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Heal 2 Thrive Counselling & Therapies

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United Kingdom
Southend-on-Sea
Heal 2 Thrive Counselling & Therapies

I am a psychotherapeutic counsellor, hypnotherapist and Integral eye movement therapist.

My Therapy room is in Rayleigh Essex, but I offer online & telephone counselling to clients based anywhere in the UK

10/11/2025

Sometimes therapy just needs to feel a little more human.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say,
“I tried counselling — it wasn’t for me.”
And every time, my heart sinks a little 💔

Because there are so many different types of counselling, and so many different kinds of counsellors.

Just like in life — we all connect differently.

Sometimes the most important part isn’t the method at all, it’s the relationship — that feeling of being seen, heard, and understood.
That quiet “click” with the person sitting across from you.

A friend once told me they’d tried counselling after a loss and it didn’t help them at all. It turned out they’d been offered CBT —a brilliant approach in many situations,but not the gentlest fit for someone deep in grief.

That experience left them believing therapy wasn’t for them —
when really, they just hadn’t yet found their therapist,or the kind of therapy that could walk beside them in their grief and honour their pain with gentleness.”

💛 If you’ve ever felt that way — please know, the right space & person can feel completely different. Warm. Real. Like a place you can finally exhale.”

Sometimes it’s simply about finding the right person,the right approach,
and the right moment in your journey.

If you ever feel ready to try again,
there’s a calm space here —
with a comfortable sofa and someone who will meet you gently, exactly where you are.

Therapist #

06/11/2025

🙏🫶 For those who thought they’d be somewhere else by now —
maybe this, right here, is where the magic begins.

Maybe it’s not too late.

Maybe it’s just beginning.

Maybe this detour is the path.

Maybe you’re not behind — just being gently rerouted.

Maybe this pause was part of the plan.

Maybe the timing you thought was wrong was actually protecting something tender that needed more time to bloom.

Maybe you didn’t miss your path, you were just gathering wisdom.

Maybe the things that fell apart
were never meant to hold the next version of you.

Maybe everything is quietly rearranging itself to support the life you’re meant to live —even if you can’t see it yet.

❤️ Maybe the story isn’t ending —
it’s opening in a way you couldn’t have imagined.

Counselling # online counselling # counsellingrayleigh Essex # inner critic rayleigh # limitingbeliefs -pleasing self esteem

05/11/2025

To Feel It All 😫😢😡🤣😍

There is wisdom in every feeling — even the ones we were taught to hide.

The ache, the anger, the longing, the sorrow.

Each is a messenger, arriving not to punish you,but to remind you that you are alive.

😢 Sadness asks us to slow down, to grieve what’s been lost, to honour what mattered.

😡 Anger points toward the places where our needs, boundaries, or values have been overlooked.

😧 Fear alerts us to where safety or reassurance is needed.

🤣 Joy reminds us we are meant to feel alive, connected, and moved by beauty.

We spend so much energy trying not to feel —tightening against what’s rising,
telling ourselves we must just get on with it/ get over it.

But the heart doesn’t heal through suppression.

It heals through allowing.

💛 To feel it all is not to drown —
it’s to remember your depth.

To let the tides move through you
and trust that what is meant to stay, will.

When you allow every feeling a place at the table,you begin to discover that even the heaviest emotions
carry light within them.

Feelings aren’t meant to be controlled or solved — they’re meant to be listened to, tended to, and befriended.

To let them rise, teach, move, and pass — like tides.

Because when we numb one feeling, we numb them all.

Allowing every feeling — even the painful ones — helps us reconnect with our wholeness.

feels #

03/11/2025

🌳 When You Outgrow Old Versions of Yourself 🌳

Growth can be both beautiful and bittersweet.

There comes a time when the ways you once coped, the roles you once played, and the spaces that once felt safe begin to feel just a little too small.

It’s not always easy to release what was.

But just like the trees, we’re not meant to hold on forever.

Some things fall away so that space can open…

for light, for breath, for new beginnings , new friendships to take root.

Letting go isn’t losing — it’s trusting that what’s meant for you will return in a new form, when the time is right.

That doesn’t mean you’ve failed — it means you’re becoming. 💛

There’s courage in shedding old layers.

There’s tenderness in learning to meet yourself again, in this new chapter, with the same compassion you once offered to survive.

Be gentle with yourself as you grow.

You’re allowed to outgrow who you were — and step softly into who you’re becoming.

#
Therapy #
reset #
Therapyessex # onlinecounselling

30/10/2025

🌈 What if it all turned out beautifully?

Our minds are powerful storytellers — but sometimes they tell us stories that feed fear instead of hope.

We imagine the worst outcomes, see things in all-or-nothing terms, or assume we already know how the future will unfold.

These patterns — like catastrophising, black-and-white thinking, or predicting the future — can make life feel smaller and heavier than it really is.

But here’s the thing… what if, even for a moment, you imagined something different?

What if instead of picturing everything going wrong, you allowed space for things to go right?

🌈 What if the rainbow really did appear after the storm?

Our thoughts aren’t facts. And sometimes, choosing to imagine a beautiful possibility is the first step toward creating one. 🌿 Let your thoughts wander toward the gentle what ifs and notice how different you feel.

29/10/2025

Validation

A word I’m hearing a lot this week is validation.

It’s not about fixing.
Or finding the perfect words.

It’s about being met with presence — and having your feelings held with care.

Validation is a quiet kind of magic.

It says, “What you’re feeling matters.”
It says, “You don’t have to explain your pain to be worthy of understanding.”

Sometimes, it only takes one moment of being seen to remind us we were never broken — just waiting to be met.
❤️🫶🤗👥

28/10/2025

🌞 Healing often begins like the first light through the trees — subtle, steady, easy to miss if you’re not looking gently.

Sometimes therapy doesn’t feel like a big breakthrough.

It feels like small, quiet shifts that slowly change how you move through the world.

🌿 You notice your emotions sooner — and they feel a little less overwhelming.

🕊️ You pause before reacting to old triggers.

✨ You feel safer naming what you need.

🍃 You catch your inner critic — and respond with more kindness.

🌸 You don’t bounce back overnight… but you do come back.

💛 You begin to trust your own voice again.

Therapy isn’t about becoming someone else.

It’s about slowly coming home to yourself — one soft, powerful shift at a time. ❤️

# bereavement # grief #
Lifechangingevents # support

25/10/2025

So Many Rules… and Not Enough Joy

There are so many rules out there about how we “should” live a healthy life.

What to eat. How to rest. When to move.

And at my time of life, the list seems to grow even longer.

Apparently, I’m not “supposed” to do spinning classes — because of things like cortisol spikes, impact on hormonal balance, and the need to keep stress low.

But here’s the thing… my spin class feels like joy to me.

The music. The lights. The sweat. The euphoria that floods my body afterwards.

It takes me right back to my clubbing days — that feeling of being alive, free, and lost in the moment.

“Yes — knowledge matters. Our bodies are changing and deserve care.

But joy matters just as fiercely. Pleasure matters. That wild, alive spark in us matters. We can’t forget that part of living.

So this weekend, here’s my reminder to myself (and maybe to you too):

Listen to your body — but also never forget to listen to the voice of your soul. It knows what makes you feel alive.

Health isn’t just about rules. It’s about what makes you feel alive.

Joy is medicine too. 🪩💃❤️🎵🚲

22/10/2025

🌗 When Light Silences the Shadow 🌗

Positivity can be a gentle medicine — it can remind us of hope, offer warmth in hard times, and help us keep going when the road is steep.

But when positivity is used to bypass pain, silence real feelings, or cover over the tender places within us… it stops being healing.

This is what we call toxic positivity.

It might sound like:

☀️ “Just think positive.”
☀️ “Everything happens for a reason.”
☀️ “Good vibes only.”

Even when well-meant, these words can unintentionally tell someone, “Your pain isn’t welcome here.”

💚 True healing makes room for the full spectrum — light and shadow.

Grief can sit beside hope. Anger can breathe next to love. Darkness and light are not enemies; they are parts of a whole.

Although approaches like CBT can help us understand how our thoughts shape our emotions, it’s also true that sometimes we need to allow ourselves to feel the heavier emotions — not fix or reframe them straight away.

Feeling isn’t failure. It’s part of being human.

You are allowed to feel deeply. To be messy, human, sacred.

Your pain is not a sign you’re doing life wrong — it’s a sign that you feel.

❤️You don’t need to be positive to be worthy. You already are ❤️

17/10/2025

This little birdie decided to be my personal alarm clock this morning — singing his heart out as the first light poured through the window.

Just a tiny silhouette against the soft dawn glow… like a messenger of the weekend, reminding me to slow down, listen, and let the day unfold gently.

The shadows of leaves, the soft light, the song of a bird.

Moments like these don’t shout; they arrive softly…

reminding us of beauty, nature, presence, and the quiet rhythm of life.

What a start to the weekend — a little bit of magic before the world wakes up. 🌿☀️🕊️

15/10/2025

Trauma isn’t defined by the event.
It’s defined by the impact it has on us.

Your pain doesn’t need to be compared to anyone else’s to be real. 💚

Something I often hear clients say is:
👉 “It wasn’t that bad.”
👉 “Other people have been through worse.”
👉 “I don’t really have a right to feel this way.”
👉 “Why can’t I get over it? My friend went through something similar and is fine.”

But trauma isn’t measured by how “big” something looks from the outside.

It’s about how our nervous system experiences it on the inside.

Two people can live through the same event and have completely different emotional responses. One may feel shaken for years, while another may not.

Both experiences are real. Both are valid.

When we minimise our pain, we also block our healing.

Your story matters, even if it doesn’t look like someone else’s.

You don’t have to “qualify” to deserve care and support. 💚

Healing begins when we gently acknowledge: “What happened to me mattered.”

You are allowed to take your pain seriously.

You are allowed to heal at your own pace.

And you are worthy of support — exactly as you are. 💛

# CounsellingRayleigh essex #

13/10/2025

A gentle invitation

There are seasons in life that ask something deeper of us.

Moments of change, loss, threshold, or quiet searching.

Times when what once felt certain begins to shift — and we long for a space to land, to breathe, to make sense of what’s stirring within.

This is the space I hold.

For those navigating grief, transitions, soul questions, and tender becoming.

For those who are ready to listen inward, even if the path ahead isn’t fully clear.

You do not have to walk this path alone.

If this speaks to you, you’re warmly welcome to reach out.

📩 laura@heal2thrive.co.uk

# rayleigh # counselling # therapy

Address

Rayleigh
Southend-on-Sea
SS69RU

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 7pm

Website

http://www.heal2thrive.co.uk/

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