Beginning with you, so you can meet your baby with clarity and compassion

The parenting struggle
As a parent and Clinical Psychologist with experience in Perinatal Psychology, I have a deep interest in the emotional lives of parents. One of the subtle but powerful everyday pressures many parents carry today is the sense of being constantly observed, evaluated, or compared.
The “opinions of the world” are no longer abstract. They are in our pockets, on our screens, in our communities, and in our minds. These opinions can be helpful at times, but they can also re-trigger and unearth deep feelings of self-criticism and shame that may have been present for a long time. Sometimes, often without our awareness, our own experiences of being parented can show up — and some of this can feel incredibly painful and isolating.
My experience of the parenting world is that parents are often surrounded by groups aimed primarily at babies — baby development classes, stay and play, baby massage. These spaces are incredibly important for bonding and for babies’ social and emotional development. What is often missing, however, is space for the emotional experience of the parent. Parenting can bring up feelings that help us connect — joy, love, care, and happiness. At the same time, these feelings can feel absent or hard to access. What may surface instead is exhaustion, guilt, self-doubt, anger, or sadness. In a world that asks so much of parents, it can be difficult to find space for your own emotional experience, or to feel that it matters alongside caring for a small human.

What does this group offer?
Bringing together my experience in Compassion Focused Therapy, group work, and perinatal psychology — alongside my own experiences of parenting — I developed the Roots of Compassion group: a group for mums and their babies.
This group is not about teaching you how to parent. Instead, it offers a safe and supportive space for mums to speak openly about the emotional challenges of parenting. Together, we explore how our minds and bodies respond under pressure, make room for difficult thoughts and feelings, and learn the ways of developing a more compassionate way of being — especially at moments when it feels hardest to do so.
As a service, we focus on the why and the how:
WHY parenting can feel particularly difficult in the world we live in today, and HOW to move from surviving to feeling more steady, more seen, and more connected — to yourself and to your baby.

Who is this group for?
This group is for mums who find that alongside caring for their baby, there is a growing pressure to get things “right”. You may notice yourself comparing, second-guessing, or feeling watched — by others, by social media, or by your own inner voice.
The group may be helpful if parenting has stirred feelings you didn’t anticipate, such as sadness, anxiety, anger, shame, or guilt. You might notice these emotions showing up in your attempts to bond with your baby, leaving you feeling more disconnected and self-critical.
Importantly, you don’t need to be in crisis, and you don’t need to have the words for what you’re experiencing. This group is not about getting rid of difficult emotions, but about beginning to understand them, connect with others who may feel similarly, and discover ways of responding to yourself and your baby that help you feel more grounded.