Sharon Nicholson

Something in you has been waiting to return

You just want to feel like yourself again.

You have gone over it more times than you can count.

In the shower. Driving. At work. At 2am. Trying to get through a normal day while something underneath it refuses to settle.

It comes back without warning — a conversation, a message, a moment that pulls you straight back into it. And then it stays longer than you want it to.

Replaying. Reworking. Trying to make sense of something that still doesn't quite make sense.

You understand it, or parts of it, but that doesn't change how it lives in you.

You are not in crisis, but you are not fully free of it either.

You are functioning, getting through your days, and privately carrying something that feels unresolved — something you can't quite explain, even to yourself.

Sometimes older pain surfaces too. Patterns that feel familiar in a way that goes further back than you expected.

If any of this feels familiar, you are in the right place.

🌿 “I finally feel like it’s ok to be me.”
— Client experience

The work here goes deeper than talking

Understanding what happened is rarely enough to shift how it lives inside you. If it were, you would already be free of it.

What keeps relational trauma present is not a lack of insight. It is where it is still being held — in the body, in the nervous system, in the patterns that formed around surviving something that asked too much of you.

Going over it one more time is not what will set you free.

This work reaches that place — and helps it finally begin to settle.

Book your free clarity call

Where This Work Takes You

Sharon Nicholson
Registered MBACP, Accred

Betraya trauma
Narcissistic Abuse Recovery

Why Brainspotting?

Brainspotting works beneath the level of conscious memory and explanation.

Where you look affects how you feel — and Brainspotting uses that connection to help access and process what is still being held, often long after the experience itself has ended.

You do not need to find perfect words for this work to begin.

Evolved out of EMDR, Brainspotting is often experienced as both deeply powerful and unexpectedly gentle.

Brainspotting and why it's different → Read more here

Alongside Brainspotting, I integrate parts-informed therapy influenced by Internal Family Systems (IFS).

Because trauma often leaves different parts of us carrying different burdens: protection, fear, hypervigilance, shame, anger, grief, survival.

This work helps those parts feel less alone, less trapped in their roles, and less forced to carry everything by themselves.

Parts-informed therapy → Read more here

Take the first step back to yourself

Find Your Door

Sharon Nicholson
Registered Member MBACP Accred

Relational Trauma Therapist

Where Would You Like To Begin?

There are two ways to work with me — intensives or ongoing sessions — and the right fit depends on where you are and what your nervous system is ready for.

Betrayal Trauma Intensives

When betrayal shatters trust, the mind loops. The body braces. Sometimes weekly therapy can feel too fragmented to reach what needs to shift.

An intensive creates sustained, uninterrupted therapeutic space over two or three consecutive days; enough time for something to genuinely move, not just begin.

This may be the right fit if you have been stuck for a long time despite understanding what happened, if you need significant concentrated processing, or if you are ready for deeper, faster-moving work.

Includes Finding Ground — a post-intensive integration companion — and a follow-up integration session.

Want to understand more about how betrayal trauma affects the nervous system? → Read more here

Betrayal Trauma Intensives

Sharon Nicholson
Narcissistic Abuse Specialist

Therapy intensives

Relational Trauma Intensives

Some relationships erode you slowly — leaving anxiety, self-doubt, chronic overthinking, and a version of yourself you no longer recognise.

Whether the relationship was with a partner, a parent, or someone else close to you. Whether you have a name for what happened or not.

This may be the right fit if you have been carrying this for a long time, if insight alone hasn't been enough, or if you are ready for focused, body-based work that goes beyond talking.

Includes Finding Ground — a post-intensive integration companion — and a follow-up integration session.

Want to understand more about relational trauma and narcissistic abuse? → Read more here

Relational Trauma Intensives

Sharon Nicholson Trauma Therapist UK

Relational Trauma, Narcissistic Abuse, Profound Loss

90-Minute Sessions — Ongoing Support

For those who need a steadier, more gradual rhythm — week by week, at a slower pace.

This may be the right the fit if you need consistency and continuity as your primary container, or if intensive work feels like too much right now.

These extended sessions allow for deeper processing, nervous system work, and relational repair than a standard therapy hour permits.

90-Minute sessions

Sharon Nicholson
Registered Member MBACP, Accred

Book your clarity call

Not sure which feels right?

The clarity call is the place to explore that together — gently, without pressure, and without any obligation to decide in advance.

Book your free clarity call

Meet Me

I'm Sharon Nicholson — BACP Accredited Counsellor, Brainspotting Practitioner, and Certified Narcissistic Abuse Specialist™ with over 20 years of clinical practice.

I understand what it is to appear capable on the outside while something essential has quietly gone missing.

To keep functioning. Keep delivering. Keep being the person others rely on.

While privately carrying something none of that capability seems able to reach.

That experience sits at the heart of why I built this practice.

I work exclusively online across the UK, integrating Brainspotting, parts-informed therapy, and relational trauma work for those navigating betrayal trauma, narcissistic abuse, emotional overwhelm, and the longer aftermath of relational harm.

Put simply, I built this practice because I needed it and it didn't exist.

Like many people who arrive here, I also have lived experience of relational trauma.

I understand the confusion, the exhaustion, the self-doubt, the shame, and the particular disorientation of trying to make sense of something that may have been designed not to make sense.

That is part of why I do this work.

Not only because of my training, but because I know what becomes possible on the other side of it.

🌿 "To anyone thinking about starting this Brainspotting journey with Sharon, all I can say is just do it! The benefits are huge and it's time those of us who are affected by the past break free from it all and move forward with peace and happiness. Brainspotting is truly remarkable and Sharon is an excellent guide. I can highly recommend it!"

— Client experience

→ Read more about me

Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact me through the enquiry form if you cannot find an answer to your question.

Do you work with couples?

I work exclusively with individuals and do not offer couples counselling.

I provide online therapy for adults aged 18 and over, across the UK.

How do I know if what I experienced was relational trauma?

Relational trauma often leaves people feeling changed in ways that are hard to fully explain, even long after the relationship or situation has ended.

You may find yourself overthinking, replaying conversations, doubting your own perceptions, struggling to trust yourself, or feeling as though your system is still bracing for something.

Sometimes the harm is obvious. Sometimes it is subtle, cumulative, and difficult to put into words. Many people minimise their experience because there was no single clear event. And yet something in them knows they have been deeply affected.

If you feel persistently on edge, emotionally overwhelmed, shut down, or disconnected from yourself after a relationship, this work may be relevant for you.

What if I understand what happened, but still cannot move on?

This is one of the most painful and confusing experiences after relational trauma.

Many people already understand the situation intellectually. They can name what happened and why it affected them. And still, nothing inside them settles.

That is not a lack of insight.

Even when something makes sense in your mind, your body may still be responding as though the danger is present. It is this gap between understanding and felt experience that often keeps people stuck.

Our work together does not rely on you thinking harder about what happened. It supports your system in coming out of survival mode, at a pace that feels safe enough to shift.

Why do I still feel attached to someone who hurt me?

After relational trauma, attachment can remain even when trust has been deeply ruptured.

You may find that part of you knows the relationship was harmful, while another part still feels emotionally pulled toward it. This can feel deeply confusing and often carries shame.

This is a common nervous system response to relational injury, particularly where there has been inconsistency, emotional intensity, or betrayal.

Nothing about this means you are doing it wrong. It reflects how attachment systems adapt under stress and threat.

Therapy can help you relate to these patterns with more understanding, so they begin to soften rather than dominate your internal world.

Why do I still feel attached to someone who hurt me?

Traumatic relationships can create powerful emotional and physiological attachment patterns, particularly where there has been intermittent care, betrayal, manipulation, emotional inconsistency, or prolonged hypervigilance.

Part of you may know the relationship harmed you, while another part still feels emotionally tethered to it.

This inner conflict can feel deeply confusing and shame-inducing. But it is a recognised nervous system response to relational trauma, not a reflection of your worth or intelligence.

Therapy can help you understand these patterns with compassion while gently supporting your system to loosen the grip they still hold.

Can therapy still help if the relationship ended years ago?

Yes. Relational trauma does not always resolve simply because time has passed. Many people seek support months or even years later, when they notice that something still feels unresolved inside them.

Sometimes a later experience reactivates older wounds. Sometimes clarity only begins to emerge once the nervous system is no longer in the relationship itself.

This work can be meaningful no matter how long ago your experiences were.

What if I do not know whether I want to stay or leave?

After betrayal, many people feel intense pressure to make immediate decisions about the relationship.

But relational trauma often creates confusion, emotional flooding, hypervigilance, grief, attachment conflict, and nervous system overwhelm. Part of you may feel deeply hurt and unable to imagine rebuilding trust. Another part may still love your partner, want the relationship, or hope something can still be repaired.

Both experiences can exist at the same time.

Therapy does not require you to already know what you want.

Our work is not about pushing you toward staying or leaving. It is about helping you reconnect with yourself beneath the fear, shock, confusion, and survival responses that betrayal can create.

From there, clarity often begins to emerge more naturally and truthfully.

What is Brainspotting?

Evolved out of EMDR, Brainspotting is a focused, body-based approach to working with trauma held in the nervous system.

Rather than relying only on talking or cognitive understanding, it helps access deeper emotional and physiological material that may not be fully reachable through conversation alone.

It can be particularly helpful for overthinking, emotional looping, hypervigilance, shutdown, shame, and experiences that feel “stuck” despite insight.

Sessions include bilateral music and are paced carefully and collaboratively, with attention to safety and regulation throughout.

How is this different from traditional talking therapy?

Talking therapy can be incredibly valuable, especially for understanding your experience.

But many people arrive here after already understanding a great deal, and still feeling stuck.

Relational trauma is often held at a nervous system level, not just a cognitive one. This means change may need to happen not only through insight, but through felt experience and regulation.

My approach integrates relational depth with nervous system–informed trauma therapy to support change at both levels.

The aim is not only to understand what happened, but to help you feel more settled, present, and like yourself again.

Do you work online across the UK?

Yes. Sessions are exclusively offered online to adults across the UK.

Many people find that working from a familiar, private space makes it easier to engage gently and consistently with this kind of deeper therapeutic work.

For intensives, some people chose to create their own retreat-like experience. They may book time at a quiet hotel, cottage or lodge, integrating other wellness experiences into their 2 or 3 days.

As long as you have quiet privacy, stable wi-fi connection and a space that feels safe for you, your intensive sessions can be held from wherever feels right for you.

Take the next step

If something here has felt familiar, a clarity call is a simple next step A quiet conversation about where you are, what you are carrying, and whether this work feels like the right fit for you. No pressure. No commitment. Just a place to begin.

Sharon Nicholson is a BACP Accredited Counsellor and Brainspotting Practitioner working exclusively online with women across the uk. This practice specialises in the lasting effects of relational trauma, narcissistic abuse, and betrayal, including C-PTSD and the anxiety, hypervigilance, shame, and emotional overwhelm these experiences so often leave behind.

Brainspotting is a neuroexperiential, body-based approach that works in a similar way to EMDR. Evolved out of EMDR, it is often experienced as more gentle and more intuitive.

If you have been searching for EMDR therapy and want to understand how Brainspotting compares, a free clarity call is the right place to start.

Offering online trauma therapy across the UK, including Weymouth, Dorset and surrounding areas.

Specialising in relational trauma, narcissistic abuse recovery, and betrayal trauma — through the body, not just the mind.

The content on the website is for informational purposes only. It Is not intended as professional advice, treatment or diagnosis. Please seek appropriate qualified support from your healthcare provider where necessary.

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