Relational trauma psychotherapy in Reading
When insight alone has not been enough, therapy can also support the nervous system, emotional regulation, and relational safety.
Paolo Imbalzano
Psychotherapist & Clinical Supervisor
Trauma-informed relational psychotherapy · Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) · Sensorimotor Psychotherapy · ILF neurofeedback
Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire · In person and online
MSc Transactional Analysis Psychotherapy, CTA-P
UKCP-registered Psychotherapist · BACP-registered · UKCP-registered Clinical Supervisor
I offer relational, trauma-informed psychotherapy for adults, with particular experience in trauma, attachment difficulties, anxiety, dissociation, shutdown, hypervigilance, and relationship difficulties.
Most people begin with individual psychotherapy, with other elements integrated only where they genuinely fit their needs.
Therapy is paced carefully and may include both talking therapy and nervous-system-informed approaches, depending on what feels most helpful and manageable.
My approach is designed for people who may already understand a great deal about themselves, yet still find that change has not fully reached the level of the nervous system, relational patterns, or everyday life.
You do not need to have the right words at the start. We can begin with what feels difficult, confusing, or hard to carry.
A gentle starting point
You may understand your difficulties very well — and still find your body reacting as if safety cannot quite be felt yet.
You might recognise some of these experiences:
understanding your patterns, yet still finding yourself caught in anxiety, shutdown, or hypervigilance
feeling overwhelmed, on alert, or unable to settle
repeating relationship patterns that are difficult to shift
struggling with poor sleep, exhaustion, or a system that rarely rests
feeling disconnected from yourself, your emotions, or other people
feeling stuck, even when part of you understands why
Sometimes trauma shows up in quieter ways — through chronic tension, people-pleasing, emotional shutdown, dissociation, hyper-independence, or a body that remains organised around protection even when part of you knows the danger has passed.
These responses are not signs of weakness. They are often the mind and body’s way of trying to protect you.
Therapy can offer a space where these patterns are understood carefully, without judgment or pressure, and allowed to soften over time.
Over time, this can support a little more settling, a little more clarity, and a stronger sense that life is not only about getting through, but also about having more room to feel, choose, and connect.
Considering therapy?
If some of this resonates, you are welcome to book a free 20-minute consultation.
We can think together about what you are looking for, what may be getting most in the way, and whether this way of working feels like a good fit in terms of pace, focus, and starting point.
No pressure.
How I work
Many people come to therapy already understanding a great deal about what has happened to them. They may know their history well, recognise familiar patterns, and still find that, in the moment, the same reactions take over.
This is often because the difficulty is not only about insight. It may also be held in emotional expectations, relational patterns, and the nervous system’s learned responses.
My work is grounded in relational psychotherapy. Together, we make sense of your experience carefully, while also paying attention to what helps greater safety and stability become possible over time.
We do not need to rush into the deepest material. Often, the first step is helping things feel a little more manageable in the present.
Where helpful, therapy may include:
Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR) — working carefully with shock and threat responses
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy — exploring how experience may be held in the body
Parts work and ego-state-informed work — helping make sense of protective inner patterns
EMDR — where appropriate for trauma processing
These approaches are not used mechanically or as isolated techniques. They are integrated within one relational therapeutic process, shaped around what feels most helpful and manageable for you.
This integrated approach can be especially helpful for people who have already done a great deal of thinking, reflecting, or previous therapy, yet still find themselves caught in old survival patterns when life or relationship feels challenging.
Over time, this can support more steadiness, more choice in how you respond, and a stronger sense that you are living rather than only managing.
The visual overview below offers a simple map of the different aspects of the work and what they may help with.
Trauma, the body, and the nervous system
Trauma and chronic stress can affect how the nervous system regulates itself, shaping sleep, tension, concentration, emotional responses, and the sense of safety in the body.
Sometimes the system continues to react as if danger is present long after the original threat has passed. Approaches such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Deep Brain Reorienting can help us work carefully with these patterns so that greater steadiness and flexibility can develop over time.
This can affect not only sleep, tension, and emotional regulation, but also how easy it feels to trust, to stay present in relationship, to receive care, or to keep your words when something feels emotionally charged.
Trauma ›
ILF neurofeedback in Reading
For some clients, psychotherapy can be supported by ILF neurofeedback, a gentle, non-invasive form of brain training that helps the brain improve its own self-regulation.
This can be particularly helpful when the system remains highly reactive, easily overwhelmed, or unable to settle into sleep or rest.
It is not something I recommend automatically. We would think together about whether it fits your needs, sensitivity, and overall therapeutic aims, or whether psychotherapy on its own is the better place to begin.
ILF neurofeedback is not a separate psychotherapy. It is a supportive tool that may help create more stability in the nervous system, making reflection, emotional regulation, and therapeutic work more accessible.
Sessions are offered in person in Shinfield, Reading.
ILF neurofeedback ›
Common reasons people get in touch
Some of the difficulties this work may help with include:
trauma and developmental trauma
anxiety, chronic stress, and hypervigilance
shutdown, dissociation, and other protective responses
relationship and attachment difficulties
persistent emotional patterns that feel hard to shift
nervous system dysregulation
These difficulties often overlap. What may look like separate problems can sometimes reflect a connected pattern involving the nervous system, relationships, and long-standing ways of trying to stay safe.
Explore further:
Trauma ›
Other ways of working
Alongside individual psychotherapy, I also offer trauma-informed work with couples, groups, and practitioners in clinical supervision.
Relationship work
Supporting partners to understand painful relationship patterns, recognise what happens under stress or conflict, and develop new ways of relating with greater awareness, safety, and choice.
This work includes Couple Psychotherapy and Group Psychotherapy.
Relationship work ›
Clinical supervision
For therapists and practitioners wanting a reflective space to think carefully about trauma, relational processes, nervous-system-informed practice, and complex clinical work.
Clinical supervision ›
Practicalities
Here are the basics — and if you are unsure, we can talk them through in the consultation.
Individuals aged 16+
Couples or group work by arrangement
In person for individuals and couples in Shinfield, Reading, Berkshire
Online for individuals, couples, and groups via Zoom
Short-, medium-, and long-term work available
You do not need to be certain before reaching out. If you are wondering whether this feels like the right fit, we can think together about your needs, a possible starting point, and whether this way of working seems likely to be helpful.