Gemma’s approach and specialisms

Gemma works from a person-centred foundation, placing the therapeutic relationship at the centre of her work. She offers a safe and contained space where clients can talk openly about their experiences without judgement or expectations about how pregnancy, birth or motherhood are supposed to feel.

Her approach also incorporates principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT). ACT can help clients find ways of responding differently to difficult thoughts and emotions while reconnecting with what matters to them. CFT can be particularly helpful when working with guilt, shame, self-criticism or a sense of not being good enough.

Gemma works in a trauma-informed way and adapts therapy to the individual. This is particularly important when working with experiences around pregnancy, birth, loss and feeding, where clients may need time and safety before they feel able to explore what has happened.

Perinatal Mental Health

Gemma specialises in supporting women through the psychological and emotional experiences surrounding pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.

Her experience in this area extends beyond her psychotherapy practice. For four years, she co-ran a community-based organisation supporting mothers during the perinatal period and beyond. She has also volunteered with the PANDAS Foundation, providing direct emotional and practical support to parents and helping them access appropriate services.

Gemma has completed specialist training in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health through the Institute of Health Visiting. This combination of therapeutic training and direct experience within perinatal support services gives her a strong understanding of the particular pressures and emotional difficulties that can arise during this stage of life.

Therapy provides space to explore these experiences in their own right, without reducing everything a woman may be feeling to the fact that she has recently become a mother.

Maternal Mental Health and the Transition to Motherhood

Gemma works with women adjusting to motherhood and the changes it can bring to identity, relationships and emotional wellbeing.

Her work can include feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, low mood, loss of confidence and difficulties adjusting to a new sense of self. She also works with guilt and self-criticism, including the pressure women can place on themselves around how they believe they should be coping or feeling.

Gemma's person-centred approach allows each woman's experience of motherhood to be explored individually. She does not work from assumptions about what motherhood should mean or feel like.

Her Compassion-Focused Therapy training is particularly relevant to this work. It can help clients notice harsh self-criticism and develop a more compassionate relationship with themselves while navigating the emotional demands of motherhood.

Birth Trauma

Gemma has undertaken specialist Birth Trauma Training with Make Birth Better and works in a trauma-informed way with women following difficult or traumatic experiences of pregnancy and birth.

Therapy offers a confidential space to process what happened and the emotional impact it continues to have. Gemma works collaboratively and at the client's pace, without pressure to revisit experiences before they feel ready.

Her person-centred approach keeps the individual woman's experience at the centre of the work. ACT and CFT principles can also be incorporated where helpful, particularly when clients are struggling with difficult thoughts, self-blame, guilt or emotions connected to their experience.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG)

Gemma has completed specialist training for counsellors supporting women during and after pregnancies affected by Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

HG can have a significant emotional and psychological impact during pregnancy, and its effects may continue after the pregnancy itself has ended. Gemma offers space to explore the experience and its impact without minimising the severity of what the woman has been through.

Her trauma-informed approach is particularly relevant where the experience has been frightening, isolating or difficult to process. Therapy can take place during pregnancy or afterwards, depending on when support is needed.

Pregnancy, Birth and Feeding Experiences

Gemma also works with women who want therapeutic support around difficult experiences connected with pregnancy, birth or feeding.

These experiences can carry complicated emotions and may not fit neatly into a diagnostic category. Gemma's person-centred approach provides space to explore what the experience has meant to the individual woman and how it has affected her emotionally.

Her work is collaborative and paced according to the client's needs, with the therapeutic relationship providing a safe foundation from which difficult experiences can be understood and processed.