Louisa Ruddell

Online (Zoom) & Telephone

Monday through Thursday, with sessions starting from 9am to 6pm.

People come to therapy for many different reasons. You might be feeling anxious, overwhelmed, burned out, stuck, or unsure how to move forward. Perhaps you are struggling with work, relationships, loss, trauma, life changes, or long-standing patterns that feel hard to shift. You may be coping on the outside, but internally things feel much harder than they look.

Therapy can offer space to slow things down and begin making sense of what has been happening. Together, we can explore how your experiences have shaped the way you think, feel, cope, and relate to yourself and others. This might involve understanding patterns, building self-compassion, developing new ways of responding, or gently working with experiences that continue to affect you.

I am an integrative therapist, which means I draw on different approaches depending on your needs, preferences and goals. My foundation is humanistic and person-centred, and I may also draw from cognitive and behavioural approaches, mindfulness, compassion-focused therapy, psychodynamic and parts-based ideas, existential therapy, EMDR, and trauma-informed approaches.

I work with warmth, curiosity and respect. My aim is to offer therapy that feels collaborative, grounded and human, while still allowing space for reflection, challenge and change.

My approach is collaborative. I will not sit silently and leave you to work everything out alone, but I also will not tell you who you are or what you should do. I see therapy as two people working side by side to understand what is happening, what has shaped it, and what might help things shift.

Clients often describe sessions with me as warm, thoughtful, relaxed and grounding. I aim to offer a space where you do not have to censor, perform, please, or hold it all together. There is room for sadness, anger, confusion and fear, as well as humour, lightness and moments of relief.

I am interested in understanding your responses in context rather than seeing them as something “wrong” with you. Often, the things we struggle with began as ways of coping, protecting ourselves, or getting through difficult circumstances. In therapy, we can explore whether those patterns are still helping you now, and what else might become possible.

I often bring in psychoeducation, particularly around stress, trauma, emotions, loss and the nervous system. Many people find it reassuring when their reactions begin to make more sense, especially if they have spent a long time criticising themselves for feeling or responding as they do.

I work inclusively and aim to offer a respectful, welcoming space for people of all identities and backgrounds, including neurodivergent people and those across the full spectrum of gender, sex and relationship diversity.

I offer both short- and longer-term therapy, and we can review the pace and focus of our work together as we go.

I usually offer a free initial consultation call of up to 20 minutes. This gives us a chance to talk about what has been bringing you to therapy, discuss any practical questions, and get a sense of whether working together might feel like a good fit. There is no expectation to commit to therapy after this call.

If we decide to go ahead, our first session gives us more time to explore what you would like support with and what you hope therapy might help with. We can talk about what has been happening for you, any relevant history, your current circumstances, and what feels most important to focus on.

The first session is also a space to go through practicalities such as confidentiality, the counselling agreement, session frequency, payment and cancellation arrangements. I may ask you to complete some brief forms or questionnaires before or around the first session, depending on what feels relevant.

You do not need to have everything figured out before starting therapy. Some people come with a clear focus, while others simply know that something does not feel right or that things have become difficult to manage. We can begin from wherever you are.

Sessions are 50 minutes. We can think together about frequency and pace in a way that feels manageable and supportive for you.