Stop Feeling Overwhelmed
Hi, I'm Claire, a trauma-trained clinical psychologist who brings therapy out of the therapy room to help people prevent and recover from burnout.
How do I do this? I support people to learn the effective therapeutic tools that can protect them from the persistent grind and pressures of life.
If you want a better work-life balance, but
👉find the terms ‘self-care’ and ‘self-compassion’ make you cringe or roll your eyes, and you
👉KNOW you need to slow down or make changes but feel stuck or confused about why this so hard, and you
👉had a difficult upbringing where self-care wasn’t modelled or nurtured (including well-intentioned parents who inadvertently created too much pressure and expectation on you)
then you’re in the right place.
What You'll Find Here
I share:
Science-backed recovery techniques from therapies such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Cultural insights about why we burn out
Real case-studies of recovery (when clients give me permission to share)
Why Subscribe?
Free subscribers get posts into burnout culture and its impact on our lives from the lens of a trauma-trained clinical psychologist. Published a few times a month.
Paid subscribers (coming soon) receive:
Weekly guided self-care audio (finally start doing the self-care practices that you always INTEND to do but never get round to). Based on the tools from my book and from therapy.
Compassionate community support to cheerlead you when you set a boundary, or figure out how to self-care even when it’s hard to imagine how.
Q&A opportunities with me in the Chat (on Friday lunch time)
Why is it called What About Me?!
These three sad words were said to me by a close family member about four years ago in the midst of a difficult family time when she was being squeezed from every direction. As a mother and someone everyone looked up to she had no one looking out for her or asking her what SHE needed. The words stuck with me. My relative had said them mournfully as no one was looking out for her, but I felt that perhaps we could say these words in a way that empowers us - What about ME!
I’d love for this publication to play a role in starting to rediscover the You who has got lost in the incessant search for validation, acceptance, value or love. Our experiences, environment and traumas teach us that our self-worth is dependent on these things so we learn to apply ourselves to all we do with excess. Often in my work as a psychologist I see my therapy clients realise that they don’t even know what they want or who they really are anymore because they’ve put themselves last for so long.
I don’t want this for you. What About Me?! will be my unique spin on now to apply therapy techniques, research and nuggets of wisdom from my 20 years experience of working therapeutically to help you find yourself again. And to get a healthier work-life balance.
My Promise to You
I’m not able to offer you quick fixes or "productivity hacks." I believe in bringing ideas out of the therapy room to support prevention of mental health difficulties through sustainable practices that honour your busy reality while protecting your wellbeing.
Together, we'll explore what thriving really means – without sacrificing ‘you’ with this , and without losing the connections that fill you up.
Welcome to the journey back to yourself.
What Else Might You Like To Know About Me?
I’m based in Taunton, Somerset, UK. I live with my family (3 kids and husband), have three cute guinea-pigs called Cookie, Ninja and Smudge and love walking in the Quantock hills when I can.
I also run Plum Psychology (registered as Good Therapy Limited) - an associate practice of highly qualified psychologists working online and in Somerset. If you ever want to explore 1-to-1 therapy then we can provide for you - you can make an enquiry here.
I’m also author of the book Burnout: How to Manage Your Nervous System Before It Manages You (UK edition)/ The Trauma of Burnout (US edition). This is a book that brings my trauma-training to the topic and teaches the reader to understand how to navigate their nervous system using tools we teach in therapy.
What makes my heart sing?
I honestly love nothing more than when a client emails me to tell me a small detail of their week where they realised that they spoke to themselves with warmth, reached out to a friend or refrained from sacrificing their downtime to meet someone else’s’ needs. When people start making compassionate choices for themselves my heart truly sings.
