Hi, I'm Jenny - I'm a HCPC-registered Doctor of Clinical Psychology, and the founder of Mind Body Soul Psychology.
I specialise in supporting highly sensitive, cycle-breaking Mums, who want to heal their chronic anxiety
and that near-constant feeling of 'never enough'.
I also have a special interest and expertise in how chronic anxiety becomes intensified during the perinatal period, matrescence, and in perimenopause too. For the growing numbers of women who have a child over the age of 35, these two destabilising life-transitions are often happening at the same time, and this can be debilitating in a way that we never imagined, when we were planning our family.
If motherhood has been harder for you than you ever predicted - emotionally and/or physically - You are not alone.
If you watch your younger Mum-friends seem to find mothering far easier than you - You are not alone.
If mothering seems to get harder as your baby grows from being a baby, to a toddler,
to a pre-schooler (rather than easier, as you expected) - You are not alone.
If you have been waiting years to 'get back' to how you felt before you had your child,
yet you feel further away than ever before, from that person you used to be - You are not alone.
When we have struggled with chronic anxiety throughout our lives, it can so easily get much worse, or come back stronger than ever, when we become a Mum - especially if we are over 35 and our hormones are beginning to shift with the initial whispers of perimenopause.
I specialise in transforming the type of anxiety that has probably always been there, since childhood, and almost certainly has intensified since becoming a mum and/or in perimenopause. The type of anxiety that keeps us constantly on edge, unable to relax, paralysed when trying to make decisions, or second guessing ourselves when we do.
The type of anxiety that haunts our every thought & move, and that tells us that no matter how hard we try, no matter what we learn, no matter how much we work at it ... we will never be 'enough' - 'a good enough parent', ' a good enough daughter/partner/friend/worker', 'pretty enough', 'calm enough' - the list of ways this internal voice tells us we're failing is truly endless. If this rings true of your experience, you may like to read my section entitled 'About You', for further information about the common struggles I support women with.
I am deeply passionate about supporting Mums to loosen the grip that this anxiety has on their life, so that they can begin to live & parent with more calm, ease & joy. I am also incredibly passionate about empowering women with information about the life-transitions of becoming a mum, and perimenopause, so that women feel less blindsided by them, and can more easily reap the many amazing gifts that these life-transitions bring - Because they absolutely do bring many benefits and gifts, but often only when we understand what is happening, and are ready and resourced to navigate the changes they bring with dignity, power and self-compassion. I definitely have a feminist approach to talking about women, motherhood, and perimenopause - I believe wholeheartedly that our thriving in this world depends on us owning & telling our more varied, complex, authentic & accurate stories about our femininity, feminine roles and feminine powers.
I have more than 15 years experience as a psychologist, and I am the only clinical psychologist in the UK who is trained & certified in the Brené Brown model of wholehearted living & parenting, which is based on letting go of anxiety as a way of life, and embracing courage, calm and self-trust by cultivating the type of resilience that really matters.
When Mums work with me, they report feeling truly seen - they feel validated in all of their emotions, and emotionally supported, often for the first time in their life. The Mums I work with often quickly begin to realise that they have been very focussed on the needs of others - their children, their partners, their parents, their friends & colleagues - and given as much attention at all to their own needs. This is often the root of anxiety for all of us, and so my clients are transformed through the experience of receiving some care themselves & having a space to begin to prioritise their own emotional & physical health needs.
TESTIMONIALS
"I couldn't recommend reaching out to [Jenny] highly enough. Much healing achieved in the safest of spaces" - Mum of two.
"I am so grateful I got to see you in the past few months. I don’t think I would have been coping very well right now [during the Covid-19 pandemic] if I hadn’t focused on my anxiety back then"- Mum of two young children.
"My sessions with you were very productive and really helped me through a difficult time. I feel a sense of understanding and strength that I lacked at the beginning of our sessions" - Mum of two.
"You've given me some of the most valuable advice and helped me work through some of the hardest parts of my life and for that I am forever grateful" - Mum of two.
"I have huge admiration for your courage, vulnerability and ability to be true to your values and beliefs whilst being an excellent psychologist ... you have been very powerful in helping me change the ways I conceptualise things" - Clinical Psychologist & Mum of two.
"Your enthusiasm, and genuine care and consideration, combined with your great skill is invaluable"- Child Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist & Mum.