If you’ve lived through trauma, abuse, or neglect, you may have learned to protect yourself by withdrawing, staying guarded, or keeping others at a distance. These responses often develop in a world that has felt unsafe or unforgiving.

What once helped you survive may no longer fit who you are, or who you want to be. Strategies that were once necessary can, over time, begin to deepen feelings of isolation, anxiety, or disconnection.

Therapy offers a space to recognise that you did what you needed to survive, while gently asking whether those same strategies might now be holding you back from living more freely and fully.