Anna Shears Counselling & Psychotherapy

Anna Shears Counselling & Psychotherapy Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Anna Shears Counselling & Psychotherapy, Psychotherapist, Lymington.

Anxiety often shows up in small, everyday moments.Replaying a conversation long after it’s finished. Checking something ...
18/03/2026

Anxiety often shows up in small, everyday moments.

Replaying a conversation long after it’s finished.
Checking something again just to be certain.
Running through every possible “what if” before making a decision.

These patterns can feel exhausting — but they often begin as your mind trying to keep you safe.

If you recognised yourself in any of these check-ins, please know there’s nothing “wrong” with you for responding this way.

With the right support, it’s possible to relate to anxious thoughts with more understanding and a little more ease.

If you feel ready to explore that, you’re welcome to reach out to learn more about working with me.
Use the link in my bio 🔗 if you’d like to find out more.

Grief has many forms, but is not always acknowledged.Grief is also… losing a job, a friendship ending, leaving a place y...
17/03/2026

Grief has many forms, but is not always acknowledged.

Grief is also… losing a job, a friendship ending, leaving a place you loved, or letting go of the life you imagined.

Not all grief is visible.
Not all grief is understood.
But it still deserves space.


Many of the ideas that have been normalised about grief actually make grieving harder.Culturally, we’re often taught tha...
10/03/2026

Many of the ideas that have been normalised about grief actually make grieving harder.

Culturally, we’re often taught that grief should:

• follow a timeline
• stay private
• eventually reach “closure”
• not interfere too much with daily life

But psychologically, grief doesn’t tend to work this way.

Loss changes the landscape of a person’s life. The process that follows is rarely linear and often includes waves of emotion, moments of meaning-making, and an ongoing relationship with the person who died.

Rather than “moving on”, many people find healing through acknowledgement, connection, and integration.

If you’re grieving and feel like you’re doing it wrong, it may be because the expectations around grief are unrealistic — not because you are.

26/02/2026

Overwhelm isn’t a sign that you’re failing.
It’s a sign that your system has been carrying too much for too long.

When people feel overwhelmed, they’re often told to:
be more organised,
try harder,
push through,
fix themselves.

But overwhelm doesn’t ease through correction.
It eases through connection.

Connection to your body.
Connection to your needs.
Connection to safe support.

When your nervous system feels under pressure, more strategies and more self-criticism only add to the load. What helps is feeling understood, supported, and not alone with it.

This is why overwhelm isn’t a productivity problem or a motivation issue.
It’s a safety issue.

And nothing about that means there’s something wrong with you.

This is the work I do with women — helping them stop fighting their overwhelm and start responding to it with care.

If this resonated, you’re not alone. 💛 If you’d like to explore working together, click the link in my bio.

Grief doesn’t always announce when it’s struggling.Often it shows up quietly — in the ways you cope, the ways you functi...
10/02/2026

Grief doesn’t always announce when it’s struggling.

Often it shows up quietly — in the ways you cope, the ways you function, the ways you keep going while something underneath feels heavy, stuck, or unchanged.

The experiences shared in this post aren’t failures.
They’re not signs you’re doing grief “wrong.”

If any of them felt uncomfortably familiar, it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you.
It may mean your grief is asking to be met a little more closely.

In therapy, these are the places I tend to slow down around — not because they’re more important than anything else, but because they often hold information about where support could help.

Grief isn’t something to fix or rush.
It’s something that often needs company.

You don’t have to carry this alone.
Therapy can be a place to gently come back to yourself, at your pace, with care and support.

09/02/2026

You don’t hesitate because you’re unsure.
You go blank.

There’s nothing to check in with.
No clear yes. No no.
Just a kind of static or emptiness inside.

This isn’t a character flaw.
It’s not a confidence problem.

Often, it’s because your nervous system learned early on that tuning into other people was safer
than tuning into yourself.

So your brain adapted.

It turned the volume down on your internal signals —
needs, preferences, impulses —
and turned the volume up on everyone else’s.

So when someone asks,
“What do you want?”

Your system doesn’t look inward.
It scans the environment instead.

That’s not failure.
That’s conditioning.

I see this a lot in clients who learned to put themselves second.

Your body didn’t forget how to know.
It learned a way to keep you safe.

And it may be that this way
isn’t serving you anymore.

Therapy can be a place
to gently come back to yourself —
at your pace, with support.

Complex grief rarely responds to quick solutions.And it often isn’t helped by being told what it should look like.The ra...
22/01/2026

Complex grief rarely responds to quick solutions.
And it often isn’t helped by being told what it should look like.

The ratings in this carousel aren’t judgments about what’s “good” or “bad.” They’re gentle reflections drawn from sitting alongside people whose grief has lingered, deepened, or changed over time.

Many of the things people try make sense. Staying busy can help you get through the day. Positive thinking can offer moments of relief. Writing things down can give feelings somewhere to go. None of these are wrong.

And… some forms of grief need more than coping strategies. They need space. Safety. A relationship where nothing has to be managed, reframed, or rushed.

Complex grief often carries layers of attachment, identity, and meaning. It doesn’t resolve neatly. It asks to be met slowly, compassionately, and on its own terms.

If you’ve tried “everything” and still feel stuck, it doesn’t mean you’re doing grief incorrectly. It may simply mean your grief is asking for a different kind of support.

You’re not behind.
You’re not broken.
And you don’t have to carry this alone.

Save this for the days you wonder why nothing has worked yet.
Share it with someone who might need a little more gentleness around their grief today.

👋 A little reintroduction…I’m Anna — a qualified and registered psychotherapist (MBACP), offering person-centred counsel...
19/01/2026

👋 A little reintroduction…

I’m Anna — a qualified and registered psychotherapist (MBACP), offering person-centred counselling in Lymington and online across the UK.

I have a special interest in supporting clients through grief, anxiety, and life transitions — and I often work with people who feel quietly disconnected from themselves or unsure where to go next.

My approach is grounded in connection, and in the belief that change begins with being truly heard.
I’m committed to creating a space where you can feel supported in reconnecting with your own voice, values, and direction — at your pace, in your own way.

🌐 Find out more or get in touch at: www.annashearscounselling.com
📍 Counselling in Lymington & online across the UK

16/01/2026

When you’re grieving — whether that grief is fresh or long-held — joy can feel complicated.
It might arrive suddenly, alongside sadness.
It might feel fleeting, or even hard to let in.

But these tiny glimmers — of warmth, connection, beauty — don’t erase grief.
They sit beside it.

A warm coffee in a quiet moment.
A kind message from a friend.
A glimpse of light through the trees.
A moment of laughter, even in the heaviness.

They’re not a sign that grief has gone —
but that it’s possible to feel more than one thing at once.
Moments of light don’t cancel out what’s been lost —
they sit gently alongside it.

In therapy, we make space for both:
The pain that asks to be witnessed, and the small glimmers that help carry us through.

If you’re living with grief — in any form — you’re not alone.
There’s space here for your experience.

🌐 www.annashearscounselling.com
📍 Counselling in Lymington & online across the UK

This time of year can stir up more than we expect.Grief that lingers quietly.Unfinished emotions that resurface.The pres...
25/11/2025

This time of year can stir up more than we expect.

Grief that lingers quietly.
Unfinished emotions that resurface.
The pressure to feel “festive” when something inside you feels anything but.

You might be grappling with feelings of loss, uncertainty, or a quiet sense that something’s unsettled.

Counselling offers space to meet what this season brings — not with pressure to resolve it, but with care and steady presence, at your pace.

Whether you’re returning to old grief or simply navigating a difficult end to the year, therapy can be a place to be heard, supported, and gently held.

📍 In-person sessions available in Lymington
💻 Online sessions for across the UK
🌐 annashearscounselling.com

Address

Lymington

Website

https://www.annashearscounselling.com/blog

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Anna Shears Counselling & Psychotherapy posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category