Rachel Kaye
Counselling and Psychotherapy
I’m a LGBTQ+ affirmative, trauma-informed therapist who works with people who have always felt different in some way.
You might be looking for help with anxiety, relationships or an over-active inner critic.
Together, we’ll work to overcome the things that have been holding you back so you can start to feel better.
The world can be a hard place for people who feel a lot. You might have been told you’re too sensitive or too much. There’s space for you here to put down who you’ve been told you ‘should’ be and come as you are.
Perhaps you often find it hard to trust your decisions and feel anxious that you’re doing everything wrong. Maybe you find yourself replaying conversations in your head, cringing and wondering why you can’t be “normal”. You might have had panic attacks or experienced trauma in the past and thought you’d worked through it, but now find you’re starting to feel overwhelmed by things you used to handle easily.
Maybe dating and relationships are bringing up your ‘stuff’ (stuff about your sexuality, stuff about your ex, stuff about not being good enough) and it makes you worry about messing things up. You know you want to work through your attachment issues and not end up being alone.
You might have a decent job that pays the bills, and feel like you should be grateful, but you’re not making a difference to the world in the way you always hoped you would. You want to have a good work life balance but sometimes struggle with saying no.
Hi, I’m Rachel (she/her), an accredited, LGBTQ+ affirmative, trauma-informed therapist in Shipley (near Bradford and Leeds). I work online with people across the UK.
I’m passionate about working with people who have always felt different in some way to help them improve their relationships and better manage anxiety. I have a particular interest in working with people from difficult/dysfunctional family backgrounds to help them overcome challenges and build lives they love. My own journey has brought me understanding of how anxiety and low self-esteem can sometimes make you feel like you’re broken, and given me proof that change is always possible.
I’ve worked as a therapist for over 5 years, including providing therapy for an LGBTQ+ charity, in private practice, and supporting staff and students at an FE college. I’m a BACP accredited therapist (which means I’ve met the organisation’s higher standard as a competent, ethical and independent practitioner). I also have specialist experience and training as an LGBTQ+ therapist.
I work with people who are struggling with:
Anxiety and panic attacks
Learn to manage anxiety and panic attacks so they don’t stop you living, working and making friends.
Self-esteem and a harsh inner critic
Build your confidence so you can stop people pleasing, trust in your decisions and start to feel better about yourself.
Relationships and attachment
Improve your relationships and your communication. Know and value yourself more so you can create and keep healthy relationships.
Burnout and workplace issues
Help with navigating career change, burnout and conflict at work
Trauma and cPTSD
Support for understanding and moving through the past
Being highly sensitive/neurodivergent in a world not built for you
Working with sensory overload, improving emotional regulation, boundaries and communication
We might be a good fit if…
– You’ve had therapy before but you didn’t see lasting change, or you’ve previously felt misunderstood in therapy.
– You want a down-to-earth therapist, who will be real with you and not leave long, awkward silences
– You don’t want to spend your session time educating your therapist about your queer identity.
-You are ready to try something new and are aware that therapy can take work and time.
Practical Stuff…
Where: Sessions are held via zoom. Working online means you don’t need to worry about location and can instead focus on finding the right therapist for you.
Cost: £60 for a 50 minute session. A concessionary rate of £55 available for students and those on low incomes, please let me know in your enquiry e-mail if you require one of my concessionary spaces. I welcome enquiries from therapists and those on therapy/counselling training courses.
My working hours: Mon – Thursday 9am – 5.30pm.
Health Insurance: I work with Bupa, AXA, Aviva and WPA insurers – please check your policy if you would like to use your insurance to pay for sessions and let me know when you get in touch.
If you’d like to find out more about working with me, please get in touch to book a free, no-obligation introductory meeting
Read more:
A therapist’s thoughts on The Ultimatum – Queer Love
Image credit: Melody Timothee/Netflix Important note: This post contains spoilers for season one and season two of The Ultimatum – Queer Love The return of The Ultimatum – Queer Love was eagerly awaited in our house and now it’s done I thought I’d put my therapist hat...
Moving house and your mental health
There’s a reason moving is near the top of those lists of stressful life events. What can we do to make moving house less detrimental to our mental health?
Music for our fight, flight and freeze response
At some point I found myself going through my playlists identifying music which for me encapsulated the fight, flight and freeze responses.
Self-care, self-soothing, numbing out and how to tell the difference
The seemingly simple act of ‘self-care’ reveals itself to actually be a series of complex interlinked tasks which can be very challenging
How to work with your ‘inner critic’ and improve your self-esteem
How can we work with this difficult inner critic? How can you, as P!nk puts it ‘Change the voices in your head, make them like you instead’?