My Story
I am a qualified psychotherapist, counsellor, nutritionist and personal body and mind performance coach, with a warm, interpersonal manner and an analytical and inquisitive mind. I have worked with clients from a wide spectrum of backgrounds helping them to navigate distress, anxiety, depression, abuse, addiction, bereavement, body concerns, health and fitness worries, phobias and more. My prior training and the experience I have gained in nutrition and exercise over the past 20 years has led me to develop a keen insight into key life issues, health education, mental blocks and peoples’ relationship with themselves and others.
I have supported many people through personal hardships and periods of anxiety by creating a safe space for them to explore their options and help them come to terms with where their life has take them.
I have worked as part of various multi-disciplinary health clinics as a physical therapist, trainer and rehabilitator, working alongside Sports Medicine Doctors, Osteopaths, Chiropractors, Dieticians, Podiatrists and Sports Therapists. To understand how the body works physically has been a passion since I was a teenager, when I discovered an affinity with anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. After over 10 years in practice, I found myself becoming complacent and dare I say, a little bored at where I was in my professional life. I wanted more. I had stopped striving and learning and was existing and not thriving.
Not content enough, I decided to re-educate myself in the mental and emotional aspects of the body. Starting with a counselling course, I ignited a new passion. My analytical and cognitive mind couldn’t get enough of this information and I found myself increasingly drawn to psychoanalytic theory, analysing my relationship to myself and others and their relationship towards me. I had frequently worked with clients on their body shape, assessing food and calorie intake, reviewing exercise output, all to help them feel better about how they looked and how the world viewed them. Many would adhere to a regime only to find it short-lived - any disturbance in the routine caused a negative spiral back towards previous patterns of behaviour and I was left scratching my head, wondering “What’s happened here? They were feeling good. Why have they stopped doing the very thing they wanted?”.
This encouraged me to understand human behaviours and patterns previously formed that trigger a way of being that isn’t what someone wants. Psychologically speaking, their insecure Child Ego state would dominate, pulling the strings of the Adult, making them jump to its beck and call, in spite of what the Adult needed at the time.
My knowledge and experience now allows for this exploration, understanding a client’s patterns of behaviour, acknowledging those that are not helpful, that obstruct and inhibit their autonomy and the desire to be a true, accepted version of themselves. My takeaway so far – we are unconsciously striving for approval and acceptance, using old patterns of behaviour we believe will give us just that. However, this leads to our adaptation, which results in a filtered version of ourselves that fits the various audiences we encounter, but is in reality far removed from the genuine version of ourself. My aim is to empower clients to challenge their beliefs around body image and feelings of acceptance. Can they feel accepted regardless of the way they look and embark on a health and fitness journey that nourishes the soul and empowers them to feel strong, not just to look it.
“Own your story, embrace your imperfections, and let your self-worth grow from your authenticity.”
— Grant Roberts, May, 2022
