The Resting Tree

20/07/2026

Hello, and welcome if you are new here. I thought it was time to introduce myself: not just what I do, but a little bit of who I am > I am Matilde: artist, writer, existential psychotherapist, clinical supervisor and PhD researcher exploring one of humanity’s biggest mysteries: when and how we became conscious, symbolic beings.

Through existential psychotherapy and supervision, I accompany people in exploring their stories, struggles, dreams, and relationship with both themselves and the world, creating a space for reflection, meaning-making, and reconnection with their personal ecology.
[more here > www.matildetomat.com/threading-the-wild]

My research practice is called Paleophenomenology: a journey bringing together archaeology, anthropology, phenomenology, Jungian psychology, and embodied experience. I am fascinated by ancient landscapes, caves, and the traces left by our ancestors, including the profound encounters that come from touching human remains and objects that carry stories across thousands of years.

Alongside my PhD, my background includes an MRes in creative practice, where I explored drawing, imagination, and experiences of the sacred. My work is always drawn towards the same questions: who are we, how do we belong, and how do we relate to the living world?
But I am also the person who goes for walks and gets discovered by abandoned plush toys, who then become travelling companions on future adventures (I still haven’t worked out whether I find them or they find me...).

I live with two cats, Virginia and James, and some 1000+ books, and they have all slowly rearranged my life around their needs. When I am not researching, writing, drawing, or working therapeutically, you will probably find me wandering through landscapes looking for hidden stories: both human and other-than-human, at the juncture between education, ecology, therapy, creativity and spirituality ... and more...

Somewhere between ancient caves and modern paths, archaeology and imagination, science and mystery… this is where I dwell.

Thank you for being part of this journey!
mx 🪡🌳

more > www.matildetomat.com

07/07/2026

What is new here, at The Resting Tree!

30/10/2025

Transformational Conversations at The Resting Tree

I am still here! [even if don't post...] in this space where reflection meets action, insight meets guidance, and curiosity meets self-discovery. At The Resting Tree, I offer Transformational Conversations in four shapes:

☕ Reflective Dialogue: deep, integrative therapeutic sessions for self-exploration and insight.
☕ Developmental Guidance: growth-oriented conversations that turn reflection into action.
☕ Transformational Literary Practice: The Reading Room: explore life, meaning, and yourself in 17 books!
☕ Engaged Supervision: reflective, insightful supervision for professionals, academics, and creatives.

Plus, Workshops & Events inspired by paleophenomenology, art, and creative practice > immersive experiences that connect ancient wisdom with modern life.

Discover more here :

Transformational Conversations at The Resting Tree: Reflective Dialogues, Developmental Guidance, Literary Practice, Engaged Supervision... and so much more!

14/06/2025

On unhooking the ache from the image.

“I miss xyz”
becomes
“I miss being held, known, witnessed.”
becomes
“I ache for contact, for belonging, for the quiet hum of being-with.”
becomes
“This is what it means to be alive: to carry longing as part of my humanity.”
becomes
“Loneliness is not a punishment, but it’s a facet of presence.”

This is working through existential loneliness. This, then, is no longer proof that we are unloved, but becomes a rite of passage into being awake, vulnerable, and receptive. It becomes a threshold. Not to be bypassed. Not to be solved. But walked.

We're not dissolving the pain.
We're giving it shape.
And that is what allows it to move.
Not because it has been answered, but because it has been seen. And this is where Paleophenomenology isn't just a research method, but it becomes a practice.

A unique one-day experiential workshop blending field exploration, deep reflection, and creative inquiry. Ideal for curious minds from all backgrounds: wherever you are, this journey can begin.

11/06/2025

So v grateful!

11/06/2025

Introducing: The Inner Cartography Session

Feeling lost in the fog? Circling the same loops? Searching for direction but nothing quite fits?
If you’ve tried therapy, coaching, supervision, yoga and fasting, or every self-help book & tool you could get your hands on, watched all the relevant YouTube videos, and something still feels off, missing, or incomplete...

This is a 90-minute, one-to-one in-person session designed to help you map your inner terrain, to find clarity, orientation, and new possibilities when the way forward feels obscured.

Rooted in my original paleophenomenological method, this work goes beyond therapy or coaching. It’s deep soul-mapping, holding space for your patterns, dreams, and deep questions, with gentle tools and careful reflection.
If you’ve tried everything [maybe even a pilgrimage or medication] and still feel like something is missing, this session is for you.

Limited spaces available in Blackburn, UK.
Choose the fee that honours your journey: £120–£180.
Follow-up integration session also available.

www.matildetomat.com/the-inner-cartography-session

Discover The Inner Cartography Session: a 90-minute one-to-one paleophenomenological session in Blackburn, UK. Find clarity and direction through deep soul mapping, tailored for those feeling lost or stuck in life’s loops.

03/06/2025

Supervision [whether clinical, professional, or otherwise] isn’t about improving your practice: it’s about rooting it deeper.

I made this guide for those of us who walk the in-between: The Field Companion for the Imaginal Explorer. A practical guide to embodied noticing, mapping, and reflection in the field or studio.

It’s a journal, a practice, and a place to rest. It supports you to track, ground, and reflect on your inner and outer journeys: therapy, supervision, presence or soul-searching.

Ideal for therapists, practitioners, artists, creatives or anyone working at the edge of the known.

Available to download via my shop.

www.matildetomat.com/shop

31/05/2025

Therapy is not what you think.

Not a service.
Not a fix.
Not “help.”
And certainly not what the world has sold it to be.

In my latest blog, I speak from the liminal field itself, as a paleophenomenologist, a therapist, a witness.
Not of symptoms, but of thresholds.
Not of treatment, but of presence.

This is for those who know there’s more: more than diagnosis, more than intervention. More than pacifying.

This is for the ones who feel it in their bones: that healing happens in the in-between. That therapy is a field, not a formula.
A shared fire, not a protocol.

>>> Therapy Is Not What You Think.

These are notes from the edges of the known.
From the place where myth, mud, and modernity meet.

🔗 www.matildetomat.com/latest
Let it meet you where you are. Let it undo a little.

27/05/2025

A supervision that integrates soul and stone

I offer supervision for therapists, creatives and professionals who are working at the edge: between deep feeling, creative emergence, and alchemical & symbolic thinking.

Whether you're existential, integrative, or soul-led, a chaplain or a Jung aficionado, I bring paleophenomenology into supervision in ways that honour the body, the myth, and the moment.

If you’re craving a supervisor who gets nuance and doesn't rush: get in touch!
Info, details & methodology at www.matildetomat.com/therapy-mentoring-trt

26/05/2025

Sometimes, the deepest work isn’t about understanding: it’s about remembering with the body.
In psychotherapy, especially through paleophenomenology, we explore how ancient traces [like the need to leave a mark, to gesture, to call out into time] still live in us.
There is an inner calling, and we are trying to respond to this forgotten signal. I offer psychotherapy and clinical supervision for those who long to connect to something deeper.

www.matildetomat.com