Psychotherapy for when things feel stuck, overwhelming, or hard to shift
Relational, trauma-informed psychotherapy in Reading and online, with careful attention to the nervous system, emotional regulation, and lasting change.
Paolo Imbalzano
Psychotherapist & Clinical Supervisor
Relational psychotherapy · Trauma-informed practice · 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, including people struggling with anxiety, overwhelm, shutdown, dissociation, relationship difficulties, low mood, chronic stress, and patterns that feel hard to shift.
Some people come with a clear sense of what they want help with. Others simply know that something is not working and want a space to think carefully about it. You do not need to arrive with the right language, a diagnosis, or certainty about what the problem is.
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 workable.
My approach is designed for people who may be looking for something more than insight alone — whether or not they would describe their difficulties as trauma. Where deeper patterns involving attachment, relational stress, trauma, or ongoing nervous-system strain are part of the picture, we can work with those carefully and at a pace your system can stay with.
We can begin with what feels difficult now and make sense of it together.
A gentle starting point
You may be coming here because something feels hard to carry, hard to settle, or hard to shift.
Perhaps you feel anxious, overwhelmed, flat, on alert, shut down, disconnected from yourself, or caught in repeating relationship patterns that do not seem to change simply through understanding them.
Some people arrive with a clear sense of their history and patterns. Others do not. Both are welcome here. You do not need to have everything worked out before getting in touch.
You might recognise some of these experiences:
understanding your patterns, yet still finding yourself caught in anxiety, shutdown, or hypervigilance
feeling overwhelmed, on edge, 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 something about why
Sometimes these difficulties are linked to stress, past experience, attachment wounds, chronic overwhelm, or trauma held in quieter ways — such as chronic tension, people-pleasing, emotional shutdown, dissociation, hyper-independence, or a body that still organises itself around protection.
These responses are not signs of weakness or failure. They are often the mind and body’s way of trying to keep you safe.
Therapy can offer a space where these patterns are understood carefully, without judgment or pressure, and where change does not have to be forced.
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
People come to therapy for many different reasons. Some arrive with a clear sense of what has shaped their difficulties. Others simply know that they feel stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected, or unlike themselves.
Often, the difficulty is not only about insight. It may also be shaped by emotional expectations, relational patterns, and the nervous system’s learned ways of trying to protect you.
My work is grounded in relational psychotherapy. Together, we make sense of your experience carefully, while also paying attention to what helps greater safety, steadiness, and flexibility become possible over time.
We do not need to rush into the deepest material. Often, the first step is helping things feel a little steadier 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 appropriate for you.
This can be especially helpful for people who feel that something deeper may be getting in the way — whether that shows up as anxiety, shutdown, relationship difficulties, emotional overwhelm, or old survival patterns that become active when life 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 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.
You do not need to be certain that trauma is the right word in order for this kind of work to be relevant.
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 very 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.
Common reasons people get in touch
People reach out for many different reasons. Some come with a clear history of trauma or attachment difficulties. Others come because they feel anxious, flat, stuck, overwhelmed, disconnected, or caught in patterns they do not fully understand.
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 staying safe.
Explore further:
Trauma ›
Other ways of working
Most people begin with individual psychotherapy. Other formats can be considered where they seem a better fit. I also offer trauma-informed work with couples, groups, and therapists or 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 for you.