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Monday 9:30am - 2:30pm Tuesday 9:30am - 2:30pm Wednesday 9:30am - 2:30pm Thursday 9:30am - 2:30pm Friday 9:30am - 2:30pm

Natalie Louise Therapy

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Natalie Louise Therapy

Psychological therapy delivered via video call or telephone for people struggling with chronic pain and/or chronic illness.

Both cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) are offered. I am a psychological therapist specialising in providing therapy to those struggling with chronic pain and/or illness.

11/07/2025

I'm going to do a very British thing and moan about the weather! Although it is lovely to see some sunshine, I imagine there are others like me who are struggling with their health conditions in this heat. I've provided a few links below for a variety of health conditions that provide tips on managing the hot weather and a generic information link for everyone with or without illness. Feel free to share this with anyone you feel may need it.

Lung conditions - https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/living-with/hot-weather

PoTS - https://www.potsuk.org/managingpots/temperature-regulation-2/

EDS/HSD - https://jeanniedibon.com/eds-hypermobility-heat-intolerance/

CRPS - https://www.burningnightscrps.org/support/news-and-blog/article/how-to-keep-cool-in-the-heat-living-with-chronic-illness/

Everyone! - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/beat-the-heat-hot-weather-advice/beat-the-heat-staying-safe-in-hot-weather

02/07/2025

A while ago I wrote a post about mindfulness and it received some lovely feedback so I thought I would write another one with a different example of an exercise to try.

To briefly recap, mindfulness is about being present and gently bringing that attention back when we notice that our attention has drifted.

Eating, drinking and cooking are everyday tasks that we can use mindfulness skills on. If you are somebody who has sensory difficulties and food is a trigger, then I would leave the following exercise until you have practised mindfulness skills in other areas first. Otherwise, this can be a nice exercise to use as you can try it during something that you already do every day.

The key is to use your senses to help you stay present and when it comes to food and drink, it is a great way of tapping into our sense of smell and taste. It can be helpful to pick a food -related task each day such as a morning cup of coffee, eating your lunch or cooking your evening meal. Try to remove distractions such as turning any music or the TV off and keeping your phone out of sight. Take a few minutes to really tap into your senses around the food or drink activity, for example, what colours and shapes can you see? What can you smell? What’s the temperature? What are the textures you can feel when you eat? What can you taste? What does it sound like when you bite it or when it’s frying in the pan?

Remember that at first, this will probably last about 10 seconds before your mind wanders. This is normal! When you notice that your mind has wandered, gently bring it back using your senses to connect with your experience. And in another 10 seconds, repeat this again as your mind will probably have wandered again. This attention training can be a very helpful skill in many areas. Your task is to notice when your mind wanders and bring it back, not to have an empty mind or for your mind to stay fully focused without wandering. Any extra enjoyment of your food, drink or cooking experience, is a bonus!

25/06/2025

Last week I wrote a post about the following quote:

"Do the best you can until you know better.
Then when you know better, do better"
Maya Angelou

Today I wanted to look at this quote again but from a different angle. I meet a lot of people who experience guilt over decisions that they have made in the past (myself included). Examples could include living a certain lifestyle that has now led to significant health problems, giving advice to people that has actually made things worse, parenting decisions you now regret or giving a strong opinion on something in the past that you do not believe any more. The list could go on!

In these moments, we forget that we did the best that we could with the information that we had at the time. Research changes our understanding of a lot of things, the world changes, we change as we age, our opinions on things change depending on our experiences and the people we meet. Instead of focusing on the guilt and past decisions, we can use this new information to do something different moving forward. And we can try to allow ourselves some forgiveness as we did not know then what we know now.

30/05/2025

For those lucky enough to be jetting off on holiday over the summer, this post is for you!

If, like myself you have a chronic illness, plane travel can feel daunting. I wanted to share information about special assistance through airlines to show what support is available - you don't need to struggle. Support can be provided for physical disabilities, limited mobility and also for hidden disabilities.

Make sure you book this in advance with the airline to ensure you get the right support (but if you have a variable illness, you can request extra support on the day if needed and in my experience they will do their best to accommodate).

There are so many different types of support but here are a few examples:

- providing help to get around the airport (both UK and abroad)
- providing lanyards for hidden disabilities
- extra help through security and boarding
- step free access to the plane
- an extra 10kg hand luggage to carry prescription medication in (may be airline dependent)
- some airports may have quieter rooms to wait if you struggle with sensory difficulties
- priority boarding if you struggle to queue
- free seat allocation for you and a companion (may be airline dependent)

Each airline has their own information and I am not advocating one airline over the other, but if you would like further information, this is an informative website - https://www.jet2.com/en/assisted-travel

Happy holidays!

07/05/2025

Spring is a great time to work on mindfulness skills. Before you stop reading because you've rolled your eyes at the word 'mindfulness', let me explain what it really is and not what the media have turned it into!

The definition of mindfulness by Jon Kabat-Zinn is "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgementally".

Essentially what this means is learning how to just "be" in the present moment, without trying to change anything. It means tapping into our senses, noticing our thoughts come and go, noticing our emotions and urges without acting on them. It means choosing where to put our focus of attention instead of being on auto-pilot.

The reason I believe Spring is a great time to work on this skill is because there are so many lovely things to notice. Mindfulness is important for us in challenging moments too but when we are starting out, choosing pleasant situations can increase motivation to practice.

So next time you go on a walk, (even if that walk is just to the corner shop or to your car on the driveway), see if you can allow yourself 60 seconds to practice being mindful. Look around you at the emerging flowers, the new leaves on the trees, the colour of the sky and how the clouds move. Notice the temperature of the air and how it feels on your skin. Notice the sounds of people mowing the lawn, children happily playing or birds singing. And notice any thoughts that come to mind and refocus your attention on your senses without being annoyed at yourself for having the thoughts. Mindfulness is not about having an empty mind, but a mind that is present on what is going on in the here and now.

30/04/2025

Tips for pacing the "spring clean". As mentioned in my previous post, this time of year can be a big flare up trigger for people with chronic pain and fatigue. Pacing is complex and ideally, an individualised approach is the best way of handling it but here are some tips to get started:

- first of all - you do not have to do a spring clean! All the jobs that you may feel need doing at this time of year can be done at any time of the year. In an ideal world, you would have a list of what needed doing and spread out the chores in a balanced way throughout the year. Nicer weather lends itself to certain chores but other chores can be done in any weather

- write out the jobs that you want to do and break them down into smaller steps (see previous post)

- plan out the tasks you want to do and 'book' them into your diary. Try to avoid planning in tiring chores near other tiring activities and plan in a rest break afterwards

- try and notice what thoughts are driving you to do more than is helpful for your body. Words such as "should", "must" and "have to" trick us into thinking we cannot leave tasks for another day. Try rewording it to "I want to", "I would like to", "I feel the need to", which will help highlight that it is a choice to do them or not

- you do not have to finish a task that you start! One of the most common things I hear with regards to pacing is "I started it so I had to finish it". There are very few exceptions where stopping a task part way through would be catastrophic. It will probably be annoying and unsatisfying, but try to allow that feeling to be there in order to avoid a pain/fatigue flare up

- try not to do extra things on the days where you feel better, have more energy or less pain. It's a trap! Doing more will result in you being able to do less the next day (or two or three) and overall you will get less done. Try to balance out what needs doing and if you feel good one day, do something nice or restful instead of more chores. In essence, "less is more"

If the idea of pacing sounds overwhelming or you're reading this and thinking "but I do have to do it all now", please reach out for some more individualised support.

Address

London

Opening Hours

Monday	9:30am - 2:30pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 2:30pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 2:30pm
Thursday	9:30am - 2:30pm
Friday	9:30am - 2:30pm

Telephone

+447737048310

Website

http://www.natalielouisetherapy.co.uk/

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