Orla Blakelock

"It’s the relationship that heals, the relationship that heals, the relationship that heals" - Yalom. I am trained as an integrative relational therapist. I am culturally attuned in my work and call upon multiple therapeutic theory including: person-centred, psychodynamic and transpersonal. Where helpful to your process I use dramatic role play, music, drawing, writing, mindfulness and body work as therapeutic aids to help with your self-expression. Ongoing areas of CPD include: racial trauma and identity, gender sexuality and relationship diversity, trauma awareness, inner child healing and neurodiversity. I work with a wide variety of issues including: abuse (including narcissistic abuse), sexual trauma, racial trauma and identity, bipolar disorder, depression, LQBTQ+ (including gender dysphoria and transitioning), redundancy, relationship issues, codependency, hearing voices, low self-esteem, stress, bereavement, inner child work, addiction recovery (including sex and love addiction), anxiety, self-harm and other forms of emotional distress. Working with issues concerning intersectionality and identity journeying are areas of particular passion for me. For those it is meaningful to, I identify as a Non-binary, Queer person with British and European heritage. I am neurodivergent and have mental health lived experience; my lived experience informs my practice and I provide an inclusive space in which all aspects of identity can be honoured and repaired where there has been shame planted. Whether you have had wounding in your identity as a result of your age, gender, sexual preference, sexual orientation, kink identity, relationship diversity, religion, race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, neurodiversity, health, heritage, education, social background, class or political belief - together we can cultivate an environment in which you can move through the fire of that shame and walk out into empowerment and pride. Instagram: @youmatter.therapy Website: https://www.youmattertherapy.org/

I am trauma-informed and work deeply with clients to identify the wounds holding them back in life, helping them to lean into the pain so it can receive the attention it needs to heal. We are taught to avoid or fix our pain; this is a misguided myth; in the context of therapy the solution is in building enough trust in the therapeutic relationship to make space for your experience to breathe. In doing this inner freedom begins to be enabled. It's hard work, but it's heart work, and I am here to guide and hold you in this process. I have been working in the field of mental health for over 14 years. I have a background in mental health user involvement and am passionate about placing the client's experience at the centre of therapy. I have worked with organisations such as Gendered Intelligence, Stonewall, Bipolar UK, the Advocacy Project and the NHS.