Workplace Stress, Burnout & Workplace Wellbeing Counselling.
In Upper Heyford, near Bicester, Oxfordshire & Online.
Work can provide purpose, achievement and financial security, but it can also become one of life's greatest sources of stress.
Whether you're feeling overwhelmed by workload, experiencing burnout, navigating workplace bullying, struggling with a difficult manager, working within a toxic workplace culture or finding it impossible to switch off after work, prolonged workplace stress can begin affecting every area of your life.
Having spent more than twenty years working in senior HR, leadership, recruitment and business roles before retraining as a counsellor and psychotherapist, I understand many of the realities people experience in today's workplaces.
Counselling and psychotherapy provide a confidential space to better understand how work is affecting your emotional wellbeing, recognise the patterns that may be keeping you stuck and explore what a healthier relationship with work could look like.
UNDERSTANDING WORKPLACE STRESS
When work begins to affect the rest of your life.
Periods of pressure at work are a normal part of most careers.
However, when stress becomes ongoing, it can begin affecting your emotional wellbeing, confidence, relationships, sleep, physical health and ability to enjoy life outside of work.
You may notice yourself constantly thinking about work, replaying conversations long after you've left the office, feeling anxious on Sunday evenings or struggling to switch off even when you're away from your desk.
Sometimes the difficulty isn't simply the workload itself. It can be feeling unable to speak openly, constantly second-guessing yourself, walking on eggshells around certain colleagues or managers, or never quite knowing what to expect from the people around you.
At other times, stress develops through increasing responsibilities, organisational change, workplace bullying, formal performance management processes or a workplace culture that no longer feels healthy, supportive or psychologically safe.
Whatever the cause, work should not consume every part of your life.
Looking beyond workload alone.
Two people can work in the same organisation, under the same manager and experience the workplace very differently.
Whilst some pressures originate within the workplace itself, our own history, personality, attachment experiences and long-established ways of coping can also influence how we respond to responsibility, conflict, criticism, uncertainty and success.
Perhaps you've always found it difficult to say no. Maybe you feel responsible for everyone else's wellbeing, seek reassurance that you're performing well or hold yourself to exceptionally high standards.
Counselling isn't about deciding whether the workplace is entirely the problem or whether you are. It's about understanding how the two interact.
Sometimes changing the workplace isn't immediately possible. Understanding how you relate to it often is.
Many of the people I work with are professionals, business owners and those in high-pressure careers. They may be experiencing workplace anxiety, leadership stress, work-related anxiety or the early signs of executive burnout. Others are recovering from a toxic workplace or returning to work after burnout, wanting to move forward without finding themselves back in the same cycle.
You may recognise some of these experiences.
Feeling overwhelmed by workload or unrealistic expectations
Struggling to switch off after work
Feeling emotionally exhausted or burnt out
Experiencing workplace bullying or intimidation
Working within a toxic workplace culture
Feeling unsupported or unfairly treated by your manager
Being performance managed or involved in formal workplace procedures
Feeling anxious before work or dreading Monday mornings
Navigating organisational change, restructuring or uncertainty
Feeling trapped in your current role because of financial or personal commitments
Constantly checking emails or thinking about work outside working hours
Managing difficult colleagues or workplace conflict.
How counselling & psychotherapy may support you.
Understand what's driving your stress
Explore the different factors contributing to workplace stress, helping you distinguish between external pressures, organisational factors and personal patterns that may be maintaining the cycle.
Recognise recurring patterns
Understand how earlier life experiences, attachment patterns or long-established ways of coping—such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, over-responsibility or difficulty setting boundaries—may influence how you experience work, pressure and responsibility today.
Develop greater self-awareness
Create space to reflect on your emotional responses, needs and values, helping you better understand what feels healthy, sustainable and important to you.
Move forward with greater confidence
Feel better equipped to make decisions that support both your wellbeing and professional life, developing a healthier relationship with work without losing sight of yourself.
IMAGINE RESPONDING DIFFERENTLY
Imagine work taking up less space in your mind.Feeling able to leave work at work.
Switching off more easily at the end of the working day.
Feeling less driven by guilt or unrealistic expectations.
Responding more confidently to difficult workplace situations.
Feeling clearer about your own needs and boundaries.
Feeling less affected by other people's behaviour.
Trusting your judgement more.
Enjoying life beyond work again.
Counselling and psychotherapy aren't about removing every source of stress from your working life. They provide a supportive space to better understand what's happening, recognise recurring patterns and develop a healthier relationship with both work and yourself.
A PERSONALISED APPROACH BUILT AROUND YOU
Working together in a way that feels right for you.
No two people experience workplace stress in the same way.
Some are navigating burnout, workplace bullying or difficult managers. Others are managing organisational change, toxic workplace cultures or the emotional impact of formal workplace procedures. Whatever has brought you to therapy, our work will always begin with understanding your unique experiences rather than assuming there is a one-size-fits-all solution.
I work in an integrative and pluralistic way, grounded in Person-Centred principles, with the therapeutic relationship at the heart of our work together. Depending on your needs, goals and preferences, we may also draw upon Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and other therapeutic approaches where appropriate and agreed.
Before retraining as a counsellor and psychotherapist, I spent more than twenty years working in senior HR, leadership and business roles. This experience gives me an understanding of many of the organisational pressures and workplace dynamics people bring into therapy.
Our work together isn't about HR advice or career coaching. It's about understanding how your experiences at work are affecting you emotionally, recognising recurring patterns and helping you develop a healthier relationship with both work and yourself.
Ready to take the first step?
If you've found your way to this page, there's a good chance you've recognised something in your own experience.
You may already know what you'd like support with, or perhaps you're simply looking for a therapist whose approach feels right for you.
The first step is to book an Initial Consultation. This is a 50–60 minute appointment where we'll explore what has brought you to therapy, discuss what you're hoping to gain from counselling, and answer any questions you may have. It's also an opportunity for us both to consider whether my way of working feels like the right fit.
As an integrative and pluralistic counsellor and psychotherapist, I don't believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Therapy is tailored to you, your experiences, your strengths and your goals.
There is no pressure or obligation to continue afterwards. If we both feel we're the right fit to work together, we'll agree a plan for ongoing therapy at a pace that feels right for you.
A few things you may be wondering.
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Yes. Counselling can help you better understand the emotional impact of workplace stress, whether it relates to workload, burnout, workplace bullying, difficult managers, organisational change or toxic workplace cultures. Therapy provides a confidential space to explore your experiences and understand how they're affecting your wellbeing.
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Working within a toxic workplace culture can affect confidence, emotional wellbeing and your sense of psychological safety. Counselling won't change the organisation itself, but it can help you process your experiences, recognise patterns in how you're responding, strengthen your boundaries and consider the choices available to you.
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Yes. Formal workplace procedures, workplace bullying or ongoing conflict can be emotionally challenging. Therapy offers a supportive, confidential space to understand the impact these experiences are having on you, explore your emotional responses and develop greater confidence moving forward.