Emma Mathews Psychotherapy

08/05/2026

Many parents are told trauma is about what happened during labour or delivery.

But trauma isn’t always about the birth itself.
Sometimes it begins in pregnancy.
Sometimes in hospital admissions.
Sometimes in the early days after birth, when everything looks “fine” from the outside… but your nervous system says otherwise.

If you’ve experienced:
• Anxiety after pregnancy or birth
• Intrusive memories or distressing thoughts
• Hypervigilance around medical settings
• Feeling disconnected from your birth or postpartum experience
• Fear about future pregnancy or childbirth

You may be experiencing perinatal trauma or postpartum PTSD symptoms - even if your birth was medically straightforward.

In my latest blog, I explore:
• What perinatal trauma actually is
• Why trauma isn’t always linked to labour itself
• Common symptoms of postpartum trauma
• Why so many parents minimise or dismiss their experience
• How trauma-informed therapy can help

Read the full blog via the link in bio / website
If this resonates, support is available.

07/05/2026

What is s*x therapy?

S*x therapy (also called psychos*xual therapy) helps people experiencing low libido, painful s*x, s*xual anxiety, intimacy issues, relationship difficulties, erectile difficulties, or**sm difficulties, and the impact of trauma on intimacy.

As a psychos*xual therapist, I help individuals and couples understand the emotional, psychological, and relational patterns affecting their s*xual wellbeing, without shame, pressure, or judgement.

Whether you're struggling with desire discrepancy, s*xual confidence, painful in*******se, performance anxiety, intimacy after trauma, or communication around s*x, therapy can help you feel safer, more connected, and more confident in your body and relationships.

Healing doesn’t start with “fixing” yourself. It starts with understanding what’s happening.

Save this for later, or share it with someone who needs to hear it.
Link in bio to learn more or book an initial consultation.

*xualTherapy
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Call now to connect with business.

06/05/2026

Testimonial from clients -

"Thank you, Emma, for the time you spent with us, helping, and guiding us to communicate and understand each other better. The last two years have and continue to be difficult, but you gave us tools and techniques, and the space to talk, and listen. It created in us the hope and desire to continue to work at our relationship and build a deeper connection."


*xTherapy

05/05/2026

Today is International Day of the Midwife, a day to recognise the extraordinary work midwives do in supporting women, babies, and families through pregnancy, birth, and the postnatal period.

As a former midwife and now psychotherapist working with birth trauma, I also know the emotional reality behind this profession.
Midwives hold women through some of the most vulnerable, life-changing, and sometimes traumatic moments of their lives. But many are doing this while facing staff shortages, unsafe workloads, workplace stress, compassion fatigue, and burnout.

When midwives are not supported, it affects everyone - staff, mothers, babies, and the wider maternity system.
So today, yes, we celebrate midwives.

But we also need to talk about midwife wellbeing, maternity staff burnout, psychological safety in healthcare, and better support for those providing maternity care.
Because protecting midwives helps protect births.
If you are a midwife - thank you. ❤️

05/05/2026

Difficulty reaching or**sm is one of the most common reasons women seek psychos*xual therapy, and often it has nothing to do with “doing it wrong.”

I regularly work with women who:
• Feel pressure to or**sm
• Worry they’re taking too long
• Start overthinking during s*x
• Fake or**sm to avoid awkwardness or disappointing a partner

But or**sm is not something you force.

For many women, or**sm is influenced by s*xual anxiety, performance pressure, body awareness, emotional safety, relationship dynamics, and feeling able to fully let go.

When there’s pressure, distraction, or self-consciousness, the body often struggles to relax enough to respond.

In s*x therapy for women, we work on understanding your s*xual response, reducing pressure, rebuilding confidence, and helping you reconnect with your body in a way that feels safe and natural.
There’s no “normal” timeline.
And there’s no right way to experience pleasure.
If this resonates, you’re not alone.
*xualHealth *xTherapy

04/05/2026

Modern dating has normalised uncertainty.
But confusion isn’t lack of chemistry, it’s lack of clarity.
Healthy relationships don’t leave you guessing.
This is a huge theme I see as a relationship therapist.

03/05/2026

Loneliness in relationships isn’t about physical distance.
It’s about emotional disconnection.

Feeling unseen, unheard, or unimportant creates more loneliness than being single.

This comes up constantly in relationship therapy.

02/05/2026

Who looks after the midwife?

As a former midwife and now psychotherapist working in birth trauma, I’m seeing more and more midwives struggling.
Not because they don’t care.
Because they care deeply, while working in environments that often feel unsafe, unsupported, and emotionally relentless.
Many midwives are carrying:
• Traumatic births they never processed
• Fear of making mistakes
• Moral injury from not being able to provide the care they believe in
• Exhaustion from chronic understaffing
• A nervous system stuck in survival mode
Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse.

Sometimes it looks like:
“I’ve gone numb.”
“I don’t feel anything anymore.”
“I dread my shifts.”
“I don’t recognise myself.”
If you’re a midwife feeling this way, please know:
Your nervous system may be doing exactly what it has had to do to survive.
And support exists.
Midwives deserve care too. ❤️

Have you seen this in maternity care?

01/05/2026

After betrayal, most couples focus on talking.

But trust is rebuilt through patterns, not conversations alone.
Consistency > intensity.

This is one of the hardest, but most possible areas of relationship repair.

30/04/2026

Most couples don’t struggle with communication skills - they struggle with emotional attunement.

If conversations turn into arguments, shutdown, or “you never get me”… this is why.

As a psychos*xual & relationship therapist, this is one of the most common patterns I see.

Save this if this hit.

16/01/2023

I will be starting a new private psychotherapy clinic on the Wirral from tomorrow, 17th January, in Pensby, excited to be working from a new venue, at this lovely friendly clinic. I've not yet had time to update my website, but the clinic is going to be on Tuesdays at Chris Malkin Physio. https://www.chrismalkinphysio.co.uk


I work with a wide range of problems, offering psychos*xual therapy, relationship therapy, CBT, EMDR, schema therapy and compassion focused therapy. For more details on how I can help please see my website:
https://www.emmamathewstherapy.com

Psychos*xual and relationship therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, schema therapy, compassion focused therapy & EMDR