This page brings together articles and reflections from my practice.
Some focus directly on therapy, trauma, the nervous system, neurofeedback, and relationship patterns. Others reflect more broadly on the values and human questions that shape how I think about suffering, care, relationship, and psychological work.
These reflections are not a substitute for therapy. They are offered as a way to explore ideas, recognise patterns, and get a fuller sense of how I think about therapeutic work.
If you have come here because you are considering therapy, you may also want to look at:
Getting started ›
For a first orientation if you are unsure where to begin.
Individual therapy ›
For anxiety, overwhelm, shutdown, self-criticism, trauma, dissociation, and recurring patterns.
About me ›
For more about my background and the way I came to this work.
Key values ›
For some of the values that shape how I hold therapy, supervision, and clinical responsibility.
For therapy to help, it does not need to feel perfect, but it usually does need to feel safe enough. This article explores what helps create that sense of enough safety: pacing, steadiness, consent, attunement, clarity, and the possibility of rupture and repair.
Read MoreDissociation can feel confusing, frightening, or hard to explain. You may go blank, feel distant from yourself, lose time, or feel as though things are unreal. This article explains dissociation as a protective response rather than a personal failing, and outlines how therapy can approach it gently.
Read MoreSome people can describe their difficulties clearly and still feel as though something deeper is not shifting. This article explores what it can mean for therapy to include the body, nervous system, posture, tension, impulses, and protective responses as well as reflection and conversation.
Read MoreIn trauma-informed therapy, the first signs of change are often quiet. A reaction may still arise, but pass more quickly. A familiar feeling may still be present, but no longer take over in the same way. This article explores why trauma therapy can feel subtle before it feels transformational, especially where developmental trauma, nervous-system regulation, pacing, integration, and relational safety are part of the work.
Read MoreFunctional collapse can be hard to recognise because, from the outside, life may still appear to be moving. You may still be working, replying, caring for others, and appearing composed — while inside you feel numb, foggy, depleted, or shut down.
This article explores functional collapse as a protective response rather than a personal failing: when the nervous system has carried too much for too long and begins to conserve energy by reducing feeling, contact, and responsiveness.
Read MoreDeep Brain Reorienting (DBR) can support trauma processing, regulation, and reduced reactivity, but it may also bring temporary side effects. This article offers a balanced overview of benefits, possible after-effects, pacing, and integration.
Read MoreSome people look as though they are coping well from the outside, yet inside they are exhausted, tense, shut down, overwhelmed, or still reacting in ways they cannot fully shift. This article explores the hidden cost of high functioning, why insight and talking may not always be enough on their own, and how therapy can help.
Read MoreFeeling constantly on edge can be exhausting. This article explains hypervigilance in plain language: why the nervous system stays on guard, how trauma and chronic stress can shape this response, and why it is not a sign of weakness or overreaction.
Read MoreMany people come to therapy with good insight into why they struggle, yet still feel hijacked by anxiety, shutdown, shame, or relational patterns. This article explores why trauma is not only cognitive, and why meaningful change may require attention to relationship, affect, the body, and the nervous system as well as reflection.
Read MoreTransactional Analysis, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Deep Brain Reorienting may sound different, but all are deeply relational approaches. ILF neurofeedback can also support the nervous system conditions that make grounded attunement and relational presence more possible.
Read MoreWorking relationally in therapy means more than talking about relationships. This article explores self-exploration, ego states, shock, affect, and the integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Read More“I understand why I’m like this — but it still happens.” If you can relate to this, read more about how trauma operates in relationship.
Read MoreSome difficulties live primarily in the nervous system, not in the story.
Read MoreConfused by DBR, EMDR, and somatic therapy? Here’s a clear, balanced guide to how they differ, what they share, and who they can suit.
Read MoreWhat happens after Deep Brain Reorienting? Common responses include tiredness, vivid dreams, emotional softness, and calmer reactivity. Here’s how to integrate.
Read MoreWondering what happens in Deep Brain Reorienting? Here’s a step-by-step guide to a DBR session, including pacing, safety, and after-care.
Read MoreA few reflections about my experience and practice of mindful meditation.
Read MoreRelational psychotherapist, ILF neurofeedback practitioner, and clinical supervisor.
Psychotherapy and supervision are available in person and online.
ILF neurofeedback is available in person only, in Reading, Berkshire.
+44 (0)7803 049039 · paolo@presentingpast.co.uk - LinkedIn
UKCP Registered Psychotherapist · UKCP Registered Clinical Supervisor
BACP Registered Member · CTA-P
