Therapy That Sees The Brilliance Behind Your Survival

If you’ve felt misunderstood, pathologised, or dismissed — this space is different. It’s yours.

Gem Wood therapist with short curly hair and glasses sitting on a gray couch, wearing a light blue button-up shirt, in a room with a window and plants in the background.
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HI, I’M GEM. I’m a trauma therapist who works with people who have spent too long surviving.

Maybe you’ve felt misunderstood by past therapists. Or like you had to translate your pain into something more palatable. I understand that. My own life, and my years walking alongside clients, have shown me just how often systems pathologise what are really signs of strength, and brilliant, adaptive responses to unbearable things.

You don’t have to explain everything here. You don’t have to perform wellness.

Therapy with me isn’t about fixing you.

It’s about witnessing, honouring, and slowly supporting the parts of you that got you this far.

I hold space for people navigating complex trauma, dissociation, disordered eating, chronic pain, grief, and the kind of relational wounds that leave you both longing for closeness and terrified of it. If that resonates, you’re not alone.

Gem Wood's therapy office with a wooden desk, gray upholstered armchair, laptop, notebook, pen, and a cup of coffee with cookies, near a window with cream curtains and a potted plant.

My Approach

This is a space that moves at your pace.

My approach is collaborative, deeply relational, and grounded in respect for your nervous system's wisdom. I don’t believe in managing symptoms or rushing change. I believe in being with what’s here — with compassion and clarity.

You might notice that I ask gentle but meaningful questions. I listen closely, not just to what you say, but to what your body and nervous system might be expressing. Some sessions may feel spacious and reflective. Others might touch something deep. Both are welcome.

I work from a place of curiosity over assumption, collaboration over control. My role isn’t to lead you somewhere predetermined. It’s to accompany you as you explore what healing might mean for you.

Together, we’ll work toward the meaningful change you truly deserve.

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Working Together

You already hold so much wisdom. Therapy is about creating space for it to emerge.

I work integratively, drawing from trauma-informed models that honour the ways you’ve survived. My practice is rooted in Carolyn Spring’s frameworks, and shaped by both clinical training and lived experience.

Depending on your needs, we might explore how past relationships show up in the present (relational work), how your body holds safety (nervous system regulation), or how food, pain, and dissociation have become protective. It all happens at your pace, with care.

Sessions are offered online or by phone, with flexibility in timing (60 or 90 minutes). You get to choose what works for you. This is your space.

You won’t be pushed here. We’ll work together at a pace that feels right for you, honouring your timing while moving toward something more than just coping. This is about discovering your capacity to shape a life that feels meaningful and whole. There’s no performance required. Just the truth of where you are.

My Practice Values

These values shape every part of the work we’ll do together - gently, collaboratively, and at your pace.

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Collaboration

We work together. I don’t hold the answers; I help you uncover your own.

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Curiosity

Your adaptations make sense. I meet them with interest, not judgment.

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Compassion

Whatever you bring is welcome. You don’t have to be "better" to belong.

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Transparency

I’ll always be open about the process, and honour your right to ask questions.

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No one-size-fits-all

Personalised, trauma-informed therapy that honours your reality while gently challenging the limits trauma has placed on your life.

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Qualifications & Trainings

I'm trained in trauma-informed, integrative psychotherapy and have been practicing for nearly two decades. I’ve worked closely with Carolyn Spring and the Trauma Recovery Community (TRC), and co-created a residential treatment centre in Spain.

My work is grounded in lived experience and continued learning, especially in the areas of trauma, dissociation, eating disorders, and relational healing.

    • Advanced Certificate in Clinical Supervision (including Online and Telephone Working) – 2025

    • Eating Disorder Diploma – 2024–2025

    • Lifespan Integration (LI) – Levels 1–4 - 2021-2023

    • Internal Family Systems (IFS) – Levels 1 & 2 - 2020-2022

    • Schema Therapy for Eating Disorders – 2019–2020

    • Advanced Certification: Working with Eating Disorders 2016-2017

    • Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) – Levels 1 & 2 - 2013-2015

    • Higher Educational Psychotherapeutic Diploma in Person-Centred Counselling and Psychotherapy – 2007–2010

    • The Trauma Recovery Community (TRC) – 2024. Ongoing Extensive weekly trauma training and case consultation with Carolyn Spring, including (but not limited to) certificates in:
      - Terminal Ambivilance
      - The Neurobiology of Trauma
      - Avioding Secondary Trauma
      - Child Sexual Abuse - Hope for Healing
      - Working with Dissociative Disorders
      - Dissociation and DID: The Fundamentals

    • ESTD: Understanding and Working with Complex Traumatic Dissociation – 2023 

    • Carolyn Spring Training (2018–2021) Certificates in:
      - Mental Health & The Body
      - Trauma and The Body
      - Working with Shame
      - Dealing with Distress
      - Working with Relational Trauma

    I stay up to date on therapeutic skills and knowledge by engaging in continuing professional development, regular supervision, peer consultation, and attending conferences.

    • Registered Member with BACP

    • Registered Member with ACTO

Feeling the pull to reach out?

You don’t have to have it all figured out to begin. If something here resonates, even quietly, you’re welcome to get in touch. We can talk about what support might look like and whether it feels right for you. No pressure. Just a beginning.