Integrative Psychologist & Somatic Therapist
Dr Sally Eccleston
I’m an HCPC-registered psychologist, somatic therapist and yoga teacher based in the High Peak, Derbyshire supporting people to reconnect with themselves and find greater calm, clarity and resilience through an integrative mind-body approach to healing and wellbeing.
For a long time, I looked like I was coping well.
I was studying, achieving, building a career and doing the things that, from the outside, suggested life was moving in the right direction. But inwardly, that wasn’t my experience. I often felt disconnected from myself - cut off from my body, overwhelmed by stress, and unsure how to find a genuine sense of steadiness or ease. I often felt disconnected from myself and unsure of my path. I struggled with low mood, self-esteem, and unhealthy coping habits, and I found myself searching for something that could help me feel more grounded and whole
Like many people, I became very good at carrying on. I knew how to function, how to strive, how to keep going. Yet beneath that, something felt missing.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re holding everything together on the outside while feeling disconnected or overwhelmed on the inside, you’re not alone. Many of the people who come to work with me have spent years coping in exactly this way.
That experience became one of the most important turning points of my life. I had no idea at the time, but that inner disconnection became one of the most important teachers of my life.
It was what first drew me toward psychology, alongside a strong interest in understanding why people struggle - not just academically, but personally. I wanted to understand why so many of us can appear “fine” while silently struggling. I wanted to understand why insight alone does not always change how we feel. And most of all, I wanted to understand what truly helps people come back to themselves.
Psychology gave me language, depth, and a way of making sense of human experience. It helped me understand patterns, trauma, attachment, behaviour, and the complexity of the mind. But over time, I also began to see its limits. I could understand so much intellectually, and yet still feel that something essential was missing. So many people know why they feel the way they do, but still cannot fully shift it. They still feel anxious, shut down, overwhelmed, tense, or disconnected. They still feel it in their bodies.
This led me more deeply into somatic work and non dual philosophy, into understanding the nervous system, the body’s wisdom, and the ways stress and trauma live not only in our thoughts, but in our physical being. I began to see that healing is not just about analysing our experience. It is also about learning how to feel safe enough to be in it. It is about slowing down, listening differently, and gently restoring connection where there has been survival, pressure, or disconnection.
Yoga has been another profound part of that journey. Discovering yoga in 2010 became a turning point for me. What began as a physical practice soon revealed itself as something much deeper - a journey into embodiment, presence, and healing.
I did not come to yoga simply for fitness or flexibility. I came to it because it offered something I had been missing: a way to be with myself differently. Through breath, movement, stillness, and awareness, I began to experience that healing was not only about fixing what was wrong. It was also about remembering what had always been there underneath the noise - a deeper steadiness, a deeper intelligence, a deeper wholeness.
That is the heart of my work now.
I became a psychologist because I wanted to understand people deeply and support meaningful change. I became a therapist because I care profoundly about creating spaces where people feel seen, safe, and able to heal. I became a yoga teacher because I know that transformation does not happen through the mind alone. It happens when mind, body, and nervous system are invited back into relationship with one another.
Today, my work brings those strands together.
Over time, my own journey showed me something profound: healing isn’t just about understanding our thoughts. It’s about reconnecting with the body, the nervous system, and the deeper wisdom within us.
That realisation shapes everything I do today.
My Work
My work supports people who feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or stuck in patterns they cannot seem to think their way out of. Many of the people I work with are thoughtful individuals who are used to holding everything together for others, yet internally feel anxious, tense, exhausted, or unsure how to find a deeper sense of calm and clarity. I support people who, on the surface, may look capable, strong, and high functioning, but inwardly feel overwhelmed, disconnected, self-critical, or stuck in patterns they cannot think their way out of. I work with people who are carrying stress, trauma, emotional pain, or the quiet ache of not quite feeling at home in themselves. Often, they have spent years pushing through, holding everything together, and trying to cope. They do not need more pressure. They do not need to be told to try harder. They need a space where they can soften, listen, understand what is happening inside them, and begin to heal at a deeper level.
Through therapy, somatic work and embodied practices, I help people reconnect with themselves - not by pushing harder or analysing endlessly, but by gently restoring connection between mind, body and nervous system.
The aim is not simply to cope better, but to feel more grounded, more regulated, and more at home in yourself.
A Different Approach
My work grew from recognising that traditional approaches to mental health often focus almost entirely on the mind.
Talking, analysing, and understanding our experiences are important. But many people discover that even when they understand their patterns intellectually, their body still holds tension, anxiety, or overwhelm.
This is because our nervous system plays a central role in how we experience the world.
Stress, trauma, and emotional experiences are not only stored in memory or thought. They are also held in the body - in our breathing, muscles, posture, and nervous system responses.
This is why my approach integrates psychology with somatic therapy and embodied practices such as yoga and mindfulness. I bring together evidence-based psychology with nervous system healing, body-based practice, and compassionate self-inquiry. My work is grounded in professional training and clinical understanding, but it is also shaped by lived experience and a deep respect for the body’s role in healing. I do not see people as problems to be fixed. I see them as whole human beings whose symptoms often make sense in the context of what they have lived through.
By working with both mind and body, we create the conditions for deeper and more lasting change.
A Holistic Perspective
Over time my work has naturally moved toward a more holistic understanding of wellbeing.
Modern neuroscience increasingly shows what many contemplative traditions have long recognised: that healing involves more than simply solving problems. It involves reconnecting with the deeper intelligence of the body and the natural capacity for balance within our nervous system.
When we slow down and begin to listen to what our experience is trying to tell us, something begins to shift.
My work therefore draws from both psychological science and embodied practices, supporting a process of healing that is both grounded and deeply human.
At its heart, the work is about remembering that we are not broken. Often we are simply disconnected from parts of ourselves that need attention, understanding, and care.
My core message is simple: healing happens through reconnection.
Reconnection with the body.
Reconnection with the nervous system.
Reconnection with emotion, truth, self-trust, and inner wisdom.
Reconnection with the deeper wholeness that has never actually been lost, even if it has been buried beneath stress, trauma, coping, or survival.
This belief shapes everything I offer, whether that is therapy, somatic work, yoga, workshops, retreats, or group spaces. The work may look different in different settings, but the intention is always the same: to help people feel more regulated, more embodied, more compassionate toward themselves, and more able to live from a place of grounded authenticity rather than survival.
How My Experience
Can Help You
Because I’ve been through it myself - from depression and disconnection to emotional healing and personal empowerment - I know how deeply impactful this work can be. I’ve used yoga, meditation, coaching, and trauma-informed therapy to:
Recover from poor body image and low self-esteem
Heal emotional wounds
Restore hormonal balance after coming off the contraceptive pill
Build a business and a life that truly aligns with who I am
And now, I support others to do the same.
From the inside, what it is to feel disconnected and to long for something more whole. I know what it is to search for healing that is not superficial. I know the difference between coping and truly coming home to yourself. And because of that, I bring both professional expertise and real human understanding to the people I work with.
My Approach & What I Offer
My work has continued to evolve over the years, and it reflects where I am now: at the meeting point of psychology, somatic healing, nervous system regulation, and embodied therapeutic work. I am especially passionate about supporting those who want more than insight alone - those who want lasting change, deeper self-understanding, and a way of healing that includes the whole person.
I offer a range of ways for people to work with me, including individual therapy, somatic sessions, yoga classes, workshops, retreats, and wellbeing programmes.
I offer somatic therapy and psychological support for adults and young people in the UK through my private practice.
Whatever the format, the intention is the same.
I aim to create a space where you can slow down, feel safe enough to explore what is happening within you, and begin to understand your experiences with greater clarity and compassion.
Together we may explore patterns of stress or anxiety, the impact of past experiences, the ways your nervous system responds to pressure, and the resources that help you feel more regulated and supported.
Rather than focusing on fixing or forcing change, the work is about gently restoring connection - allowing your system to move toward balance and wellbeing in its own time.
Who this work is for
Much of my work is with adults who are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, burnt out, or disconnected from themselves. .
Many are navigating the impact of long-term stress, trauma, or significant life transitions. Others come because they want to feel more grounded in themselves - more embodied, self-aware, and aligned with how they want to live.
I also support young people who are struggling with emotional regulation, behaviour, self-esteem, or the effects of difficult life experiences. My approach focuses on helping them understand their emotions, build resilience, and feel safer and more confident within themselves.
Alongside individual work, I collaborate with schools, organisations, and community groups who are committed to supporting wellbeing in a deeper and more sustainable way. This can include trauma-informed consultation, therapeutic support for pupils, staff wellbeing programmes, or workshops and training focused on mental health, embodiment, and nervous system regulation.
At the heart of all this work is the same intention: creating spaces where people can feel supported, understood, and able to reconnect with their own inner resources for healing and growth.
How You Can Work With Me
If you’ve found your way to this page, there is probably a reason.
Perhaps you feel overwhelmed, stuck, or exhausted from trying to hold everything together. Perhaps anxiety or stress are taking their toll. Or perhaps you simply sense that something within you is asking for more space, more clarity, or a different way of being.
You don’t have to navigate that alone.
My work offers a space where you can slow down, explore what is happening within you, and begin reconnecting with the steadiness and wisdom that already exist within your system.
Healing doesn’t mean becoming someone new.
Often it means gently returning to who you have always been beneath the layers of stress, pressure and survival.
And it would be a privilege to support you on that journey.
💬 Book a free 30-minute discovery call
Here’s some things that I believe in
EVOLUTION
I believe in shifting, learning and evolving emotionally,
physically and spiritually.
MINDFULNESS
THROUGH BODY
I teach not only seated meditation practices but also how to be present in movement and how to awake the body’s intuitive intelligence.
COMMUNITY
I believe everyone benefits from being part of a community to have fun, relax, and connect with like minded people.
COMPASSION
I honour the importance of being compassionate and loving with myself, others and the world around me.
HAVING FUN
I hope to create a fun, light-hearted and enjoyable experience for everyone who works with me.
Qualifications
Yoga and Movement
Yoga Teacher Training 200hr: Centered Yoga, Koh Samui, Thailand (August 2016)
Special Yoga Teacher Training: Special Yoga for Special Children (July 2017)
Special Yoga Teacher Training: Teaching Yoga and Mindfulness to Children (December 2018)
YogaCampus: Teaching Yin Yoga: Minds, Meridians, Moments, 5 day training with Norman Blair (July 2019)
8 week course in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction from Manchester MIND (September 2019)
Special Yoga for Vulnerable Young People with Special Yoga (October 2019)
Total Yoga Nidra Immersion Experience Online with Yoga Nidra Network (March 2020)
Trauma Therapy Manchester: Trauma Training for Yoga Teachers (September 2020)
Workshop: Inflammation’s role in anxiety, depression, chronic pain + suffering - and what we can do about it with Bo Forbes (October 2020)
Yoga Medicine - Online Training Tuition - Women's Health Immersion (August 2020)
Yoga Medicine - Nervous System & Restorative Yoga Teacher Training | Online
50 Hour Teacher Training Course for Shake the Dust with Authentic Flow and Satu Tuomela (September 2021)
100 hour Teacher Training Course - Depth - with Authentic Flow and Satu Tuomela
50 hour Teacher Training Course for Embodied Yin with Satu Tuomela
Somatics - Somatic cueing and space holding for yoga/movement teachers with Satu Tuomela
The Embody Lab - Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy Certificate
Academic
BA Hons in Combined Studies, Psychology and French
(Newcastle University)
MEd in Psychology of Education
(University of Manchester)
DAppPsyEd Doctorate of Applied Educational Psychology
(University of Nottingham)
Coaching Qualifications
Certified Intuitive Coach with The Caroline Britton Intuitive Coaching Academy (August 2021)
Professional bodies
Registered with the Health and Care Professions Council

