You do not need to have clear words for what is wrong for therapy to begin.

Some people arrive with a sense that something has felt difficult for a long time, without being fully sure why.

You may be here because something feels persistently difficult: anxiety that does not settle, overwhelm, shutdown, disconnection, exhaustion, or relationship difficulties that keep repeating even when part of you understands them.

For some people, what feels most real is not a therapy category, but what they are living with — and the impact it is having on daily life.

You may already have spent a long time trying to make sense of things. And still find that something in you reacts before you can choose differently.

You might recognise some of these experiences:

• part of you understands what is happening, but your responses still do not shift

• you find yourself pulled into anxiety, shutdown, or hypervigilance

• the same relationship patterns keep repeating, even when you try hard to do things differently

Sometimes these difficulties are linked to trauma, chronic stress, or attachment wounds.

They may show up more quietly as chronic tension, people-pleasing, emotional shutdown, dissociation, hyper-independence, or a body that still expects to protect itself.

These responses are not signs of weakness. They are often ways the mind and body learned to cope, adapt, or stay safe.

Therapy can offer a space to understand these responses with care, without forcing change too quickly. Over time, that can create more room to think, feel, choose, and relate differently.

“For the first time, therapy felt steady enough for me to stay with what was hard without getting overwhelmed or shutting down.”
— Former client (anonymised)

Paolo Imbalzano
Psychotherapist and Clinical Supervisor

I offer specialist relational, trauma-informed psychotherapy for adults experiencing anxiety, overwhelm, shutdown, dissociation, and relationship difficulties.

My work is grounded in relationship and informed by trauma, attachment, and the nervous system. I integrate talking therapy with body-aware approaches, shaped around your particular history, needs, and capacity.

Where helpful, I may also include ILF neurofeedback in person.

I work in Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire, and online.

UKCP Registered Psychotherapist · BACP Registered Member · CTA-P

Getting started ›

If some of this feels familiar

If what you have read resonates, you are very welcome to book a free 20-minute consultation.

We can talk about what feels difficult, what you hope might become different, and whether this way of working could support you.

There is no pressure to continue.

How I work

Therapy shaped around safety, capacity, and deeper change

My work is not only about insight. It also pays attention to what happens emotionally, physically, and relationally — especially when old patterns are activated.

The therapeutic relationship is central. It offers a place where patterns can be noticed safely, understood, and gradually met differently.

The work is formulation-led and paced around your needs and capacity. Often, this means first building enough stability and regulation for deeper work to become possible.

In trauma therapy, stabilisation is not a delay to the work. It is part of the work.

Over time, this can support deeper change — with more capacity, more agency, and less need for mind and body to work so hard to stay safe.

If you would like to explore further

You may find it helpful to begin with one of these pages, depending on what feels closest to what brings you here.

Getting started ›
A fuller introduction to my services, and guidance on where it may make most sense to begin.

Individual psychotherapy ›
For anxiety, low mood, self-criticism, dissociation, relationship difficulties, and other patterns that feel hard to shift.

Couple therapy ›
For conflict, distance, repeated misunderstandings, trust, connection, and painful relational patterns.

ILF neurofeedback ›
In-person support for regulation, sleep, overwhelm, reactivity, and nervous-system stability.

Clinical supervision ›
For therapists and practitioners looking for reflective, trauma-informed supervision.

If this feels like a good place to begin

If this way of working feels relevant, you are very welcome to get in touch.

You do not need to be sure before making contact.

You can simply begin with a conversation.