Caroline de Francesca

I am based at the Nuture Shed, a converted chicken shed that is situated on the outskirts of the village of Middlezoy.  It is a peaceful, rural setting on the Somerset levels and can be easily reached from Glastonbury, Street, Taunton, Bridgwater or Langport. My room is accessible and has free parking just outside.  I currently have space for new clients on a Monday, Tuesday and Friday.  I can offer daytime or evening appointments.

Please  also talk to me if you would like to be considered for concessionary rates.

Thank you for visiting my profile. 

Navigating life can be hard and it may feel especially hard right now in the midst of today's world full of confusion, unrest and conflict. Individual therapy cannot change the world but it is a space to build a relationship with another where you can feel heard and understood. 

There will be many reasons why you are thinking of therapy.  It may be a particular issue or a general feeling of anxiety or low mood.  Perhaps you feel you are living your life not as you want but as you think you should?  Or maybe you feel you have few if any choices in your life as it is now?  Do you feel missed, unseen, unfulfilled or dissatisfied?  Maybe you are hiding how you truly feel or saying  things you don't mean?  You may have specific issues, unfinished business, things that keep showing up in your life that are not helpful and leaving you feel stuck....  you may want to bring a diagnosis or label to explore, question, expand, celebrate  or discard?

I work with clients who wish to understand any issue that impacts on their relationship with others and with themselves.  I work with the concept that people change when they accept and become who they are rather than trying to be someone or something they are not.   Change is organic and people change naturally and in a meaningful way when they discover and allow themselves to be fully who they are.  

Our work is to build a relationship where we can explore and discover together how you are currently experiencing your world.  This process of exploration is building the muscle of awareness that supports you to recognise your strengths as well as what may be holding you back from enjoying your life.  Leaning into and delicately exploring difficult feelings can create space and free you up to be more present to what is happening for you right now: To be more compassionate to yourself and to feel joy and gratitude alongside navigating your unique challenges.   

I trained for 4 years as a gestalt psychotherapist.  This approach speaks to me as it focuses on what is being experienced now, through our bodies as well as through our thoughts and feelings and the meaning we make of this.  By expanding our awareness we can extend our choices and our ability to overcome patterns of behaviour that are not serving us anymore. You will begin to feel more familiar with and to trust what your body is telling you.

I also bring to my practice my experience as a social worker of over 30 years working predominantly in the field of fostering. I have been witness to the power of healing relationships that can truly change lives. We are all deeply relational beings and it is within safe and trusting relationships we can create and re-create meaning for ourselves and build a healthy relational stance towards ourselves and others.   

Between us we will experiment with new and creative ways to navigate the issues you bring to therapy. 

Gestalt is generally a therapy where there is no time limit and lasts as long as a client wishes.

The first step is to meet and see if we feel we can work together as the therapeutic relationship is a joint venture between us.  

Sessions are usually weekly but there is flexibility and we will discuss this when we meet.  

I work with people who are experiencing a range of challenges including anxiety, depression, childhood trauma, relationship issues and gender, sex and relationship diversity.