Lori Parker

Are you exhausted from masking and feeling a bit like you don’t belong? Or maybe you feel constantly anxious and overwhelmed and you’re tired of having to hold it all in? 

I’m Lori, a compassionate, person-centred counsellor in South Manchester. My path into counselling was shaped by my own lived experiences navigating trauma, identity and belonging as an AuDHD, queer, Black mixed-race woman and mother. I know firsthand how heavy life can be when you are a sensitive soul who feels everything deeply, especially when you are carrying the weight of overwhelm, struggling to find a sense of belonging and feeling disconnected from your true self.

As a counsellor, I work in a really relational and collaborative way, using my own lived experiences alongside my professional training to create a neuro-affirming, culturally sensitive therapeutic space that I hope feels supportive and understanding.

I work with clients who are looking for a safe-enough container where they can go at their own pace and have space for whatever their nervous system needs. In a session with me, you don’t have to have it all figured out. Your feelings get to be felt and seen just as they are, as I support you to feel more understood, grounded and at home with yourself.

How I can support you
While you are welcome to bring any part of your story into our sessions, we might work particularly well together if you are looking for support with:

• Anxiety & Overwhelm: Managing chronic worry, sensory overload, nervous system burnout and the exhaustion of trying to survive in a world that doesn’t feel like it was built for you. I hold space where you don’t have to keep it all in because I’m not afraid of your big feelings. We can hold it together.
• Identity & Belonging: Processing the complexities of navigating life across different intersections, including being queer, Black, mixed-race, and/or neurodivergent. In sessions, we can explore healing from the invisible, heavy weight of masking, systemic oppression or just feeling different.
• Menstrual Cycles, Birth & Motherhood: Navigating the impact of hormonal shifts and cyclical challenges (e.g. PMDD and endometriosis) or the major life transitions of pregnancy, birth, baby loss, and postpartum. As a cycle coach and former doula, I bring this knowledge and awareness into my counselling practice.

My approach
I’m not the kind of “blank slate” therapist who just nods along from a distance. Our sessions are a real, human-to-human space where we meet as equals.

I deeply trust in your own inner wisdom and capacity to heal, and at the same time, I also know that when anxiety and overwhelm are high, it can be hard to tune into what you need in therapy and so a more guided holding can be really beneficial. I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, I work flexibly and realistically. I like to take a creative approach so that your therapy can really be shaped around your actual lived reality and not an unrealistic ideal.

Ways to work with me
I offer flexible options outside of the traditional therapy room, including online therapy from the comfort of your own home and outdoor walk and talk sessions in South Manchester.

I also offer dedicated spaces for processing perinatal experiences, including individual birth reflection sessions and the 3-step rewind process. These services are designed to help you make sense of your path to parenthood, however that unfolded. They are particularly supportive if you are navigating the emotional aftermath of abortion, baby loss of any kind, or a traumatic pregnancy, birth or postpartum experience.

If you are tired of just surviving the constant ups and downs, holding it all in, and trying to find where you belong, please get in touch. It’s ok to reach out exactly as you are, even if everything feels messy and confusing right now. If you want to know more send me an email or message me here to book in an initial chat. I would love to support you as you find your way back home to yourself.

I specialise in working with menstrual cycle awareness, cycle challenges (including PMDD, PMS & endometriosis), neurodivergence (including autism & ADHD), identity (including race & sexuality) and the full spectrum of pregnancy and birth-related experiences.

Alongside my perinatal focus, I have experience holding space for a wide range of life challenges. This includes navigating anxiety, depression, burnout, low self-worth and the complexities of gender identity and sexuality. I have also supported those processing relational trauma, family difficulties and experiences of physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

While these are areas I am especially passionate about, you do not need to fit into any particular category to work with me. I welcome clients of all backgrounds and I aim to hold space for you with care and respect, whatever you bring to the therapy room.