Lesley Cooke

I have worked as a counsellor for 24 years and hold a particular interest in attachment trauma, how trauma impacts one’s nervous system, and the challenges trauma creates. 

About me 

Hello! I’m Lesley. I work with individuals, couples, families, and young people. 

I have worked as a counsellor for 24 years, most extensively with couples. I have a postgraduate qualification in relationship and family therapy, a diploma in psychodynamic counselling, and I am a registered member of the ISPC. I have trained with the University of Hull and Relate. 

I also have training with Terry Real and his Relational Life Foundation, as well as Bruce Muzik, Love at First Fight, and The Conflict Cure. 

I will work alongside you to help you gain greater understanding, clarity, and insight into what you might consider complex relationship dynamics with yourself or others. Through honouring your individual journey, we can make sense of your dilemmas and make change possible. 

I always aim to create a safe space for deep exploration of your lived experiences. 

Some of the issues I can support with include: 

• relationship conflict 

• relationship breakdown/separation/divorce 

• grief and loss 

• anxiety and depression 

• sibling rivalry 

• neurodivergence 

• work/employment/finance issues 

• adoption and fostering 

• abandonment and rejection 

I am particularly interested in how trauma impacts your nervous system, the behaviours that develop as a way of coping with these experiences, and the subsequent choices made and dilemmas faced as a result. I have work-based training in attachment trauma. 

Trauma is often not what we think, but rather the absence of what was needed at vulnerable times in our lives. I can support you to develop more self-compassion and compassion for others. 

In addition to my training, I have extensive experience as a therapeutic social worker in fostering and adoption, working with adopted adults, adopted children, and their adopters. 

Please get in touch if you’d like to book an introductory call and find out how I can support you.