Thrive Taunton

26/01/2026

“Something very tired finally being listened to” 🤯

One of the most meaningful things we can hear is this:

“It feels like it’s often less about something being wrong… and more about something very tired finally being listened to.”

So many women arrive in therapy already scanned, assessed, advised, judged, or diagnosed.
What they haven’t often had is space.

Space to speak without managing someone else’s reaction.
Space to be messy without being fixed.
Space to be tired without being told to be stronger.

Sometimes the work isn’t about changing anything yet.
It’s about letting the part of you that’s been carrying everything finally exhale.

26/01/2026

This free training could help us save lives.

Free Su***de Alertness training for those working and living in the county of Somerset. Commissioned by Somerset Public Health, delivered by Every Life Matters.

25/01/2026

When relationships feel like work

Some women come to therapy because relationships exhaust them:

They love deeply.
They give endlessly.
They think constantly about what others need.

And yet they feel unseen, unchosen, unheld.
Often what we’re really working with is not “bad relationships,” but attachment patterns shaped long before the current one.

Therapy becomes the place where you stop trying to earn safety, and start building it inside yourself.

23/01/2026

Neurodivergent nervous systems and self-blame

Many of the women I work with are ADHD, autistic, or quietly wondering if they might be.
They’ve spent years being told they’re too sensitive, too intense, too messy, too much… or not enough.
So they didn’t just learn coping strategies.
They learned shame.
Shame for how their brain works.
Shame for struggling with things others find easy.
Shame for needing more rest, clarity, reassurance, or space.

Therapy isn’t about forcing a nervous system to perform. It’s about understanding it, softening the war with it, and building a life that actually fits.

22/01/2026

Anger that had nowhere to go 😤

A theme that comes up again and again in my work is anger that never got a safe home.

Women who don’t “get angry”… but feel tense, resentful, tearful, exhausted, numb, overwhelmed.

Anger doesn’t disappear when it isn’t allowed.
It just turns inward.
Into anxiety.
Shame.
Self-criticism.
People-pleasing.
Burnout.

Part of therapy is gently helping the nervous system realise that boundaries, needs, and anger don’t destroy connection. They protect it.

21/01/2026

Functional doesn’t mean okay 😑

You can be getting up every day, going to work, parenting, paying bills, replying to messages… and still be deeply dysregulated inside.

So many women minimise their distress because they’re still “functioning.”

But functioning is not the same as feeling safe.
Or rested.
Or emotionally held.
Or connected to yourself.

Survival mode can look very put-together.

Therapy isn’t only for breakdowns.
It’s also for the quiet, competent, lonely places no one sees.

20/01/2026

High empathy is not the same as safety 😪

Many of the women I see describe themselves as “too empathetic.”

They absorb moods.
They feel responsible for other people’s pain.
They stay too long.
They explain too much.
They shrink their needs so nobody else feels uncomfortable.

This isn’t just empathy.
It’s often a trauma-shaped survival skill.
When you grew up needing to read emotional weather to stay safe, your nervous system got very good at tuning into others… and very bad at protecting you.

Therapy becomes the place where empathy stops being self-erasure, and starts including you.

19/01/2026

When anxiety isn’t really anxiety 😑

A lot of people come to therapy saying “I have anxiety.”

As we start to gently unpick it, what often sits underneath is something else:
• Hyper-responsibility
• Fear of being a burden
• Growing up around unpredictability
• Learning early that your needs caused problems
• Being the peacemaker, the good girl, the emotional carer

An anxious nervous system makes perfect sense when it learned that safety depended on you staying alert, helpful, easy, and in control.

Your anxiety is not random.
It’s a story your nervous system learned very young.
And stories can be rewritten.

16/01/2026

Embrace the beauty of nature by sharing a moment when you felt a deep connection to the outdoors. Your story could inspire others to appreciate the natural world around them 🌿🏔️🏕️⛺🌲🌳

15/01/2026

The invisible load 😔

Some of the women I work with don’t come to therapy because something “big” has happened. They come because they’re tired in a way sleep doesn’t touch.

Tired of holding everyone together.
Tired of being the capable one.
Tired of monitoring moods, needs, reactions, consequences.
Tired of being the emotional shock absorber in their family or relationship.

From the outside, they’re functioning. Working. Parenting. Coping.
Inside, they feel stretched so thin there’s no quiet space left to hear themselves.

If this lands, therapy isn’t about “fixing” you.
It’s about finally having a space where you don’t have to carry everyone else first.

14/01/2026

After an Abusive Relationship Ends ⚫
Leaving an abusive relationship doesn’t instantly restore safety. Many people feel more anxious, confused, or dysregulated afterwards. Hypervigilance, self-doubt, rumination, and fear can linger because your nervous system learned to stay alert to survive. These responses are not weakness. They are protection that hasn’t yet been updated. Therapy focuses on helping your system learn that the danger has passed, at a pace that feels tolerable rather than forced.

13/01/2026

Living With Both ADHD and Autism 😑
AuDHD often comes with a deep internal tug-of-war. One part of you seeks stimulation, novelty, and movement. Another part needs routine, rest, and sameness. This can lead to cycles of overcommitment followed by shutdown, or bursts of energy followed by deep exhaustion. It isn’t inconsistency or self-sabotage. It’s a nervous system trying to meet two very real, competing needs. Integrative therapy helps you work with this pattern rather than fighting it.