Rachel Shaw

MNCPS (Accred), Level 5 Dip. Therapeutic Counselling

Saved

Peterborough PE1 & Northallerton DL7

Book intro call

Email me

Visit website

Saved

About me

About Me
If you’ve spent most of your life putting others first - their needs, their feelings, their comfort - you might have got very good at managing. At holding things together. At swallowing what you feel rather than actually feeling it.

You might notice it in your body: a tightness in your chest, a heaviness in your stomach, something that sits in your throat and never quite shifts. Or you might not notice it at all - because not noticing has been the strategy for a long time.

I’m Rachel, a trauma therapist specialising in Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN). I work with people who are starting to wonder whether what they experienced growing up has shaped the way they move through the world - and who are ready, gently, to start exploring that.

How I Work
I work in a way that’s calm, collaborative, and rooted in your pace - not mine. We won’t push through things before you’re ready. Instead, we build something first: safety, understanding, a sense of what’s actually happening beneath the surface.

My approach draws on an understanding of how the body holds what the mind has learned to set aside. That might mean noticing physical sensations alongside thoughts, or exploring the parts of you that developed as ways of coping - and understanding what they’ve been trying to protect you from.
This is slow work, in the best sense. It’s about developing awareness and trust - in the process, and in yourself.

Areas of Focus
∙ Childhood trauma and emotional neglect
∙ Anxiety, shame, and self-criticism
∙ People-pleasing and boundary difficulties
∙ Relationship and attachment patterns
∙ Grief, loss, or identity changes
∙ Stress and burnout

What to Expect
Starting therapy can feel like a big step, especially if you’re not used to putting yourself first. The free 10-minute introductory call is a low-pressure way to begin - a chance to say a little about what’s bringing you here, ask anything you need to, and get a feel for whether working with me feels right.

I offer sessions online and in-person from my practice in Peterborough.

Training, qualifications & experience

I trained for four years, progressing from Level 2 Counselling Skills to a Level 5 Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling. Alongside my studies I completed over 100 hours of clinical experience working inside a male prison, supporting people navigating trauma, addiction, and the long shadow of childhood abuse. That environment taught me a lot about complexity, resilience, and what it actually takes for someone to begin to heal.

I’ve been in private practice since 2022. I invest regularly in CPD and independent research - particularly around trauma, the nervous system, and attachment - because I think the best therapy comes from a therapist who’s still curious.

Childhood Emotional Neglect is an area I’m particularly drawn to - in part because it’s so often invisible, both to the people around us and to ourselves. Much of this work is simply about bringing what’s been unseen into the light.