Why I write this blog - and what I hope you will find here

Dear Reader,

I spent over twenty years working in organisations. Senior roles, important work, genuinely good causes. But somewhere along the way I noticed something. The bigger the role, the further I seemed to get from the thing that had drawn me to it in the first place. The human interactions. The real conversations. The moments where someone feels genuinely seen and heard, and something shifts as a result.

That's what brought me to counselling. Not a sudden revelation, but a gradual recognition that the work I most wanted to do was the work that happens between two people, in a quiet room, when someone finally says the thing they've been carrying alone.

I retrained because I wanted to walk alongside people rather than manage them, fix them, or tell them what to do. Because I believe that the most important questions, who am I now? What do I do next? How do I get through this? How do I find the life I imagined? deserve proper space and proper attention. And because I wanted to be useful in a way that felt real.

What this blog is for

I can only work with a small number of people at any one time. But there are many more people out there who are quietly struggling, asking themselves the same questions, and not yet sure whether counselling is the right step, or whether they're ready, or whether they deserve the space.

This blog is for them.

I want everyone who visits this site to leave with something useful, whether or not they ever get in touch with me. Something that helps them make sense of what they're feeling, or name something that has been hard to name, or simply feel a little less alone with it.

I also want you to hear my voice. Counselling is a deeply personal thing, and finding the right counsellor matters. I might not be the right person for you, and that's genuinely fine. But if you read a few of these posts and something resonates, if you find yourself thinking yes, that's it, that's what I've been trying to say, then perhaps we'd be worth a conversation.

What I'll write about

I'll write about the things people most often bring to counselling. Burnout and exhaustion. Grief and loss. The strange disorientation of life changes, even ones you chose. Anxiety that hums quietly in the background until it doesn't. The particular weight that comes with responsibility, and what it costs to keep going when you're used to being the capable one.

I'll write about these things not as a clinician listing symptoms, but as someone who understands them. From my own life, from my previous career, and from the privilege of sitting with people who have trusted me with their most difficult moments.

I hope you find something here that helps.

Emma x

Emma Sims is a BACP registered counsellor at Two Oaks Counselling, offering online counselling for adults navigating stress, anxiety, grief and life change. If something in this post has resonated, you're welcome to get in touch.

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