Kelly’s approach and specialisms

Narcissistic Abuse

Kelly specialises in working with adults who have experienced narcissistic abuse in romantic relationships and family systems. Her work focuses on the psychological impact of long-term manipulation, emotional invalidation, and power imbalance, including chronic self-doubt, hypervigilance, guilt, and difficulty trusting one’s own perceptions.

Therapy supports clients to understand how these dynamics operate, why they are so destabilising, and how their effects can persist even after a relationship has ended.

Narcissistic abuse and emotionally unavailable parenting

Kelly has particular expertise in the long-term impact of narcissistic and emotionally unavailable parenting. Growing up in environments where a child’s emotional needs were secondary to a parent’s needs or moods often leads to difficulties with boundaries, self-worth, and emotional regulation in adulthood.

Her work helps clients make sense of how early relational experiences continue to shape their inner world, nervous system responses, and adult relationships, including patterns of over-responsibility, people-pleasing, and self-minimisation.

Relational trauma

Kelly works extensively with relational trauma, including childhood emotional neglect, domestic abuse, and complex relational histories. She supports clients to understand how repeated relational stress and lack of emotional safety can shape expectations of closeness, conflict, and care.

Therapy focuses on restoring emotional stability, clarity, and a more grounded sense of self within relationships.

Kelly’s therapeutic approach

Kelly’s approach combines psychodynamic therapy, trauma-informed Internal Family Systems, and body-based practices. This combination is particularly effective for narcissistic abuse recovery because it works on three essential levels:

1. Understanding the roots of the pattern (psychodynamic therapy)
Psychodynamic work helps clients see how earlier relationships shaped their expectations, boundaries, and emotional responses. This is crucial in narcissistic abuse recovery, where old survival strategies often get replayed in adult relationships. By understanding these patterns, clients can begin to interrupt them rather than fall back into self-blame or confusion.

2. Working with internal protective responses rather than fighting them (Internal Family Systems)
IFS offers a structured, compassionate way of working with the parts of someone that became hyper-alert, self-silencing, or over-responsible in order to stay safe. These responses were adaptive in the context of narcissistic abuse. IFS helps clients understand them, soothe them, and reduce emotional overwhelm, which creates real movement in recovery.

3. Supporting nervous system regulation after long-term relational stress (trauma-informed practice)
Narcissistic abuse leaves the nervous system on high alert. Kelly’s trauma-informed approach recognises this and focuses on safety, grounding, and emotional regulation. This makes the work sustainable and helps reduce chronic anxiety, guilt, and self-doubt.

Together, these methods help clients rebuild self-trust, strengthen boundaries, and develop a steadier internal base from which healthier relationships can form. Kelly works at depth and at the client’s pace, offering a calm, collaborative space for long-term change.