Laura Uezzell

Counselling for Anxiety, Trauma and Relationship Patterns

I work with people experiencing anxiety, overthinking and repeating emotional or relationship patterns who want to understand themselves at a deeper level.

You may already have spent a lot of time thinking about why you feel or respond the way you do. You might understand where some of your patterns come from, recognise anxious or avoidant attachment tendencies, or know that earlier experiences have shaped you.

But understanding something intellectually does not always stop the anxiety, people-pleasing, overthinking, shutdown, fear or self-doubt when something touches a deeper wound.

You might find yourself thinking:

“Why do I understand this but still react the same way?”
“Why do relationships make me so anxious?”
“Why am I always worried that someone will leave?”
“Why do I keep putting everyone else before myself?”
“Why is it so difficult to trust what I feel or need?”
“Why do I keep ending up in the same patterns?”

These are the kinds of questions we can explore together.

You might relate to this if you…

• become anxious when someone feels distant, different or less available
• overthink messages, conversations, tone or small changes in someone’s behaviour
• struggle with fear of rejection, abandonment or being “too much”
• find yourself people-pleasing, overgiving or taking responsibility for other people’s feelings
• find it difficult to know what you want or need
• struggle to trust yourself or your own perceptions
• become overwhelmed, defensive, numb or shut down when emotions feel too much
• stay emotionally attached to relationships that you know are hurting you
• find uncertainty particularly difficult to tolerate
• feel responsible for keeping relationships okay
• minimise yourself or adapt to other people in order to maintain connection
• understand your patterns intellectually but still find yourself repeating them

You may also have experienced relationships or earlier environments where your feelings, needs or boundaries were not consistently recognised, where love or connection felt unpredictable, or where adapting to other people became a way of feeling safe or staying connected.

Sometimes these experiences are obvious. Sometimes they are much harder to identify.

Going deeper than coping strategies

My work is particularly suited to people who want to understand and work with the deeper patterns underneath their anxiety and relationship difficulties, rather than only finding strategies to manage the surface symptoms.

That does not mean we spend every session analysing the past.

We pay attention to what is happening in your life now: the situations that activate you, the relationships that feel particularly powerful, the moments you move away from your own needs, the stories you automatically tell yourself, and what happens inside you when you feel unsafe, rejected, criticised or uncertain.

Over time, we can begin to understand how these responses developed and, importantly, help you experience something different rather than simply knowing that you should respond differently.

For this reason, much of the work I offer is ongoing rather than short-term. There is no expectation that longstanding patterns should be resolved within a set number of sessions.

How I work

I am an integrative, relational counsellor. My work is trauma-informed and strongly influenced by attachment theory and emotionally focused approaches.

I do not see anxiety, people-pleasing, shutdown or other familiar responses simply as behaviours that need correcting. Instead, I will help you explore what may be happening underneath them, what they may once have protected you from, and why they can continue even when another part of you knows they are no longer helping.

You might know, for example, that someone taking longer to reply does not mean they are leaving, yet your body responds as though something is terribly wrong. Or you might know that you are allowed to say no, while actually doing so brings guilt, anxiety or a strong urge to change your mind.

That gap between what you know and what you experience can become an important part of our work.

Our relationship also matters. Counselling can offer a place to notice patterns as they happen, gently explore what feels difficult, and gradually develop greater trust in your feelings, needs, boundaries and choices.

In counselling, we may explore…

• anxiety and overthinking
• anxious, avoidant or insecure attachment patterns
• relationship anxiety and fear of abandonment
• people-pleasing and over-responsibility for others
• difficulties identifying your own wants, feelings or needs
• low self-worth, shame and feeling “not enough”
• emotional shutdown, overwhelm or disconnection
• difficulty trusting yourself
• why some relationships feel exceptionally difficult to let go of
  patterns formed through childhood or previous relationships
• the impact of emotionally harmful, controlling or inconsistent relationships
  boundaries, choice and developing a stronger sense of self
• learning to recognise and respond differently to familiar emotional triggers

The aim is not to become someone who never feels anxious, upset or activated.

It is to help you understand yourself more deeply and gradually develop more freedom in how you respond, so old patterns no longer have quite the same hold over you.

You don’t need to arrive knowing where to start

Some people come to counselling knowing exactly what they want to explore. Others simply know that something keeps happening and they are tired of feeling the way they do.

You do not need the right language, a particular diagnosis or a neatly organised story.

We can work it out together.

Sessions

I offer individual counselling:

in Portsmouth, in person
online across the UK

My practice is particularly suited to people looking for deeper, ongoing therapeutic work around anxiety, attachment, trauma, self-worth and relationship patterns.

If you feel this way of working might fit what you are looking for, you are welcome to contact me or book an initial session.

You can also sign up to my newsletter to receive my FREE Reconnecting with Feelings Guide:

https://www.laurauezzell.co.uk/newsletter

Fees & Availability

Individual Counselling

£70 per 50-minute session

My work is particularly suited to people looking for deeper, ongoing counselling, with regular reviews as the work develops.

Availability

I work Tuesday to Friday and offer:

in-person counselling in Portsmouth
online counselling across the UK via Zoom
My counselling room is on the ground floor, fully accessible and easily reached by car or public transport, with parking nearby.

Concessionary Spaces

At present, all concessionary spaces are full, but I do keep a waiting list.

Please get in touch if you would like to be added.

My Working hours are:

Tuesdays 1pm to 6pm

Thursdays 10am to 5pm

Fridays 10am to 2pm

I offer counselling from a private, comfortable ground-floor room in Portsmouth, with nearby parking and good public transport links.

Sessions are also available online via Zoom for clients across the UK.

I usually work with clients on a regular basis, particularly where the aim is to explore longstanding attachment, relationship or emotional patterns in greater depth. We will review the work together as it develops, so there is space to notice what is changing, what still feels difficult and what you would like to focus on next.

You do not need to arrive knowing exactly what you want to talk about or having everything neatly organised. We can begin with what feels most present and work from there at a pace that feels manageable.