Melanie Johnson

Many of the clients I work with come with a question: I don’t understand why I feel like this?

They are questioning why they can’t make decisions, why their emotions are up and down and their thoughts are disturbing them.

Sometimes they are searching for themselves: I’m not sure who I am and what I need to be doing. I’m not sure where I fit in the world.

It is common for them to be facing a change that is bringing up feelings. And relationships can be triggering at times.

I help people shine a light into the dark and confusing corners of themselves to nurture balance, harmony and hope.

I help them reclaim themselves from the tangle and the stuckness, connect to their intuition and deep knowing, their gifts and resources, their clarity about who they are and the path they need to take.

I help people – in their own time – release the old wounds and outdated defences that hold them back and keep them separate, so they can step into their wholeness and meet life with greater independence, trust and joy.

I tend to think of myself working with the whole person rather than with problems or issues but I have experience in supporting people with a variety of things, for example:

• Recovery from traumatic events and experiences; childhood trauma; bereavement and loss; miscarriage; transitions; limiting beliefs; addictions and compulsive behaviour; depression, disassociation; anxiety; various relationship issues; consensual non-monogamy / polyamory; recovery from toxic relationships and narcissistic abuse; persisting pain; ADHD; OCD; problems with sleep; spiritual issues and creativity, high sensitivity.
• Developing a greater sense of peace, ease, well-being and resilience.
• Cultivating a harmonious relationship with oneself and arising thoughts, feelings and emotions.
• Learning to listen to and trust intuition.
• Discerning between conflicting inner voices.
• Developing trust in oneself and in life.

As well as reflective conversation, I offer meditations and embodied explorations that can provide new resources and fresh insights into states and situations. 

I draw from western psychology and also, to a degree, from eastern wisdom traditions. Western psychology often focuses on the things that feel wrong or broken, while the wisdom traditions remind us that there is part of us that is always perfect and whole. Engaging with both of these aspects of being human is part of my approach. 

I have completed training in Person-Centred counselling, Embodied Relational Therapy, Family Constellations and iRest Yoga Nidra. I also draw from other approaches such as psychoanalytic theory, Internal family systems, the work of Janina Fisher, Attachment Theory, the 12-steps, non-duality, and the Eastern wisdom traditions. 

I value and respect diversity and difference. I am committed to providing an anti-racist practice.

I work with individuals and with groups. My work is online currently. I am able to work internationally.

And I teach iRest® Yoga Nidra Meditation.

If you would like to find out if the way I work is right for you, I offer a  free online conversation of about 30 minutes free from obligation. 

I am able to support people who have experienced abuse from those with narcissistic traits, in families and in other interpersonal relationships.

I am a Certified iRest Yoga Nidra teacher. I I teach groups and I regularly weave in embodied meditation practices (influenced by iRest Yoga Nidra) into the 1-1 work. This supports a connection to helpful internal states and nervous system regulation that, over time, can be accessed independently. Meditation also bypasses the rational mind providing information not otherwise seen. People often find this a valuable part of working with me. I can provide recordings of meditations for use at home between sessions if this is wanted. (Although there is no pressure to do this).

As well as one to one therapy, I teach a type of yoga therapy, called iRest Yoga Nidra, that supports recovery from trauma, anxiety and other mental health difficulties. More information about iRest is on my website and at www.iRest.org.

Although I draw from traditions that could be called spiritual traditions, I bring these practices and principles into my work in a secular way. I am careful to not impose any belief systems but instead seek to support people to connect to their uniqueness and wholeness, and the path that is right for them. I value and support diversity.