From Overwhelm to Clarity: “Sarah’s” Journey Through Holistic, Body–Mind Counselling

(“Sarah” is a fictional name used to protect my client’s identity. Her story is shared with permission.)

Starting a new business stirs up excitement, possibility, and often a deep sense of overwhelm. Many of the women I support in my holistic counselling practice in Melville arrive in this in–between space. Longing for change but feeling weighed down by fear, pressure, or uncertainty.

Sarah came to me with a strong desire to create her own creative business, yet the moment she thought about taking action, she became flooded with anxiety. She felt overwhelmed by everything involved in running a business, and underneath that was a deeper fear of failing or not being able to provide for her family.

My Holistic counselling approaches this kind of experience by looking at the whole person - thoughts, emotions, body sensations, values, and lived history. This allows us to understand not just what is happening, but why, and how to move forward in a grounded, embodied way.

My Style of Counselling: A Holistic, Intuitive, Body-Centred Approach

In my practice in Melville-WA, I take a gentle yet directive approach. I integrate counselling with somatic awareness, breathwork, mindfulness, visualisation, and inner child work. This allows clients to not only talk about their struggles but to truly feel, process, and shift the internal blocks held in their body.

My approach includes:

• compassionate, trauma-aware guidance

• body–mind exploration

• nervous system regulation

• acceptance-based strategies (ACT)

• intuitive somatic work

• visualisation and embodiment practices

• gentle but clear direction

It’s an approach that honours both emotional depth and practical clarity.

What This Looked Like in Sarah’s Sessions

Inner Child Work: Meeting the Part of Her That Felt the Pressure

Early on, we explored the younger part of Sarah that had learned to carry responsibility, worry, and the fear of letting others down.

This wasn’t about dwelling in the past. It was about giving voice to the part of her that still felt overwhelmed and alone in the present. By meeting this part with gentleness, we softened the internal pressure and allowed more spaciousness for her adult self to lead.

Breathwork: Letting the Nervous System Settle

Because anxiety lived not just in Sarah’s mind but in her body, we explored different breathing patterns to see what felt supportive.

An up-regulating breath made her anxiety rise - something many driven, capable women experience when they’re already carrying mental load.Switching to down-regulating breath brought immediate relief.

It was during this grounded state that something important revealed itself.

Somatic Therapy: Discovering the Stuckness in the Sacrum

In the stillness of slow breath, Sarah noticed a deep sense of stuckness around her sacrum.

This was new for her.She hadn’t consciously realised she was holding tension in that area.

Through somatic counselling, we gently explored this sensation, not trying to fix it but to make space for it. Often, the sacral area mirrors themes of creativity, flow, groundedness, and security. Sarah’s body was expressing exactly what she had been feeling emotionally:

• overwhelmed

• stuck

• unsure how to move forward

• afraid of instability

By meeting the sensation with curiosity rather than fear, the tension slowly began to change.

Visualisation: Opening the Door to Possibility

Once Sarah felt grounded, safe, and connected to her body, we explored visualisation - a key tool in my counselling approach.

At first the images were faint. Her nervous system wasn’t ready. But as her body softened, she began to see her business more clearly - colours, textures, products, the feeling of her space, the lifestyle she wanted to create for her family.

Visualisation works best when the body feels safe. Sarah’s newfound calm allowed the imagery to flow.

The Transformation: From Paralysis to Possibility

As Sarah continued with holistic counselling, the internal landscape began to shift in a gentle but meaningful way. The overwhelm softened, the tension in her sacrum eased, and clarity slowly started to take shape.

And instead of trying to eliminate or “fix” the fear, she began practising something far more powerful - accepting the feeling of fear while still moving towards what mattered to her. She learned how to make space for uncomfortable feelings, rather than letting them dictate our choices.

Sarah realised that fear didn’t have to disappear for her to take aligned steps. She could feel afraid and still honour her values. She could feel overwhelmed and move toward the life she wanted for herself and her family.

This shift allowed her to reconnect with her deeper motivations - creativity, meaning, contribution, and the desire to build something of her own.

She recently shared a beautiful update: she has started designing her first collection of cards and thinks about her business every day. She described it as a relief, a sense of having something bright and meaningful to look forward to again.

Why My Holistic Counselling Approach Works

My style of counselling is grounded, intuitive, and embodied. I support clients to:

• understand their inner world with compassion

• regulate their nervous system

• connect with deeper wisdom held in the body

• build clarity through breath, mindfulness, and imagery

• take grounded, aligned action rather than reactive, fearful action

• learn acceptance, and move towards their values, and aligned action

Clients often tell me that this approach feels like coming home to themselves - as if their body finally gets a voice in decisions that once belonged only to the mind.

When the body feels safe, the mind can think clearly.When the mind is clear, the path ahead becomes visible. And once the path is visible, taking the next step feels natural.

✨ If you’re longing for clarity, confidence, or a fresh chapter – Reflexions Holistic Counselling in Melville can help you reconnect with your inner wisdom and move forward with ease.