About Me
Before that, I had a career in Event Management working in London for almost 30 years, until redundancy led me down the counselling path. I’ve never looked back.
These days, I run my own online practice, helping busy professionals around the UK via Zoom.
Inner Child Therapy Online
Things are going okay but……….My life has not always been like this! Let me explain.
Samantha Lee Counselling - Online Therapy - Available Nationwide
Some of my childhood experiences have affected how “part of me” views myself and the world.
This “part of me” looks at any situation with an initial thought of “What could go wrong here? What are the risks?” Rather than “What could go right here? What are the benefits?”
I am the sort of person who used to only allow themselves to truly enjoy an experience once it was done. That "part of me" could not truly relax until the new scary experience had been survived.
That "part of me" has lived life on high alert for threat and unsurprisingly, this outlook led me and anxiety to become “best friends” because that “part of me” learnt to worry, catastrophise and overthink pretty much everything. Sound familiar?
On top of that, I also grew up with a very low self-esteem. When you are not your biggest fan, you can find yourself putting up with poor behaviour from others, people pleasing and constantly comparing yourself and losing every time.
You might find yourself putting up with unhealthy relationships, difficult friendships, jobs you don’t like – things that can all leave you feeling not good enough. You can develop poor relationships in other areas of life too, such as your relationship with food, alcohol, drugs etc.
If we did not always feel secure in our childhood for whatever reason, this can lead us to form some wonky beliefs about ourselves and our world, along with some wonky behaviours to help us cope.
I had no idea that I did any of this stuff until I began my counselling training and had to start my own therapy as part of the course. But once I was made aware of it, everything started falling into place.
Did you know that Therapists sit through A MINIMUM 50 hours of personal therapy as part of their training (and we still go back for more throughout our career if and when we need it).
Therapy was a daunting thought, but with my own Therapist, I began to understand where my own wonky beliefs and behaviours came from.
With therapy, having that place each week where I could finally stop pretending that I was okay and instead, say how I was really experiencing life was such a game changer and I love that I can now offer that same space to my clients.
Having my Therapist truly hear how I saw myself and the world meant that over time, I could start correcting those wonky beliefs I still held.
I slowly began to challenge how I reacted to certain situations and learnt to choose better ways to treat myself.
I really like who I am these days because it’s the real me, not a fake version. I don’t try to be something I’m not. My relationships are far healthier, as is my lifestyle.
Don't get me wrong. Therapy is not a cure all for everything that's wrong in life. I still have sad times, bad times, relationship strife etc but I can tolerate sitting with negative feelings now, as I know they are part of what helps me to work through life’s difficulties.
So if you feel a bit intimidated at the thought of getting help through therapy, just remember that your Therapist has been a therapists’ client too. They’ve been through the same experiences as any other human on the planet.
Therapists are living proof that you CAN learn how to deal with really difficult feelings. We can show you that emotions change and then pass when you allow yourself to feel them.
I hope I can show that when you stop pretending you’re okay, and face your past experiences honestly, then you can move into a far more contented future.
This is my experience and I would love to help you start your own journey into understanding how you see yourself and your world and how those views might be getting in the way of living the life you’d like to lead.
"Samantha helped me with things that I didn't realise I needed help with. She helped me express feelings I had been suppressing for a very long time and had me talking about things before I realised I was talking about them. After a number of sessions I began to feel a great weight had been lifted. I had always had a problem expressing myself but Sam got me to really open up and I now find it so much easier to talk about things with the people closest to me. My therapy hasn't been a "cure" for the main issue I was having, but Sam has helped me to deal with it so much better. Should I need counselling in the future, I will not hesitate to call Sam and I can never thank her enough for how she has helped me."
Stuart, 50
