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Emotional Respite - Disability Counselling Service

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United Kingdom
Newcastle upon Tyne
Emotional Respite - Disability Counselling Service

Disability-led Online Mental Health Service offering therapy across the UK. She has created a team of therapists with lived experience of disability.

Emotional Respite is a counselling service providing professional support to individuals with physical disabilities, their families and carers. It offers those affected by physical disabilities a unique opportunity to work with a physically disabled counsellor. Helen Rutherford has been a counsellor for over 14 years and has spinal muscular atrophy and uses an electric wheelchair. Her personal and professional experience gives her a deep understanding of the diversity of disability issues. Helen is aware of the challenges faced by people affected by physical disabilities and how this can impact on them emotionally. Sessions are conducted online. Sessions are £45 an hour but concessions are available for low incomes

06/01/2026

Inclusive Affirmations for Mental Health

These are written to honour rest, reality, and self-compassion rather than pressure or “new year” perfection.

✨️I am allowed to begin this year Slowly.
✨️My worth does not depend on productivity or progress.
✨️Rest is a valid and necessary part of my mental health.
✨️I do not need to have everything figured out right now.
✨️My feelings are allowed to exist without judgment.
✨️I am doing the best I can with the energy I have today.
✨️Healing does not follow a straight line, and that's okay.
✨️I am allowed to change my goals when my needs change.
✨️I am allowed to take up space, exactly as l am.
✨️This season does not define my entire year.
✨️I am learning to be kinder to myself.
✨️I can take this year one moment at a time.

Affirmations can support mental health by helping reshape negative thought patterns into more balanced, positive ones. Repeating affirmations encourages self-compassion, builds confidence, and reinforces a sense of control during stressful moments. Over time, they can reduce self-doubt, improve mood, and promote a more resilient mindset by reminding the brain of constructive beliefs and personal strengths.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

01/01/2026

✨ New Year, Same Humanity ✨

As 2026 begins, let’s release the pressure of “new year, new me.”

For those living with disability or chronic illness, growth can look very different. and that’s something to honour, not fix. This year, may your goals be rooted in compassion, not comparison.

🌿 Rest without guilt.

🌿 Celebrate the progress no one else sees.

🌿 Redefine success in ways that work for your body and mind.

🌿 Seek connection over perfection.You don’t have to start strong. simply starting is enough.

Here’s to a year where gentle care, pacing, and self-acceptance lead the way.

Wishing you steady, gentle, and compassionate 2026! 🌙

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

31/12/2025

🎉✨ Happy New Year from Emotional Respite Disability Counselling Service ✨🎉

ID: A background of colourful fireworks exploding in the dark sky.

A new year brings new possibilities, gentle beginnings, and space to care for your emotional wellbeing. As we step into this year together, we honour your courage, your progress, and every small win along the way.

Thank you for being part of our community. May this year be filled with kindness, support, and moments that remind you of your strength. We’re here to walk beside you, always. 🌈

www.emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

22/12/2025

✨🎄 Merry Christmas from Emotional Respite Disability Counselling Service.

ID: A close-up image of colourful Christmas lights

As I reflect on the year, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to our incredible therapists for your compassion, dedication, and support. Your commitment has made a real difference in so many lives.

Wishing everyone a safe, restful, and joyful Christmas, and we look forward to continuing this journey together in the new year!

Helen Rutherford MBACP Accred Founder of Emotional Respite Disability Counselling Service.

www.emotionalrespite.co.uk

19/12/2025

"Therapy supports a regulated nervous system: when you're held in safety, your body and mind can begin to relax, heal, and reshape how you respond to stress. You're invited to connect with your truth and rediscover what it means to feel safe, present, and wholly yourself."

✨ Therapy is more than talking, it’s about finding a safe place for your nervous system to rest and reset.
Here, safety wraps around you, allowing your body and mind to gently unwind, heal, and relearn how to respond to life’s stresses with more ease.
You’re invited to show up just as you are, connect with your truth, and rediscover what it means to feel safe, present, and wholly yourself. Healing happens here, at your own pace, in your own way.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

15/12/2025

"Grieving and Celebrating at Once"

Some seasons bring a strange duality, joy sitting quietly beside sorrow. You might be grieving what's been lost and learning to celebrate what remains. Both can be true at once.

Grief doesn't disappear just because good things happen, and happiness doesn't erase the pain you carry. Healing often asks us to hold both gently, to honour the hurt while still noticing moments of love, warmth and meaning.

If you find yourself smiling one moment and crying the next, you're not doing it wrong. You're simply being human, alive to the complexity of it all.

Take today at your own pace. Let joy and grief share the same space if they need to. There's room for both in you.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

11/12/2025

Understanding the Stress Responses: Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn

Your body's survival modes aren't flaws, they're protection. When we sense danger, our nervous system reacts automatically. These responses once kept our ancestors alive. Today, they still appear, sometimes even when we aren't in physical danger.

Fight
The body prepares to confront the threat. You might feel tense, angry, defensive, or ready to argue. It's your body saying, "I need to defend myself. "

Flight You feel a surge of energy to escape or avoid. You might pull away, overwork, or distract yourself to feel safe. It's your body saying, "I need to get away. "

Freeze Your system shuts down to protect you. You might feel numb, stuck, or disconnected. It's your body saying, "I can't move, it's safer to stay still."

Fawn You try to keep others happy to avoid conflict or harm. You might lose touch with your own needs. It's your body saying, "If - appease them, I'll stay safe."

Next time you notice a response, pause with gentleness. Ask: What is my body trying to protect me from? Safety begins with understanding. Healing starts with awareness. Your nervous system isn't broken, it's brilliant at keeping you safe, even when it no longer needs to.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

10/12/2025

Emotional check-ins: brief journalling, rating pain and mood, or a daily "how am I really?" can help you notice patterns and reach out for help sooner.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

05/12/2025

❄️Winter depression, pain and nervous system❄️

Shorter days and lack of sunlight can worsen depression and seasonal affective disorder, and chronic pain or limited mobility can intensify that by making it harder to get outside.

When the nervous system is juggling pain, fatigue and low light, it is more vulnerable to anxiety, brain fog and emotional overwhelm.

If you are struggling book in with one of our experienced disability specialist therapists for support!

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

03/12/2025

ID: An image of a diverse group of disabled people with various visible and invisible disabilities.

Today, on International Day of People with Disabilities 2025, we celebrate the strength, leadership, and innovation of disabled people around the world.

This year’s theme, “Fostering disability-inclusive societies for advancing social progress”, is a powerful reminder that true progress happens with disabled people at the center of decision-making, design, and community building.

As a Disability-Led Online Mental Health organisation, inclusion is at the heart of our work.
Everything we create, every conversation we hold, and every barrier we challenge is rooted in the belief that mental health support must be accessible, affirming, and inclusive for all.

Let’s keep building a world where everyone belongs, not as an afterthought, but as leaders shaping the future. 💙♿✨

emotionalrespite.co.uk

02/12/2025

❄️Winter Flare-ups & Low Mood❄️

Winter can make chronic pain, fatigue and mobility challenges worse, and that can quickly pull mood down too.

Try:Building a “winter baseline”: Adjust your expectations allowing for the challenges of winter.

Naming the link: “My pain is higher, so my mood is lower” this is not a personal failure, it is a pain response. That awareness can soften self-blame and make it easier to ask for support.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

30/11/2025

✨ Within this space, you can be fully, imperfectly human.Here, there’s no need to hide the parts of you that feel messy, uncertain, or too much. This space is anchored in acceptance and compassion, holding room for every version of you, the one that’s healing, struggling, growing, and simply being.You deserve places where you can exhale, let go, and uncover what’s been too heavy or too hidden elsewhere. This is one of those places.

emotionalrespite.co.uk
Appointments Available!

Address

Newcastle Upon Tyne

Opening Hours

Monday	1pm - 8pm
Tuesday	1pm - 8pm
Wednesday	1pm - 8pm
Thursday	1pm - 8pm
Friday	1pm - 8pm

Website

https://www.emotionalrespite.co.uk/

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