable and engage with the process.

If you're looking for support for yourself or you're worried about your teenager, you're welcome to contact me. You don't need to know exactly what kind of therapy you need. Tell me a little about what's happening, and we can work out together whether I'm the right person to help.

Therapy sessions: £95 for 60 minutes.

Free 15-minute introductory call.

Finding the right therapist matters. I offer a complimentary 15-minute call before you commit to therapy, giving you the opportunity to tell me a little about what is bringing you or your teenager to therapy, ask any questions and get a sense of whether working together feels right.

I offer specialist online therapy for teenagers, young people and adults, with particular experience in trauma, anxiety, neurodivergence, attachment and emotional overwhelm.

Sessions are tailored to the individual rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. Depending on what you need, our work may include talking therapy alongside somatic and nervous-system approaches, EMDR or EFT.

Standard 60-minute session: £95

I also hold a small number of reduced-fee spaces for clients who would otherwise be unable to access therapy. Please feel welcome to ask about current availability.

I currently have limited spaces available for new clients.

If you're unsure whether I'm the right therapist for you or your teenager, you're very welcome to start with the free introductory call. There is no obligation to book ongoing therapy afterwards.

Having walked my own path of healing, I understand that knowing why we feel or behave a certain way doesn't always mean we know how to change it.

This understanding has shaped the way I work as a therapist.

As a neurodivergent therapist, I also bring lived experience and understanding to my work alongside my professional training. My approach is neurodivergent-affirming and adapted to the individual rather than expecting everyone to engage with therapy in the same way.

I believe therapy needs to go beyond talking about what has happened. Our experiences can also live in the way we respond to relationships, how safe we feel in the world, the patterns we repeat and how our nervous system responds when life becomes overwhelming.

My work is particularly informed by trauma, attachment, neurodivergence and the nervous system. I draw upon somatic psychotherapy, EMDR, EFT and other integrative approaches, adapting our sessions to the person in front of me rather than expecting you to fit into one particular model of therapy.

Working with teenagers and young people, I have over 20 years' experience supporting children and young people and understand that building trust is often the most important part of therapy.

Teenagers don't always arrive wanting to talk particularly if therapy wasn't their idea. They may struggle to explain how they feel, worry about being judged, or simply be tired of adults asking them what's wrong.

I don't believe in forcing that process.

I take time to build a genuine therapeutic relationship and offer different ways of working so that therapy can develop at a pace that feels manageable for them.

I particularly welcome neurodivergent young people and understand that anxiety, shutdown, emotional overwhelm, school-related difficulties and behaviour can sometimes be connected to an overwhelmed nervous system rather than something that simply needs to be “fixed”.

Working with adults - Many of the adults I work with have spent years coping.

You may be highly self-aware and understand where your patterns come from, yet still find yourself experiencing anxiety, people-pleasing, difficult relationships, fear of rejection, emotional overwhelm or feeling disconnected from yourself.

Our work can explore not only what happened to you, but what your mind and body learned as a result and what you may need now.

Ultimately, my aim is to create a therapeutic relationship where you feel safe enough to be yourself, curious enough to understand your patterns and supported enough to begin doing something differently.

I currently offer online sessions for teenagers, young people and adults across the UK.