Lucy Clarkson

Hey welcome to my page. I'm Lucy and I am a registered BACP Counsellor, Psychotherapist, Therapeutic & Intuitive Coach and Nature Walking Therapist.

How do I work as a Therapist and Coach to support your growth?

I love providing a safe space for others to reflect deeply about life, to understand what's happened and to actualise changes they would like to make going forward. As a dual practitioner (Coach & Psychotherapist), I interweave psychotherapeutic practice with psychological and trauma informed education; transformational coaching; and intuitive insight. My approach is pluralistic which means I draw on different therapeutic perspectives but am deeply rooted in humanistic values. The work I do with my clients is collaborative, dynamic and suitable for all neurotypes.

My holistic practice is informed by the following qualifications:

• Person Centred relational Counselling & Psychotherapy
• Attachment Theory & Child Psychology
• Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MBCT)
• Psychodynamic + Jungian theory + practices
• Compassion meditation for emotional regulation
• Guided journey meditation for intuitive insight
• Trauma informed Polyvagal Theory 
• Menstrual Health Awareness (informed)
• Embodied somatic focusing (restorative yoga and yin yoga practice - informed)
• Animism & Shamanic journey practice
• Intuitive heart-based coaching techniques
• Creative practices using Intuitive Spirit Animal, Archetype and Inner Active cards
• Neuroinclusive: Autism & Neurodivergent informed 

In essence, I help people understand their thoughts, feelings, emotions and patterns within the context of their lived experience including trauma, familial and ancestral lineage, environmental factors, and often spiritual orientation. By providing quiet contemplation, I follow your mind, body & spirit to understand what happens for you, not what is wrong with you, which allows a deeper insight to flow. 

Together we uncover ways in which you may have compromised or adapted from your true self and I mirror back to you what I sense and hear, allowing the release and freedom of unprocessed emotion.  Sharing our deeper experiences with another human, being witnessed without judgment and, being in contact with our felt senses can be profoundly healing and life changing. 

To learn more about how I work please see my special interests, training and academic credentials below. 

Neurodivergent Advocacy 

My approach is less clinical and more phenomenological which means I focus away from psychopathological, deficit-based perspectives, to a more subjective, affirmative and strength-based approach. I am curious about more ancient healing practices and so strive to learn new approaches to meet the diverse needs of human capabilities & experiences. I offer a unique perspective and holding space for those exploring identity often through the lens of Neurodivergence such as Autism (including those who identify as "Aspergers" and “high functioning” AS) ADHD, Dyslexia and HSP (Highly Sensitive Person) - those with formal diagnosis and those who identify.

My Neurodivergent work is supervised by a specialist supervisor and trainer; I am committed to ongoing training for neurodivergent individuals and couples counselling.   

Trauma Informed Practice 

My practice is 'trauma-informed' which means I have undergone training on trauma awareness and have a good theoretical and experiential understanding on how trauma impacts the nervous system and subsequently our lived experience. 

I am not a 'certified trauma practitioner'. Those who have experienced profound trauma may like to research the benefits of more specialised trauma approaches such as EMDR (Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing); Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (Body therapy); IFS (Internal Family Systems); REWIND Technique and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), which are all powerful embodied approaches to healing trauma. If you would like to know more about these approaches I can provide education on this as part of our work together. 

If you would like to understand more about how Trauma is the invisible force that shapes our lives, please watch this groundbreaking film by Dr. Gabor Maté who gives us a new vision: a trauma-informed society that is not concerned with fixing behaviours, making diagnoses, suppressing symptoms and judging, but seek instead to understand the sources from which troubling behaviours and diseases spring in the wounded human soul:

https://thewisdomoftrauma.com/

Allied with Nature

I draw on different therapeutic perspectives, but am deeply rooted in humanistic, person-centred values and I am allied with Nature. This means I am invested in connecting with the natural world, wildlife and the healing wisdom of Nature that was known to our ancestors & earlier humans. I offer Nature walking therapy as an alternative to traditional therapy (in a room) where Nature is our ally. I believe one of the quickest route back to our authentic self is through Nature connection. 

What’s happening for you?

You may be feeling anxiety or sadness in your daily life; complications, conflict, or confusion in your personal relationships or with family members; or are worrying about something that happened in the past that has left you feeling sad and stuck. Perhaps you’re exploring your identity, neurodiversity, sexuality, a spiritual awakening or maybe you have experienced a life-changing event like a loss, a divorce, a betrayal, an illness, stress, trauma or work-related incident. It could be that you have worries about your self esteem or more complex post traumatic experiences you'd like help processing and healing.

Whatever it is that you’re feeling or processing, there’s a good chance I might have some lived experience of what you are exploring.  All I have learned flows back to my own journey, so I meet others with deep humanity, empathy and most importantly without judgment.

Where do I work?

I work with clients either online or outside in walking therapy (weather permitting) in the Natural world to develop a deeper connection with Nature and experience natural healing benefits. However, I understand that working indoors is sometimes the best option, which I offer from a mindful, relaxation room (Please note: I have a limited capacity for indoor practice). I have carefully selected a number of outdoor locations that are suitable for walking therapy sessions. These locations are chosen for their natural beauty, ancient woodlands, lakes, trails and wildlife. All locations are quiet and have designated sit spots (benches) for those who prefer to sit with me.

About me - who am I?

I have always been an energetic, highly sensitive, observant, insatiably curious person, who loves deep conversations, to contemplate life and to support others. My 'Ikigai' is creating a safe space for others to cultivate deep self-reflection, intuitive insight, healing and transformational change.

I meet my clients with warmth, humanity and heart-centred energy. I am passionate about self-healing, health, spirituality and the great outdoors.  I value Nature connection and care deeply about conscious evolution, by helping others to understand their experiences, their feelings and create positive changes in their lives.

My original training and qualification is in humanistic Counselling & Psychotherapy but over the years I have learnt and integrated many other modalities and tools because learning energises me! Prior to being a therapist, I worked in senior management for a number of large corporate organisation and retrained after taking an extensive career break to raise and educate my children.

Nowadays I work predominantly 1:1 giving therapeutic coaching, counselling, psychotherapy, spiritual guidance and an affirming space for people to talk. I support self-healers, change-makers, leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, health practitioners, teachers, executives, engineers, academics, home-makers, parents and anyone seeking change and growth, and to break ancestral patterns and heal transgenerational trauma.

An important aspect of my offering is to be transparent about my own  journey. Like all of the courageous clients I work with, I too have been a client in Psychotherapy and I continue to use Spiritual Coaching, Meditation, Mindfulness, Acupuncture, Reiki, Sound Therapy, Shamanism, Animism, Energy healing, Yoga, Existential Therapy and most significantly nature connection. All of these things have helped me to ground; to understand & integrate my experiences; to retrieve parts of myself that I had lost in order to fit in: and ultimately to align authentically. My own journey  has taught me that a holistic approach to mental health and wellbeing is powerful.

Choosing the right therapist for you

When choosing any practitioner to support you, research tells us that the most important aspect of effective therapy is the quality of the therapeutic relationship:

"Every therapist who works with clients, knows how important it is to be able to provide a healing relationship and professionals train a long time to provide that, because if the therapist has unconscious spots, that will project into the relationship. So our own healing journey is actually an investment into the capacity to build consistent, safe, nourishing, potential orientated, coherent relational spaces that are the primary tool for any trauma integration."

- Thomas Huebl - Spiritual Teacher of Conscious Evolution 

Psychological safety in therapy and coaching is essential. By sharing a little about me, I hope you have gained a deeper insight to who I am, how I work and whether I might be right for you. If you like what you read, drop me an email and we can arrange a connection call.

Connecting with the right therapist is really important for you & for me, which is why I offer a free 20 minute telephone/zoom connection call.

• Standard sessions are 50 minutes.
• I also offer an extended 80 minute session.

* I have a number of concessionary spaces for individuals on lower income & trainees. 

Testimonials

"Lucy is so easy to talk to, she listens and is non-judgemental; but beyond that she is warm, assimilates what you say intelligently and asks pertinent questions to enable you to consider what is right for you. There are no time pressures, conversations are centred around you, your thoughts, feelings and emotions, until the answers emerge. Lucy has great knowledge around her subject too and has mentioned books that I may like to read which have proved so enlightening. I feel honoured and blessed that Lucy agreed to work with me, to walk beside me, metaphorically hold my hand and help me find my way."

------------------------------------------------

"My journey with Lucy has been life changing. I accessed support at a turning point in my life and I am so incredibly glad that I did. Lucy challenged and supported me in equal measure. Her challenge was to encourage me to address, go through and understand painful experiences so that I could genuinely deal with them and then let go of them. Her support was to help me get through the painful bits and understand that I could do it. She brilliantly weaved in some theory into our sessions to provide a framework, and a conscious understanding of what I was going through. This helped provide context and also helped me understand the appropriateness of my feelings."

------------------------------------------------

"I can't speak highly enough for Lucy's sessions. The knowledge and skill set Lucy holds is second to none. She is the most professional, caring, considerate natured person I've ever met and perfect for her role as a Therapist and because of this Lucy is very easy to talk with and open up to. Due to Lucy's nature, I found sessions very relaxed and we quickly found clarity from within to the answers needed for the relationship issues I'd been having, that I had no idea were suppressed until Lucy helped me unlock these from deep within at a pace that suited me."

------------------------------

"I will always be eternally grateful to Lucy for all she has done and continues to do for me.

By way of background I have and continue to have a successful professional career and for many years suppressed the cost of this to my mental well-being and the cost to my humanity and relationships with those closest to me. What appeared to the outside world to be a wonderful life was in reality far from this.

I came to Lucy in a very dark place, at a very dark time and in immense trauma which I didn’t really understand. To Lucys great credit this now feels like a lifetime ago and a different person and whilst challenges remain I now enjoy a level of inner peace and strength i never knew existed previously. My own journey with Lucy is ongoing with many further challenges ahead but through our work I feel I both have the support and understanding to tackle this in ways I never previously enjoyed.

Lucy’s warmth and humanity combined with her undoubted technical prowess has allowed me to properly discover my true self and emerge from a long and difficult darkness I didn’t at first even recognise and thought ‘normal’. She has enabled me to for the first time in my life to truly understand and question myself and to properly understand and ultimately heal some very painful wounds from the past and address those in the present with new found true confidence and belief

Lucy is not afraid to challenge and push me. She asks questions and raises challenges that even my closest friends and family would never venture to do. But she is only able to do this because of the trust that we have built and always does so with incredible emotional intelligence and empathy and always brings to bear her own experiences and feelings in a way that many therapists would fear to do.

Lucy is a first class therapist and an amazing Human and if you are prepared to put in the reciprocal effort and to take on the challenges she raises you will ultimately in my opinion and experience, find your life a lot more fulfilled as a result of the time you spend with her."

------------------------------------

I found Lucy at a time when I needed help the most. I am an over-thinker and I suffer from anxiety and her presence came as the brightest light to shine on my journey through life.

Since our paths crossed, and I am beyond thankful they did, she has helped me understand my feelings, my traumatic experiences and guided me in order to cope with the difficulties of being a daughter, a wife, a parent, a business woman…a human being in today’s world.h

With her strength as a professional and as a woman, her knowledge, kindness and empowering spirit she has listened, she has grounded me, she has opened my eyes and has taught me strategies to better deal with my thoughts and feelings. She has made it possibile for me to believe I could. I can. I am and will for ever be grateful to her."

---------------------------------

"Lucy has helped me discover, feel, and accept my transgender identity. This is something that took a long time to not feel ashamed about and Lucy helped me get there independently by providing me a nurturing and kind space to be vulnerable in. She shared that this was a new challenge for her, but I am so glad that she stayed with it at the time as I really have benefitted from over two years of therapy unpicking my traumatic past from this identity and feeling more whole. Lucy brings a huge range of skills to therapy, drawing upon lots of varied fields of thought and practice, from abandonment issues to spiritual practice. I found the combination of this and many other therapeutic approaches so beneficial for understanding the complexity of my feelings, both past and present. She has been so supportive and has provided really good practical advise for self-care and communication with my family, taking on more of a coaching role at times. She is also super aware and pro-active in thinking about your holistic needs, suggesting when we might not need to see each other as often or when I might benefit from more specific therapy for gender transitioning. She has made me feel very safe and helped me feel and love my identity and gender. I will be forever grateful and could not recommend her highly enough."