Claire Wolterink

I currently have availability Monday - Thursday between the hours of 8:00 and 17:00. I am available for appointments in person in my home-based practice in Tytherington, Macclesfield, as well as by phone or video online. I am able to do home visits for female clients. Travel charges would apply for home visits outside of the MAcclesfield/Bollington/Prestbury area. 

While my practice is warmly open to any adult seeking meaningful change, I hold a dedicated professional specialisation in trauma-informed psychotherapy for women experiencing the invisible burnout of high-functioning anxiety, perfectionism, and a constant pressure to keep everyone else happy.

As an integrative therapist, I look at the whole picture of how stress lives in your mind and your body. Our work together will combine:

Nervous system regulation to soothe the physical exhaustion and constant on-edge feeling.

Practical tools to dismantle the rigid “shoulds” and quiet your harsh inner critic.

A warm, non-judgmental space where you can safely practice setting boundaries and putting yourself first.

In our sessions, you don’t need to be the “perfect client”. You don’t have to tidy up your thoughts before you speak, protect my feelings, or pretend you’re doing better than you are. You are warmly invited to show up tired, messy, uncertain, or angry. Together, we are going to look past the performance and create a genuine, felt sense of safety so you can finally sit down and just breathe.

If you are anything like the women I work with, you are likely the person everyone else leans on. You are the dependable friend, the exceptionally organized professional, and the one who seamlessly anticipates everyone else’s needs before they even have to ask. From the outside, it looks like you have it completely together.

But I know how exhausting it is to maintain that performance.

Behind that polished, high-functioning exterior, there is often a frantic inner hustle. It’s a quiet, invisible cycle of over-thinking, over-delivering, and constantly scanning the room to ensure everyone else is happy and regulated. You might feel like the moment you stop producing, achieving, or helping, your value disappears entirely.

I want you to know something right now: this is a space where you don’t have to earn your worth.

What sessions actually feel like:

Collaborative, not clinical: We are a team. I won’t just sit in silence taking notes and nodding.

No gold stars required: You don’t have to do homework perfectly, and you don’t have to protect my feelings by pretending you’re doing better than you are

Warmth and a bit of humor: Healing is deep, sacred work, but it doesn’t have to be heavy all the time. We will bring lightness and genuine human connection to the space.

If you are carrying the weight of past trauma, navigating relational or childhood wounds, or experiencing deep exhaustion from carrying the silent mental load of everyday life, we will work entirely at your pace to help you feel grounded, understood, and securely reconnected to yourself.

How I Work: An Integrative Lens

To give you the most effective support possible, I utilise an integrative therapeutic approach. This means I draw safely from different psychological frameworks to tailor our sessions to your unique goals:

Understanding Your History: Together, we can gently explore your early life blueprints to understand why certain relationship patterns, trust issues, or coping mechanisms keep repeating themselves today.

Managing the Present: When anxiety or looping, self-critical thoughts become too loud, I introduce practical cognitive tools to help you ground your nervous system and challenge rigid narratives.

Mapping the Bigger Picture: We don’t live in a vacuum. We look at the wider systems around you. Family dynamics, societal pressures, and the expectations placed upon you to help externalise old guilt and shame that doesn’t belong to you.

Before starting Therapy

Finding the right therapist is an incredibly personal decision. To help you discover if we are a good match, I offer a complimentary, informal 20-minute initial consultation by phone. This is a completely no-pressure space where you can briefly share what is bringing you to therapy, ask any questions you might have. There is absolutely no obligation to commit to a full session afterward, it is simply a safe opportunity to ensure you feel comfortable, heard, and confident before taking the next step together.

Your First Session (The Initial Assessment)

The relationship between therapist and client is the most important element of successful therapy. Our first session is an informal, structured assessment where we can look at what brings you to therapy, explore your history safely, and determine how we can best work together.