Space for the Soul

Space for the Soul Holistic psychotherapist and mindfulness teacher specialising in trauma healing and personal growth

In person and online psychotherapy, weekly mindfulness class, workshops and online courses in mindfulness and personal development.

We need to talk about how therapy fails highly sensitive people. Because here’s what I see happening:Highly sensitive pe...
23/11/2025

We need to talk about how therapy fails highly sensitive people. Because here’s what I see happening:
Highly sensitive people (HSPs) go to therapy seeking support. Then they get approaches designed for everyone else and when it doesn’t work, they think something’s wrong with THEM.

But the problem isn’t you. It’s that standard therapy wasn’t designed for highly sensitive nervous systems.
If you’ve tried therapy and felt like something was missing, this is why.

You weren’t doing it wrong. You just need an approach that actually understands how your system works.
What part of this approach resonates most with you? Tell me in the comments 👇

And if you’re ready to start regulating your nervous system as a highly sensitive person, comment CALM and I’ll send you my free Calm & Connected guide 🤍

Follow if you’re a highly sensitive person who’s ready for healing that actually honors who you are.

If you are a highly sensitive person who is done with trying to ”fit in” in this insensitive society, you belong here. I...
21/11/2025

If you are a highly sensitive person who is done with trying to ”fit in” in this insensitive society, you belong here. If you want to learn how to live life on your own terms and learn to really thrive as the sensitive person you are, you are in the right place. If you are ready to embrace your sensitivity, protect and nurture it, so that you can reclaim it as the gift it really is, welcome! This corner is the internet is for you. 🧡

If you’re not sure where to start with embracing and caring for your sensitivity, comment CALM and I will send you my free guide.

I love bibliotherapy and these are some the resources I most often recommend to my HSP clients (and why they work).Each ...
17/11/2025

I love bibliotherapy and these are some the resources I most often recommend to my HSP clients (and why they work).
Each one serves a specific purpose in the healing journey:
1. Understanding your trait is valid and researched (Elaine Aron)
2. Grasping how trauma lives in your body (Bessel van der Kolk)
3 Connecting chronic illness to unprocessed emotions (Gabor Maté)
4. Healing neuroplastic chronic pain & conditions (Nicole Sachs)
5. Learning to treat yourself with compassion (Kristin Neff)
6. Working with difficult emotions skillfully (Tara Brach)
7. Reconnecting with your heart’s wisdom (Sarah Blondin)

Reading is just the beginning.
Healing happens when you take what you learn and put it into embodied practice. When you use the tools. When you apply the insights to your actual nervous system, your actual body, your actual life. That’s what we do in therapy. We take the concepts and make them real, felt and integrated. These books are are like maps. The work we do together is the journey.

Save this if you’re an HSP building your healing library 🤍
Which of these have you read? Which one are you going to start with? Tell me in the comments 👇

Your nervous system is perceiving your reality all the time and constantly deciding if it thinks you’re safe 24/7. If yo...
11/11/2025

Your nervous system is perceiving your reality all the time and constantly deciding if it thinks you’re safe 24/7. If you are chronically dysregulated as a result of trauma, chronic illness and / or being highly sensitive, one 10 min regulation tool or ”hack” isn’t going to cut it.

If you are serious about healing, you need to build a relationship with yourself where you love and care for yourself deeply, on every level. Using a combination of tools will help you learn how to do that better than any one of these tools alone. It’s all about rewiring your brain for safety and that requires time and consistent effort, not quick fixes.

Save this for those days when you need extra regulation and hit follow for more info and advice on healing trauma, chronic illness and generally learning to thrive as a HSP❤️

What does it mean to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)?Being a HSP is not just something people say to explain why they...
09/11/2025

What does it mean to be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)?

Being a HSP is not just something people say to explain why they can’t tolerate scary movies or loud restaurants. It’s a scientifically measurable difference in the wiring of the brain, which results in a more sensitive nervous system.

HSP is not considered a condition, but a trait, which applies to about 20% of the population (equal amounts of men and women).
Although there is no official diagnosis, people can often self identify when reading examples and descriptions.

HSP is genetic / biological and not caused by trauma. There is often overlap though, as HSP are more easily traumatised and trauma in turn can make HSP worse by further dysregulating the nervous system.

Because HSPs have more sensitive nervous systems they are more prone to anxiety, stress and stress related illnesses, such as chronic pain, fatigue, migraines, gi issues, autoimmune disease, etc.

But the good news is that healing is totally possible. With education and self compassion, HSPs can learn to regulate their nervous systems and find ways of being in the world that support and protect their sensitivities.

HSPs process information more deeply than others and therefore tend to be deep thinkers, highly empathetic and creative. They feel life in 3D - both the good and the bad.

Many people describe HSP as being both a blessing and a curse, but I’ve found, with the right information and lifestyle it can definitely be much more of a blessing.

If this is your goal, you’re in the right place. Stick around and learn how!

Here’s what I want you to know:You are not too much. You are not a burden. You are not broken or weak or failing at life...
05/11/2025

Here’s what I want you to know:
You are not too much. You are not a burden. You are not broken or weak or failing at life.
You are highly sensitive in a world that’s deeply insensitive to subtlety, to nuance, to nervous systems like yours.

And yes, that makes some things harder. It means you can’t just push through. It means you need to be more intentional, more protective of your energy, more selective about what you expose yourself to.
But it also means you have access to depths of experience most people will never touch. You notice beauty others walk past. You make connections others miss. You feel life in full color while others see it in black and white.

Your sensitivity isn’t a design flaw. It’s a different design. One that requires different conditions to flourish.
The question isn’t “How do I become less sensitive?” The question is: “How do I build a life where my sensitivity can thrive?”
And the answer? You stop trying to fit into a world that wasn’t designed for you and you start building one that is.

Save this for the days when you forget.
And follow me for insights on what it looks like to actually thrive as an HSP, not by becoming less sensitive but by building a life where your sensitivity is an asset. Let’s rewrite the narrative together.❤️

You know how miners used to bring canaries into coal mines? These sensitive birds would react to toxic gases before huma...
05/11/2025

You know how miners used to bring canaries into coal mines? These sensitive birds would react to toxic gases before humans could detect them, serving as an early warning system.

Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) function the same way in our modern world. HSPs aren’t “too sensitive” or “overreacting.” Their nervous systems are detecting real toxicity that others might not notice yet.

What HSPs pick up on:
• Emotional dishonesty and performative behavior
• Systemic burnout disguised as “hustle culture”
• Environments where productivity matters more than people
• Subtle power dynamics and manipulation
• Noise pollution, overstimulation and sensory overwhelm
• Collective anxiety and unprocessed trauma

When an HSP feels “off” in a workplace, relationship or environment, they’re often picking up on legitimate dysfunction that hasn’t reached crisis level for others yet.

The gift and burden:
HSPs feel the cracks in the system before they become breaks. They sense when something is unsustainable before the collapse happens. This deep attunement is both a survival mechanism AND an invitation for collective healing.

Instead of pathologising sensitivity, what if we listened to it? Your sensitivity isn’t something to fix. It’s information. It’s wisdom. It’s your nervous system saying “something here isn’t right” and you’re probably correct.

The world doesn’t need you to be less sensitive. It needs to become less toxic.
What has your sensitivity taught you about the world? Drop a comment below. 👇

When people say ‘JUST LET IT GO’ here’s what they’re missing. 👇You feel dismissed because you ARE being dismissed. That ...
03/11/2025

When people say ‘JUST LET IT GO’ here’s what they’re missing. 👇

You feel dismissed because you ARE being dismissed. That advice treats decades of survival patterns like a light switch you’re just refusing to flip.

Here’s what they’re missing: Your body is holding what it couldn’t process. ‘Letting go’ isn’t a decision, it’s what happens when your nervous system finally feels safe enough to release what it’s been gripping for protection.

Of course you’re frustrated. You’ve probably tried to ‘let it go’ a thousand times. The fact that it didn’t work isn’t because you’re broken, it’s because that’s not how trauma healing actually works.

This advice is harmful because it keeps you in a shame cycle. When you can’t ‘just let it go,’ you conclude something is wrong with YOU, not with the advice.

What you actually need is to understand that your body’s grip on the past is intelligent protection. You need to build enough safety that your system can loosen that grip in its own time, not on someone else’s timeline.

I see how exhausting it is to be given solutions for problems people don’t even understand you have. You deserve support that honors how healing actually happens, in relationship, with patience, at the pace of your nervous system. Not on a motivational poster.

If you’re tired of advice that misses the point and ready for therapy that meets you where healing actually happens - in your body, your nervous system, your story - I’d be honored to work with you.
(Link in bio to book a consultation)

TraumaHealing

October highlights 🍁🍂BelfastAutumn walksReading Arthur’s seat 🍁🍂
02/11/2025

October highlights 🍁🍂
Belfast
Autumn walks
Reading
Arthur’s seat

🍁🍂

What if your busyness isn’t ambition but a trauma response? You learned to stay productive to feel safe, in control, or ...
01/11/2025

What if your busyness isn’t ambition but a trauma response? You learned to stay productive to feel safe, in control, or worthy. But your body isn’t meant to live in constant motion. When you slow down, your nervous system finally exhales. You begin to meet yourself again, not as a project to fix, but as a person to care for.

Comment CALM for my free Calm & Connected Workbook to help you regulate your nervous system and find peace within the pause.

We wear masks all year long, not just on Halloween.The “real scares” are the ways we abandon ourselves to feel safe, lov...
31/10/2025

We wear masks all year long, not just on Halloween.
The “real scares” are the ways we abandon ourselves to feel safe, loved or accepted.

Healing is peeling back those masks, one compassionate breath at a time. Healing isn’t about never being scared.
It’s about turning toward yourself - even when it feels terrifying.

This Halloween, remember:
You are not the things that hurt you.
You’re the one brave enough to face them.

Follow for trauma-informed reflections and gentle reminders to come home to yourself.





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