Therapy with Lisa Wastney

Therapy with Lisa Wastney MBACP | MNCPS (Acc.) Therapist helping people move towards a more meaningful life. Online across the UK + in-person from Grimsby.

This page shares reflections on self-compassion, emotional wellbeing, & learning to relate differently to life’s challenges.

🌿 What if the goal isn’t to get rid of your pain?So much of life can become a struggle against the things we wish we did...
09/08/2026

🌿 What if the goal isn’t to get rid of your pain?

So much of life can become a struggle against the things we wish we didn’t feel.

The anxiety.

The shame.

The grief.

The memories.

The thoughts that tell us we’re not enough.

Many people come to counselling hoping they’ll finally be able to leave these things behind.

But what if healing isn’t about becoming someone who has no pain?

What if it’s about discovering a different relationship with the things you carry?

Bring the thoughts.

Bring the feelings.

Bring the memories.

Bring the stories that have shaped you.

Not so we can pretend they don’t exist.

But so we can become curious about them.

Meet them with a little more compassion.

And gently explore how you can move towards a life that feels meaningful, even while they’re still there.

That’s what I love about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

It isn’t about waiting until life feels perfect before living it.

It’s about discovering that you can carry difficult things…

…and still move towards a life that feels like yours. 🌿🤍

🌿 There are moments in my work that still catch me by surprise.Not because somebody suddenly feels better.But because so...
06/08/2026

🌿 There are moments in my work that still catch me by surprise.

Not because somebody suddenly feels better.

But because somebody who’s sitting with very real pain quietly realises…

“I can still choose what matters.”

In those moments, I feel emotional.

Because they are a reminder that counselling with me isn’t about becoming someone different.

It’s about reconnecting with who we’ve always been underneath the struggle.

Reconnecting with our values.

Choosing to move towards them, even when life still feels difficult.

And that tiny act of choosing becomes the thread that connects us — therapist and client — in the quiet work of being human together.

Hour by hour, I have the privilege of sitting alongside others.

Connected not by perfection.

But by our common humanity.

🌿🤍

04/08/2026

What’s it actually like to have counselling with me? 🌿

People often imagine therapy as sitting opposite someone talking for an hour.

Sometimes it is.

But sometimes we’re sitting on the floor with a finger trap.

Sometimes we’re holding a little cardboard suitcase.

Sometimes we’re discovering that a rope, a piece of paper or a simple metaphor can help something make sense in a completely different way.

The props aren’t the therapy.

They’re simply another way of helping us become curious about our thoughts, feelings and experiences.

At the heart of my work isn’t helping people get rid of difficult thoughts or painful emotions.

It’s helping them discover a different relationship with them.

Because even when life is difficult, we can still choose what matters.

I’d love to know if anything in this video resonates with you. 🤍

🌿 One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is that counselling is only for when everything has fallen apart.Somet...
02/08/2026

🌿 One of the biggest misconceptions I come across is that counselling is only for when everything has fallen apart.

Sometimes people come because they’re exhausted from overthinking.

Sometimes because they’ve spent years putting everyone else first.

Sometimes because life looks fine from the outside but doesn’t feel fine on the inside.

Counselling isn’t about proving that you’re struggling “enough.”

It’s about having the space to pause.

To become curious about what’s happening.

To notice the patterns that have quietly been shaping your life.

What if counselling didn’t have to be something we turned to only when everything had become unbearable?

Sometimes reaching out before everything falls apart simply gives us the opportunity to discover a different way of responding to what’s already there.

And often…

that’s where things begin to change. 🌿🤍










🌿 One thing that sometimes surprises people about therapy…It isn’t me sitting there telling people what to do.Most of th...
31/07/2026

🌿 One thing that sometimes surprises people about therapy…

It isn’t me sitting there telling people what to do.

Most of the time, we’re simply getting curious.

Curious about thoughts.

Curious about feelings.

Curious about the patterns that have been there for years without anyone really noticing them.

Not because I’m trying to analyse people.

And not because I have all the answers.

But because the discoveries that last are usually the ones people make for themselves.

Sometimes we’ll sit quietly.

Sometimes we’ll laugh.

Sometimes we’ll look at a cardboard suitcase or a finger trap.

Sometimes someone will stop mid-sentence and say…

“I’ve never realised that before.”

Those are some of my favourite moments.

Not because I’ve taught somebody something.

But because they’ve noticed something about themselves that was already there.

And from there…

Something new becomes possible. 🌿🤍










🌿 This really resonates with me.As the mum of two adult sons, this is something I care deeply about.Interestingly, aroun...
29/07/2026

🌿 This really resonates with me.

As the mum of two adult sons, this is something I care deeply about.

Interestingly, around half of the people I’ve worked with have been men. Many have shared that reaching out felt like one of the hardest parts, often because they believed they should be able to cope on their own.

I’m really pleased to see conversations like this helping to challenge the idea that asking for support is somehow a sign of weakness. It isn’t. 🌿🤍

28/07/2026

🌿 Sometimes the hardest battle isn’t with the world around us…

It’s with what’s happening inside our own minds.

Anxiety.

Shame.

Grief.

Self-doubt.

It’s understandable that we want to fight those thoughts and feelings. Most of us have spent years trying to make them disappear.

But what if the struggle itself is what’s keeping us stuck?

This is one of my favourite metaphors from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and one I often use in the therapy room.

Sometimes letting go isn’t giving up.

Sometimes it’s the first step towards getting your life back. 🤍

🌿 One of the things I love most about counselling is that no two sessions are ever the same.Two people might come to me ...
24/07/2026

🌿 One of the things I love most about counselling is that no two sessions are ever the same.

Two people might come to me because they’re having anxious thoughts.
But anxiety is rarely the whole story.

One person might be carrying grief.
Another might be carrying shame.
One may have spent years putting everyone else first.
Another may be exhausted from holding everything together.

But the thoughts and feelings that bring someone to therapy are only part of their story.

What helps them move forward depends on their life, their responsibilities, their values, and what’s genuinely possible for them.

It’s like sitting together with your map — your world, your direction, your inner compass.
Not the map you feel you should have, or the one other people expect you to follow, but the one you actually live in.

And that’s why in therapy with me, there’s no one “right” technique or one-size-fits-all plan.

We look at the terrain you’ve been navigating, the places that feel heavy or tangled, the paths that matter most to you, and the steps that feel possible from where you are right now.

Sometimes moving toward a more meaningful life is a big step.
But often it’s something small and realistic — a moment of breath at the end of the day, choosing rest without guilt, asking for help, or doing one thing that matters rather than ten things that drain you.

Therapy isn’t about fixing you. I don’t believe you’re broken.
It’s about understanding you — and supporting your growth, in your world, at your pace. 🤍

🌿 Things I Notice as a Counsellor…One of the things I notice is how often people minimise their own suffering.They’ll sa...
19/07/2026

🌿 Things I Notice as a Counsellor…

One of the things I notice is how often people minimise their own suffering.

They’ll say things like…

“I know other people have it much worse.”

“I shouldn’t complain.”

“It’s nothing compared to what other people have been through.”

It makes me wonder when we learned that our suffering had to be earned or justified.

As though our pain only matters if someone else agrees it’s “bad enough.”

The truth is, pain isn’t a competition.

Someone else’s suffering doesn’t make yours any less real or any less valid.

We can hold compassion for other people’s experiences without dismissing our own.

Sometimes, acknowledging that something has been difficult isn’t self-indulgent.

It’s simply being honest. 🌿🤍

🌿 People sometimes ask me how I prepare for counselling sessions…The answer is probably not what people expect.Before ea...
16/07/2026

🌿 People sometimes ask me how I prepare for counselling sessions…

The answer is probably not what people expect.

Before each session, I’m often reflecting on the person I’ll be meeting.

Not about finding the “right” answer or applying a particular technique, but thinking about who they are, what they’re carrying, what matters to them, and how we might gently explore that together in a way that feels meaningful for them.

Sometimes that reflection happens while I’m reading.

Sometimes while I’m walking.

Sometimes it arrives unexpectedly, sitting in the garden with a coffee and a book.

One of the things I love most about this work is that it never stops inviting me to learn.

Not because I believe there’s a perfect answer hidden in a book.

But because every person who walks through my door is different.

Every story is different.

Every therapeutic relationship is different.

These books help me think.

But it’s always the person sitting in front of me who teaches me the most. 🌿🤍

Address

Grimsby

Opening Hours

Monday 4pm - 9pm
Tuesday 4pm - 9pm
Wednesday 4pm - 9pm
Thursday 4pm - 9pm
Friday 4pm - 9pm
Saturday 12pm - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+447895093293

Website

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