Anxiety Psychotherapist & Coach
Specialist in anxiety, worry, rumination, and anxiety disorders
Compassionate, Evidence-Based Treatment for Anxiety
Psychotherapy - Coaching - Mindfulness - Yoga
Online, Telephone, In Person, In Nature
Are you feeling overwhelmed with anxiety; constant worry, panic, overthinking, comparison, self-criticism, self-doubt, hypervigilance, detachment?
I can help. If you want to understand (and change) your anxiety, this space is for you. No false promises. No judgement. Just the work (and heaps of compassion) from someone who’s been there too.
In-person (Macclesfield) Online/Telephone (UK wide) In-Nature (Alderley Edge/remote)
Meet Anna
Welcome!
Hi, I’m Anna.
However you’ve found your way here, I’m glad you have.
I am a MBACP accredited Integrative Therapist and Qualified Coach specialising in anxiety, worry, rumination, and anxiety disorders. I offer evidence-based therapy, uniquely blending Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Exposure and Prevention Response (ERP) therapy through a Trauma-informed framework and a Neurodivergent-affirming lens, incorporating Psychodynamic and Somatic Psychotherapy, and Yoga and Mindfulness. Helping you to bring anxiety down from a full body alarm to something that feels more like background noise, returning to yourself and everything anxiety has taken from you.
When we experience anxiety, it becomes hard to stay connected to the world around you, and as a result, your world becomes smaller; my goal is to change that for you. No quick fix, just the actual work from someone who’s been there too.
MBACP Registered Psychotherapist
Qualified Coach
Qualified Yoga Teacher
(formerly Howarth)Anna Richardson
“Fear doesn’t need to run the show anymore”
About Therapy with Anna
An overwhelming sense of dread washing over you, especially first thing in the morning
Replaying past situations in your mind that feel difficult to make sense of; making you feel that if you just continue trying, you will find the answer; but ultimately the rumination just takes you away from the present moment
Self-doubt that’s getting in the way of your life and your goals
Overwhelming and, what feels like, constant worry about the future, usually defined by ‘what if…’
Racing thoughts and/or overwhelming sensations in your body that draw your attention inwards
Finding that you are not able to enjoy the things you used to enjoy, instead you avoid people or situations and/or find yourself constantly scanning for things that may trigger your anxiety.
Detachment from yourself and/or your surroundings - something just don’t feel quite right, but it’s difficult to describe to others
Fear you may lose control or experience an urge to run away/escape the situation.
You may be struggling with…
You feel hopeful, maybe for the first time in a long time
You have a deeper understanding of yourself and your anxiety
Anxiety exists but it bothers you so much less, it’s just not as important as it used to be
The worry that is solvable, you work through, the worry you can’t, you let go
Intrusive thoughts become unimportant, they just don’t carry the weight they used to, you notice them, but you know they are not you
You start enjoying things again, not just the things that you used to enjoy, but maybe new things too
You can turn up as you are, you may still feel triggered, you may still feel some anxiety, but it doesn’t destabilise you like it used to
You believe in yourself again, you feel good about yourself, you invest in yourself and move forward with your goals
You can finally rest, genuine rest!
Recovery can look like this…
Anxiety Therapy that works
It might be that you haven’t made sense of what or how you are feeling or haven’t identified it as anxiety. You might just know that things feel really hard and overwhelming. Or maybe, you’re at the other end of the spectrum, you know you have anxiety, you’ve tried what you’ve been told to try – the breathing, the journaling, the reframing your negative thought and even therapy, but anxiety continues to show up. You find yourself stuck; spending time intellectualising your emotions and struggling to move forward. Anxiety thrives when we continue doing what we’ve always been doing. Wherever you are in your journey, you need therapy that works.
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Therapy doesn’t work if you don’t feel safe and seen. This is why the foundational layer of our time together will focus on humanistic therapeutic approaches to create a sense of warmth, understanding, trust, and safety.
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You are unique, and therapy is ineffective if you are not understood. We look at you, your background, your current context, internalised expectations, your wiring, your values, belief system and cultural expectations. We explore your experiences of anxiety and understand what may be behind the immediate challenges anxiety presents, identify how anxiety is impacting you and the thoughts feelings and behaviours that are no longer serving you.
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We tailor an approach for you. Based on the evidence-based, gold standard therapeutic approaches that I use. This will be framed within a trauma-informed lens and a neuro-affirming model so that we feed in your background, current challenges and wiring (see trauma-informed and neuro-affirming sections below for more detail). We will introduce interventions to change your relationship with anxiety, recover from the impact anxiety has had on you, and re-strengthen yourself and capacity for life and relationships.
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This is the work. Therapy with me isn’t about surface-level advice, simply talking things through or pretending that there’s a quick fix to this. It’s possible that you will feel better, and then worse again - it takes time and needs reinforcement.
Recovery isn’t linear, and anxiety won’t be totally eliminated. But eventually, anxiety matters less, showing up when it genuinely NEEDS to; not as a false alarm. Things can get so much better than they are now. I know this from my own experience.
My ambition for you…
I want to show you that you can feel better than you do now.
My goal is to help you reduce the distress of anxiety, step out of the constant thinking patterns, stop getting pulled into every thought your brain throws at you, alleviate the pit of doom in your stomach, and bring anxiety down from a full body alarm to something that feels more like background noise. In time you’ll be able to return to yourself, your life, your relationships, your values, and everything anxiety has taken away from you. My ambition is for you to leave feeling like yourself again, able to fully engage in the world, and feel more resilient to future challenges that may come your way.
False promises don’t exist here, just the work from someone who’s been there too
Therapy that’s trauma-informed
Some of us face long-term anxiety due to difficult childhood experiences or the burden of past challenges. Therapy is a powerful took for not only address how anxiety is showing up for you now, but also for addressing the effects of trauma and helping you heal so that you can move forward with your life. I use evidence-based approaches to support you to process past traumas or challenges, whilst also managing how they are showing up through anxiety today, the combination of both has the power to create fundamental change.
Through a Trauma-informed framework, I will never be sat there thinking ‘what’s wrong with you’, instead it will be ‘I want to understand what’s happened to you AND what should have happened to you but didn’t, and how that has impacted you’.
Neurodivergent-affirming therapy that adapts to how you’re wired
I am particularly passionate about supporting neurodivergent clients and creating a neuro-affirming therapy space for you. Especially as neurodivergent people are far more likely to experience anxiety due to having to experience a world that has not been designed for you.
I tailor sessions to work with your strengths and use techniques adapted to your neurodivergent brain. I use a range of therapeutic approaches and tools to ease your anxiety and build your confidence and self-esteem while we’re doing it; learning to finally embrace your unique and individual self. Having trained in traditional talking therapy, alongside CBT and third-wave CBT (including ACT) AND coaching, I am uniquely placed to support you.
“It’s time to take back your life”
About me
Hi, I’m Anna.
I retrained as a Psychotherapist after over a decade’s experience working in a wide range of frontline services, including adult mental health, homelessness, domestic abuse, and substance misuse - gradually moving from support work to senior management. I have always been very curious about people, understanding why we are the way we are the way we are – the biological, psychological and sociological influence on our thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
But retraining as a Psychotherapist has been for personal as well as professional reasons; I have spent many years battling anxiety myself, eventually recovering, I naturally became fascinated with the recovery process. Everything that I now include in my offer have been the cornerstones of my own recovery.
Practices I offer…
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121 Nature Therapy
I offer Nature Therapy as an alternative to traditional face to face therapy.
The distance between myself and nature often parallels the distance between myself and how well I am. It’s been a fundamental part of my anxiety recovery; nature allows us to be with ourselves, and our anxiety. To walk with it, and to show it that' it’s not as important as it likes to tell us it is. Nature therapy allows us to process life and all of its complexities whilst connecting to something bigger.
Nature therapy is particularly helpful for processing challenging situations, whether in the past or current, grief, and traumas, all of which can help us better understand ourselves and our anxiety.
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Yoga & Psychotherapy 121
The Integration. Integrating Yoga, Psychotherapy, and Psychology. 121 Yoga Psychotherapy combines ancient yoga practices and wisdom, mindfulness and evidence-based psychotherapy.
Practicing yoga within therapeutic environments can allow us to better understand ourselves, our patterns, and how life challenges (including anxiety) are impacting us.
Yoga techniques may include yoga postures, somatic movement and body-based enquiry, Eastern philosophy, breathwork, mindfulness, and meditation.
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Yoga Classes (in person and online)
Anxiety is a very physical condition, it teaches us to be fearful of our bodies, fearful of every sensation that shows up, yoga has the power to do the oppositive. Yoga builds trust in ourselves, in our bodies, it teaches us radical acceptance, mindful witnessing, and shows us that we can tolerate the most challenging emotions.
Yoga classes with me are about connecting with our bodies and finding a place of calm despite intrusive thoughts, rumination and strong emotions. They aim to build self-compassion, trust in ourselves and our bodies, and ultimately chang our relationship with ourselves and anxiety.
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Mindfulness Practices
Mindfulness practices are a core component of Acceptance and Commitment therapy and have a strong evidence base for reducing symptoms of anxiety.
These practices are intended to easily translate into everyday life when faced with anxiety, stress, and uncertainty. They are about rooting you in the present moment, so you can start noticing repetitive worry and rumination without being completely sucked into them; instead showing yourself true compassion.
And I promise these practices are not just about telling you to let go of your thoughts!
“Anxiety is loud, but your strength is quieter and deeper”