Nicola Gilbert Counselling and Psychotherapy

30/07/2026

Soooo we're back in the chronic illness during heatwave issues 🥵

This week's include:
- Feeling like my body's radiating heat as it can't cool down.
- It being impossible to hydrate adequately.
- Wearing factor 50 and my skin still going red. It's not burnt, it just can't cope with such high uv.
- Absolutely dripping with sweat.

That’s on top of terrible sleep and heat suppressing my appetite for things I know are helpful to body to eat.

If anyone has any ideas of how to down regulate your body temperature when your temperature regulation is pretty poor please let me know!

I know I'm not alone in this so I hope that writing these things publicly will help someone somewhere 💚

Looking forward to it cooling down just a few degrees to usual summer weather 🌞

23/07/2026

What happens when you contact me about possibly starting therapy? Let's demystify!

When you send me a message through one of my profiles or my website, I'll message you back within 24 hours. Usually I'm much quicker than that to be honest and respond with a few hours.

I'll acknowledge what you've said and offer you some possible times for a free 15-20 minute initial consultation.

During this consultation we'll discuss a little about what brings you to therapy and what you would like to get from it. I can talk about how I work and we'll see if that matches what you're looking for, before discussing our availability.

We can also talk about any adjustments you need to be able to get the most from the sessions.

If you're happy, I'll send you my Counselling Agreement to look through and complete and we then confirm our first session.

I aim to work transparently so questions are welcome at any time and I'll never be offended if you choose to work with someone else.

Contact me on [email protected]

Website: https://www.nicolagilbertpsychotherapy.co.uk


Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/1418997


Pink Therapy: https://pinktherapy.com/therapist-directory/nicola/ -the-therapist

Image of Nicola facing forwards and smiling.

16/07/2026

I completed 4 years of psychotherapy training last weekend 🎉

Being honest, the main thing I felt on Monday morning was relief. I felt so much lighter!

I don’t think anyone can really explain how challenging training in counselling or psychotherapy is. (Hang on, you sit in a group and talk with each other for 3 hours?! Why??)

It’s unlike any other form of study. We still do the studying, the research, essays, and presentations like many other courses. But on top of that we see clients, have supervision, and personal therapy (likely over 1.5 days per week all together). Plus the bits no-one tells you: writing a personal journal that gets marked, some serious budgeting as it costs way more than you imagined, the impact on family and friends who either don’t see you much or see you exhausted and grumpy, wondering how the jigsaw of a week is going to fit as something has to move again.

But, honestly I absolutely love it. Sitting with someone as they process whatever it is they came to therapy for is a privilege. I have the deepest respect for every one of my clients as they work through their world.

If you are a trainee counsellor or psychotherapist or have recently qualified, I see you! You're all 🌟

One year to go but for now, as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde says “we did it!”

09/07/2026

I think this diagram is a great explanation of how our bodies can hold things that our cognitive brain has no idea about.

As I often tell my clients, bodies have an intelligence all of their own and often want you to listen to what they're trying to say.

In our work I help clients understand the different messages they get from their head and their body so they feel far more aligned in how they're experiencing, and want to experience, life.

So the next time your shoulders ache, your stomach feels like butterflies, or you suddenly feel punched in the gut, take a moment to focus on it rather than try and bury the sensation.

It can be amazingly illuminating.

[email protected]

02/07/2026

There’s an opportunity to comment on the new NICE guidelines for PMOS (previously PCOS) currently open.

One of the things it recommends is an annual health check for people diagnosed.

Sounds good to me. But we also need to concentrate on how hard it is to get diagnosed and why that is.

Still, maybe this is movement in a positive direction which can be welcomed

Despite affecting millions of women in the UK, PMOS is still under-diagnosed and inconsistently managed, say experts.

25/06/2026

It certainly seems like everyone is struggling in this heat. I mean, it’s a lot right?!

But if you have a chronic illness it can affect you differently.

Some things I’ve found out this week and in other periods of hot weather:
- my already pretty poor temperature regulation is off kilter as soon as I step outside
- I struggle with my breathing
- it’s harder to eat the things that help me
- my blood sugar is even harder to control than usual
- the fatigue and brain fog is even more intense
- my anxiety is higher

And that's just the stuff I can think of right now.

Endometriosis UK have some guidance on their website https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/managing-endometriosis-during-heatwave on how to cope in this heat as do several other chronic illness organisations.

Look after yourselves out there.

[email protected]

As temperatures climb above 30°C in parts of the UK, we've been looking at practical ways to manage the chronic pain that those with endometriosis can experience when the heat rises. Managing chronic pain during a heatwave is about reducing heat stress and preventing the secondary effects that make...

21/06/2026

Hi, I’m Nicola and I’m a trainee psychotherapist. I work with people
- who are seeking a diagnosis or living with a chronic illness
- who want to explore their identity
- who have experienced bullying, harassment, and discrimination at work.

I can help you rebuild your confidence, work on your relationships, and find a new life that works for you.

As a woman living with invisible disabilities and long-term health conditions. I know what it’s like to feel different and physically and mentally drained by life.

Tired of not being believed, of not being heard. You might feel scared, alone, and like no-one understands. Maybe you feel like you’re in a world not designed for you. Perhaps you’re struggling to eat, can’t sleep, maybe you keep thinking or remembering things over and over and can’t get them out of your head.

To find out more you can take a look at my website https://www.nicolagilbertpsychotherapy.co.uk

To get in touch for a free initial 15 minute consultation DM me or email [email protected].

As a woman living with invisible disabilities and long-term health conditions I know what it’s like to feel different and physically and mentally drained by life.

19/06/2026

Her Voice Project is exactly right. We need to stop thinking about endometriosis as ‘cells similar to the uterus lining growing elsewhere’. It’s a whole body condition that’s poorly understood and has been found in every organ of the body. Symptoms can be misattributed, misunderstood, and poorly treated (if at all).

Endometriosis is not “just a pelvic disease.”

It can affect the entire body

The pain may start in the pelvis, but the impact often reaches far beyond it, affecting the bowels, bladder, kidneys, lungs, diaphragm, nervous system, immune function, and overall quality of life

For too long, endometriosis has been viewed as a localized gynecological condition. The reality is that it is a complex, systemic disease that can cause widespread inflammation, organ dysfunction, chronic fatigue, and symptoms that extend well beyond reproductive health

When we reduce endometriosis to “bad periods,” we miss the full picture. We miss the people whose symptoms don’t fit neatly into a pelvic pain box.

Every organ in this image represents a reminder: endometriosis doesn’t stay in one place, and neither should our understanding of it.

It’s time to stop minimising a disease that affects the whole person, not just the pelvis.

11/06/2026

5 things people with chronic illness know.

1. Fatigue is more than “I’m tired”.

2. Pain can be relentless.

3. The fight for diagnosis is real.

4. Being gaslit by healthcare professionals is routine.

5. It can affect all of your relationships - with your partner, friends, family, work. Everything.

Looking for support from someone who understands? Contact me by DM or on [email protected]

Nicola Gilbert, Psychotherapist, London, SW17, 020 4572 2393, Updated June 2026. As a q***r woman living with invisible disabilities and long-term health conditions I know what it's like to feel different and physically and mentally drained by life. Tired of not being believed, of not being heard. Y...

04/06/2026

For anyone who has experienced the hell that is endometriosis Emma Barnett's documentary this week was likely an emotional journey. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002x8nb

The people she met, combined with her own personal experience, show the impact of years of not knowing what's wrong, of misdiagnosis, and fighting to be believed. Then, when you have a diagnosis, of there being no cure and, frankly, not really any treatment, just hoped-for symptom suppression.

As was outlined, research is desperately needed into a disease that significantly impacts millions of people's lives.

I'm a trainee psychotherapist and for anyone who needs to hear this today, I'm here to say it's not all in your head!

[email protected]

Emma Barnett exposes the devastating reality of endometriosis and its toll on women.