Elizabeth Hodcroft

I cover most areas within the North East, including Northumberland, Tyneside, South Tyneside and Newcastle.

Currently, availability is limited to Mondays and Tuesdays. 

I am an integrative counsellor with extensive experience supporting people with complex mental health needs, including adults who are struggling with trauma, attachment difficulties and complex emotional patterns that affect relationships, self-worth and wellbeing.

Much of my work focuses on complex and developmental trauma, particularly where early life experiences continue to shape how someone relates to themselves and others. Many of the people I work with find themselves repeating painful relational patterns, feeling overwhelmed by intense emotions, struggling with boundaries, or feeling stuck in cycles of shame, anger, or disconnection.

Alongside private practice, I work within NHS community mental health services and have extensive experience supporting people with complex mental health needs. I also work with adult survivors of domestic abuse.

This experience allows me to support individuals whose difficulties may feel complex, long-standing, or difficult to talk about.

My aim is to create a safe, respectful, and collaborative therapeutic space where we can explore these experiences at a pace that feels manageable.

Areas of Special Interest

I have a particular interest in supporting people experiencing:

• Complex trauma 
• Attachment difficulties
• Personality and relational patterns often associated with personality disorders
• The long-term impact of childhood adversity
• Domestic abuse and coercive relationships
• Difficulties with boundaries, anger, shame and self-worth

I offer therapy in the comfort of your own home or online. 

What You Can Expect:

Clients often come to therapy feeling confused, overwhelmed, or stuck in patterns that don’t seem to change. In our work together, we focus on:

• increasing self-awareness
• understanding emotional triggers and reactions
• developing healthier boundaries
• improving relationships with others
• building greater emotional stability, regulation and resilience

How I Work

My approach is integrative, meaning I draw from a range of therapeutic perspectives depending on what is most helpful for each person.

My work is particularly influenced by:

• Attachment theory
• Trauma-informed practice
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Gestalt therapy

Together we can explore:

• how past experiences shape present patterns
• emotional triggers and relational dynamics
• the beliefs people hold about themselves and others
• healthier ways of responding to difficult thoughts and emotions

Therapy is not about “fixing” you. It is about making sense of your experiences and building the capacity to live with greater awareness, choice and self-compassion.

Starting therapy can feel daunting, particularly if you have struggled to feel understood in the past.

My aim is to create a therapeutic space where you feel safe enough to explore difficult experiences and develop new insights.

The first session is an opportunity for us to meet, explore what has brought you to therapy, and begin to understand what you would like support with.

During this session, we will talk about your current difficulties, any important background that may be relevant, and what you hope to gain from therapy. This helps us build an initial understanding of your experiences and whether we feel we can work well together.

I will also explain how I work, including confidentiality, boundaries, and what therapy might look like going forward. You will have the opportunity to ask any questions to decide whether you feel comfortable continuing.

If We Decide to Work Together

The next few sessions focus on gaining a deeper understanding of your experiences before moving fully into the therapeutic work.

During this stage, we begin building a formulation.

A formulation is essentially a shared understanding of your story. Together we look at things such as:

• important life experiences and relationships
• patterns in emotions, thoughts, and behaviours
• triggers that may lead to distress
• the ways you have learned to cope over time

The purpose of this process is not to label or diagnose you. Instead, it helps us make sense of how your current difficulties developed and what might be keeping them going.

Taking the time to build this understanding is important because it allows therapy to be more focused and meaningful. Rather than simply reacting to what is happening week to week, we develop a clearer picture of the deeper patterns we are working with.

Once we have created this shared understanding, we use it as a guide for the therapeutic work going forward.

If you would like to arrange an initial session or ask any questions, please feel free to get in touch.