About Me
"I know this road. Because I walk it too"
I'm Sheena — a BABCP Accredited Psychotherapist specialising in chronic pain and women's health. I bring 16 years of clinical expertise, a science-meets-soul approach, and the lived experience of navigating hEDS, chronic pain, and perimenopause myself.
If you've found your way here, something tells me you're exhausted. Not just physically though that's very real but exhausted by surviving. By managing symptoms, pushing through, showing up for everyone else while quietly losing sight of yourself.
I've been there. I know what it's like to wake up and wonder who you are beyond your symptoms, your diagnosis, your role. And I know what it takes to find your way back not to who you were before, but to something deeper and more authentic than that.
That's what I'm here to help you do.
"My mission is to help women stop surviving and start rising , to live a life that is meaningful, connected, and authentically their own."
I don't just work with this.
I live it.
MY STORY
I've always had 'bendy' joints, the kind that people joke about until they don't. In my early twenties, knee pain became part of my life. During pregnancy, a slipped disc changed everything, and the pain that followed has never fully left. Years later, I realised I had hEDS (hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) a moment that was equal parts relief and grief. More recently, I've been navigating perimenopause, the fatigue, the hormonal shifts, the strange disconnection from a body I thought I knew.
And alongside all of this, I've watched my mum manage chronic pain for over 25 years. I've seen her struggle, and I've seen her build a rich, values-led life in spite of it. Her resilience is woven into everything do. I am eternally grateful and inspired by her.
I tell you all of this not to lead with struggle, but because it matters. When I sit with a client who is grieving the life they had before their diagnosis, or who feels like their body has become their enemy, I'm not reading from a textbook. I am with them, fully, because I know this road.
And I know it gets better. Not by fighting your body into submission, but by learning to listen to it, work with it, and build a life you love alongside it.
SCIENCE MEETS SOUL...
What actually helps me
Over the years I've discovered that managing chronic pain and navigating hormonal health isn't just about clinical tools, as important as those are. It's about finding the practices that bring you back into your body and back to yourself.
For me, that means cold water swimming with friends- the shock of immersion that forces me into my breath, calms my nervous system, and gives me a few moments of genuine quiet. It means walking in nature, which research shows genuinely reduces pain perception and stress hormones. It means doTERRA essential oils as part of my daily nervous system rituals. It means crystals on my windowsill, not because they cure anything, but because beauty andintention matter.
I'm a Psychotherapist who uses CBT, ACT, and EMDR.
And I'm also a woman who swims in cold water and reaches for lavender essential oil when her nervous system is frayed. These things are not contradictions. They are the whole picture.
This is the approach I bring to my work - evidence-based and deeply human. Because healing is both.
HOLSITIC HEALING FOR ME
- Cold Water swimming — nervous system reset and daily joy.
- Nature and outdoor movement —proven pain and stress reduction, doTERRA essential oils — daily nervous system rituals.
- Breathwork and mindfulness —anchoring the body in safety
- Peak District life — two children, a poodle, five chickens, a campervan
- Crystals and intention — beauty as a form of self-care
HOW I WORK
My approach to healing is working at the intersection of Psychotherapy and holistic wellbeing - bringing together the rigour of evidence-based therapy with the wisdom of lived experience and whole-person care. Whether we're working through the psychological impact of chronic pain, navigating the identity shifts that come with long-term illness, or simply helping you reconnect with what truly matters — the approach is always collaborative, compassionate, and tailored entirely to you.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) Understanding how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact with pain and illness — and learning to shift unhelpful patterns with compassion and evidence.
- Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) - Moving from fighting your experience to living a values-led life alongside it. ACT is at the heart of how I help women rise from surviving to thriving.
- EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) - particularly powerful for processing trauma, past experiences, and the emotional weight that can amplify physical pain.
- Holistic & Integrative Support- Breathwork, nervous system regulation, nature-based practices, mindfulness, and lifestyle strategies such as using essential oils that honour the whole person - not just the diagnosis.
Who I work with
I work with women, and men who are living with chronic pain, long-term health conditions such as endometriosis, fibromyalgia, hEDS, perimenopause, and any experience that has left them feeling disconnected from themselves and their lives.
You don't need a diagnosis to work with me. You just need to be ready to stop merely surviving and start building a life that feels genuinely, authentically yours.
I offer 1:1 therapy from my clinic in Wilmslow, Cheshire, and online via Zoom — making support accessible wherever you are.
Q U A L I F I C A T I O N S & T R A I N I N G
My credentials
Over 20 years studying psychology, 16 years working in mental health, and over decade specialising in chronic pain and long-term health conditions.
BABCP Accredited Psychotherapist
- Post Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapies
- Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Practice Interventions in Mental Health
- EMDR trained (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing)
- Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) for Chronic Pain
- CBT for Persistent Pain and Long-term Health Conditions
- Mindfulness-Based approaches
- BA (Hons) Psychology and Criminology
- Diploma in Psychology
Registered with AXA, Aviva, WPA & BUPA
16 years NHS and private practice experience
