Annie Bell

Those who find me are often spinning multiple plates and are tired of being told to try harder. They have big ideas and dreams, but it never feels like the right time to put them into action. They have spent years fighting procrastination, living with an anxious inner critic, and feeling stuck. They’re worried that stress and overwhelm are heading towards burnout, and they want to understand what’s happening, and how to change it.

Hi, my name’s Annie. My goal for you: less time fighting yourself, more time feeling in control, and more energy for what’s important.

Any of these moments sound familiar?

• See a plan or to-do list and immediately turn the opposite direction. Whilst chanting "I'm free. I'm spontaneous!"

• Have an all-or-nothing way of doing things, so an interruption can derail the whole day.

• Going to bed with that phrase "they have so much potential" still ringing in your ears from your Year 4 Parents Evening.

• Experience boring tasks as physically painful. Like rather deep clean the washing machine than get started…

• Find it hard to ask for help. It can feel like admitting "I can't do the thing that everyone else seems to manage fine."

When you understand why your brain does this, it stops feeling like a mystery you can't solve - and starts feeling like something you can work with.

When you're not spending all your energy just surviving the day, you get some back for everything else - time with the people you love, time for the things you care about, and time that's simply yours. A less anxious, more resilient you isn't just good for you. It's good for everyone who gets to see more of you.

When I discovered that I was ADHD and Autistic, I went looking for a therapist who could help me make sense of what that meant. I found it difficult to find someone who was open about their own challenges. I wanted to know: are you going to understand what I’m up against because you’ve felt it too?

Leaving projects until the deadline, the frustration of bouncing between tasks, and the fear of crashing and burning if things go on the way they are… These (and many more) are all things I’ve worked through myself. We'll be using the same tools together in your therapy.

Of course, my lived experience will not be the same as yours. Your personal history and all the moments that made you who you are today mean you respond to the world in a way nobody else does (that's why there's no one-size-fits-all toolkit to therapy).

However, having lived through something similar myself means I already understand certain things - that constant sensation of never doing enough, wanting to make a real stamp on this world and navigating the barriers that make that feel impossible… The rest, I get to learn from you.

Maybe you've recently hit some clarity about what's at stake if things go on the way they are.

Whether that's a relationship that's been affected, a financial opportunity, or your smartwatch giving you one too many Relax Reminders. If you…

• Know procrastination goes deeper than not having the right time management tools (you've tried them all).

• Found previous therapy useful for spotting patterns. Left it thinking "I see what I'm doing, but I'm still doing it…"

• Want to understand where the people-pleasing and self-doubt come from, and not let those parts of you run the show anymore.

You're not looking for someone to tell you what to do (demand avoidance activated). You ARE looking for someone to help you shift things instead of just talking about them.

Somatic processing for all bodies.

For some people, the question "where do you feel that in your body?" can be tough if your interoception (awareness of sensations) works a bit differently from others.

We take that into account and find ways of tuning in that work for your nervous system.

When people are looking for strategies to manage anxiety and overwhelm, what they're really looking for is a way to calm their nervous system. Our work together taps into your most powerful resource: your mind-body connection.

Our mind and body are in a feedback loop - if we sense something is a threat, we experience a threat response. Instead of trying to convince our brain we're safe with affirmations, we can create feelings of safety in our body through exercises designed to regulate stress.

Tools to help you work with your brain.

We'll be using the creative therapeutic methods of Internal Family Systems (IFS) as well as Janina Fisher's 'parts work'.

These approaches are especially powerful for people who have experienced unresolved trauma and attachment issues.

As children, if we went through difficult experiences without the support we needed, there can be a higher level of internal fragmentation. It stays in our system, and leaves us feeling like our brain is a tug of war.

My job is to help you understand how these parts were created to protect you - and to help them feel safe enough to ease up.

When you just want to get stuff done.

Plans can be overwhelming and if you throw in 'time optimism', it can erode the trust we have in ourselves.

So we focus more on building achievable and sustainable habits that challenge you but don’t push you into burnout or avoidance.

Exploring your thoughts and feelings is one part of therapy. The other part (that often gets missed) is working out specifically what you want to do differently. We'll work together to identify realistic and tangible goals to help you follow through with your big ideas and dreamy projects you've been procrastinating on.