The Midlife Burnout Counsellor
Helping you to find your spark
Online or Outdoor (Walk and Talk) Counselling
Hello, I'm Lisa and I offer counselling sessions online and outdoors (walk and talk or eco-counselling) in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
(I will soon be offering face to face counselling sessions, please get in touch if this is something you would be interested in).
I am a qualified counsellor and I specialise in helping individuals through the challenges of midlife.
Feeling burnt out in midlife is surprisingly common. You might be feeling overwhelmed, low in motivation or struggling with procrastination, or feeling like you're just not getting anywhere with everything life is throwing at you. The to-do list keeps growing and you can't see how you'll ever get to the end of it but you don't want to feel like you're letting anyone down. All those years of putting on a mask, putting everyone else first, saying to yourself "I just need to keep going"; or "I just need to get through this"; start to take a toll when midlife changes arrive. It gets much harder to keep smiling, helping, supporting and saying yes to everything.
You could be experiencing feelings of loss, wondering how you ended up where you are and what happened to that young person with dreams and desires. Our lives rarely go to plan, and sometimes it can be helpful to reflect on who you were and who you are now. Or maybe you find yourself single later in life and you are struggling with navigating divorce, your identity and who you are now.
Maybe you're late diagnosed or late self-identified autistic or ADHD and you're suddenly thinking about your entire existence through a neurodivergent lens. Neurodivergent people commonly have difficulties through school and with friendships. You might struggle with work and relationships with colleagues, and with different transitions and changes throughout your life. You may experience meltdowns and burnout but might not know what these are or be able to recognise the signs, or come up with strategies to help you to minimise them. Maybe you just need to be kind to yourself about who you are and how difficult it is to fit into a neurotypical world.
You could have been diagnosed with a long term health condition and be struggling with pacing. It is very common for people to get as much done as they can on a 'good' day, but this leads to feeling exhausted for sometimes days afterwards, and it becomes a cycle of waiting out the 'bad' days and then overdoing things on the better days. Or maybe you're finding it difficult to come to terms with not being able to do the things that you used to be able to. That's without even considering the impact of how hard it is to ask for help, and those negative thoughts that you're a burden on your family and friends if you do.
Maybe you find yourself with an 'empty nest' or shifting caring roles and are finding it difficult to manage the changes. Different emotions come up around children leaving home. You might be worried about how they will manage, or missing those little people that always used to be there. Maybe you have ageing parents who need more support from you, just as you were starting to experience more freedom.
Add into this the peri-menopause, changing priorities, wants and desires, reflecting on the past and how it impacts you now or maybe you're just wondering how you got here, what you've done with your life and where to go from here. You could be feeling burnt out because of some, or even all of those things, or something completely different. Whatever it is that you need to talk about, I can help you to navigate the emotions and to come up with your own strategies to help yourself. If you'd like a free 30 minute consultation to discuss please either email hello@lhcounselling.net or use the contact form page.
Frequently asked questions
Counselling is a safe, non-judgemental space where you are free to talk about whatever you wish. As your counsellor, I will help you to explore your feelings, thoughts and behaviours, to recognise any patterns, where they come from and how you would like them to change. You know yourself best so I won't give you advice or tell you what to do, but I will help you to increase your self-awareness and to come up with your own strategies and solutions. I will help you to navigate difficult emotions, life events, relationships and situations. For us to work effectively together, our relationship is very important and you should feel safe enough to talk about anything. If you would like to find out more, please email hello@lhcounselling.net, or use the contact form and we can arrange a free 30 minute introductory telephone call.
Please send a brief email to hello@lhcounselling.net or use the contact form on this website. We will arrange a mutually convenient time for a free 30 minute introductory telephone call, and then if you would like to go ahead we can arrange your first session from there.
It's an opportunity to start to get to know each other, so I will ask you a few questions about you and what you would like to achieve from counselling. You will have the opportunity to ask questions about me and how I work so that you can decide whether I am the right fit for you. I will talk you through everything you need to know to do with the practicalities of counselling, such as when, where, how often, cost and cancellations, as well as things like confidentiality and privacy, as it's important to know all of this before you start. I will explain what happens in the first session, and if you are happy to go ahead we can book you in and I will send you a short form to complete.
It is important to choose a counsellor who you feel comfortable with and if, after your introductory telephone call, you decide that you would like us to work together, we will arrange your first session. In the first session we will agree on the details of how we will work together. Sessions will be 50 minutes long and will be the same day and time each week. The number of sessions you need will be entirely up to you, there is no limit or set amount. When you decide it is time to end we can have a final session to review your progress and make a plan together to help you to maintain the progress that you have made.
Sometimes life gets in the way, I understand that! So if you need to cancel your session please do so with as much notice as possible. You can do this by sending an email to hello@lhcounselling.net. I can't guarantee that I will be able to rearrange your appointment to another day or time that week so we will usually continue your sessions at the usual time the following week. Unfortunately if you cancel within 24 hours of your appointment there may be a charge.
Sessions can be paid for by bank transfer or I can send you a payment link if you would prefer. Unfortunately, if payment is not received before the start of your session it may not go ahead, so please let me know if you are having any difficulties.
Yes! We will discuss this briefly in your introductory session as it is important that you are aware of, and agree to, the circumstances where there might be exceptions to confidentiality before agreeing to start our work together.