Welcome to Safe Space Counselling
"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are".
- Carl Yung
Welcome, and thank you for visiting Safe Space Counselling.
My name is Amy Armitage, I’m a qualified and accredited Counsellor and Psychotherapist based in Lymm, Warrington near Altrincham and Knutsford.
I offer in-person or online sessions and work with adults. I use various therapeutic modalities such as Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Compassion Focussed Therapy (CFT) and Mindfulness techniques specifically tailored to your individual needs.
My Approach
My strength as a counsellor is in helping clients uncover and reprocess their traumas, no matter how big or small, so they can heal and move forward. By using evidence-based techniques, I support people to overcome their limiting beliefs by working through feelings of anxiety, guilt, shame, and anger. Clients often tell me that my balance of challenge and support is what helped them shift into finding better coping strategies for themselves. I commonly make great progress with clients who identify themselves as anxious, overthinkers, perfectionists, having low self-esteem/confidence issues and those who are avoidant/anxiously attached. Give me a call or send me an email so that we can talk about your experience and what brings you to counselling.
I offer 8-week courses in both EMDR and CBT/CFT. Click here for more information.
"I cannot recommend Amy highly enough. Not only did she help me through a rough patch but also gave me the tools to look after myself in the future. She works in a calm manner but is never afraid to challenge when needed. Highly recommended." - JD
EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) is a comprehensive psychotherapy technique that helps you process and recover from past experiences that affect your mental health and well-being. It is particularly effective for trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and distressing life events that continue to impact your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours.
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EMDR incorporates eye movements or body tapping to help desensitise overwhelming memories or ‘sticky’ emotions such as grief, anger, guilt, or shame. By engaging both sides of the brain, EMDR enables you to reprocess painful experiences in a way that reduces their emotional intensity. Over time, memories that once felt overwhelming become more manageable, allowing you to respond to life with greater clarity and confidence.
This technique can also reduce the distress of negative images, flashbacks, or nightmares and even eliminate trauma-related bodily sensations. Many people report feeling a profound sense of relief after EMDR, as it allows them to move forward without being weighed down by past experiences. Unlike traditional talk therapy, EMDR works directly with the brain’s natural ability to heal, making it particularly effective when previous therapy hasn’t fully resolved deep-rooted issues.
If you’ve had talking therapy before but feel like it wasn’t quite enough, EMDR could be the next step in your healing journey. EMDR at Safe Space Counselling can be delivered as an 8-week course, offering a structured yet flexible approach to help you process and release emotional burdens, so you can live with greater ease and resilience. If this is something you’re interested in, please get in touch.
CBT & CFT
Both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) & Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) focus on equipping you with the tools you need to relieve the symptoms you’re facing. CBT looks to change the unhelpful thought patterns which fuel negative feelings and behaviours, whereas Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) takes this a step further by using self-compassion to resolve the root cause of those feelings.
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Often these feelings are the driving forces behind other mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. Both Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) & Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) focus on equipping you with the tools you need to relieve the symptoms you’re facing. CBT looks to change the unhelpful thought patterns which fuel negative feelings and behaviours, whereas Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) takes this a step further by using self-compassion to resolve the root cause of those feelings. Often these feelings are the driving forces behind other mental health conditions like anxiety, depression and low self-esteem. What makes compassion-focused therapy different is that it looks at helping you consciously develop your ability to be more compassionate towards both yourself, and others. The goal is to use compassionate awareness, mindfulness and self-soothing techniques to regulate the nervous system to improve mental and physical health. These approaches can be particularly helpful with low self-esteem, overthinking, rumination and self-critical inner dialogues. CBT/CFT at Safe Space Counselling can be delivered as an 8-week course. If this is something you’re interested in, please click here or get in touch.
Mindfulness & De-stress
Our modern-day way of living can be fraught and stressful, causing our bodies to be in a constant state of tension. If left unresolved, the impact of chronic stress can range from lacking patience with others to becoming seriously ill and eventually burning out.
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In therapy, we can focus on understanding your fight/flight response, so you learn how to regulate your own nervous system. Mindfulness, meditation, and visualisations are proven techniques to help slow down our reactions so we can make conscious choices more aligned with our values.
Additionally, breathwork, progressive muscle relaxation, and guided imagery can deepen your ability to shift from stress to calm. By incorporating these techniques, you can develop greater emotional resilience, improve sleep quality, and restore a sense of balance.
Stress can show up in many ways—physical tension, difficulty concentrating, emotional overwhelm, or even feelings of disconnection. By working together, we can find practical ways to integrate relaxation techniques into your daily routine, helping you feel more grounded, present, and in control. Small, consistent changes can have a profound impact on your overall well-being, allowing you to navigate life’s challenges with greater ease.
With regular practice, these techniques can help you cultivate a deep sense of inner peace, reducing anxiety and enhancing your ability to cope with pressure. You’ll learn to respond to challenges with clarity rather than react from a place of stress, creating lasting positive change in your daily life. If this is something you’re interested in, please click here or get in touch.
Issues I Help With
People come to me for help a wide range of problems. Here are the areas I specialise in:
Anxiety
Depression/low mood
Trauma
Low confidence/self-esteem
Stress/burnout
Bullying
Suicidal thoughts
Bereavement
Family issues (including the effects of self-absorbed parenting)
Relationship issues
Anger
Insecure attachment styles
Domestic abuse (including coercive control and gaslighting)
Unhelpful thoughts (rumination, negative self-talk, overthinking)
Unhelpful behaviour (avoidance, 'self-sabotaging', people pleasing)
Loneliness
Frequently Asked Questions
I offer a 20-minute FREE telephone or zoom consultation. This is a good opportunity to ask each other questions and find out if we're a good match. It’s important you feel comfortable with your counsellor or psychotherapist, so the consultation is there for you to assess if you can work with me.
I offer three types of counselling: sessions can be carried out either online via the secure platform Zoom; over the telephone, if preferred or in-person at my private practice based in Cheshire. Libertas Therapy Ltd, 47 Mill Lane, Lymm WA13 9SG.
Taking the first step is often the hardest. But we take time building our therapeutic relationship, so you can go at your own pace to explore issues, achieve personal growth and lasting change. I tailor our counselling to suit your specific needs and offer a warm, safe and non-judgmental space enabling you to talk openly and freely.
In our first session I talk about the process of therapy and what’s involved. If you wish, you can tell me about the reason you’re considering counselling and what you’d like to achieve from your sessions. If you’re happy to continue with therapy, our time will be spent listening to and understanding each other. It’s your opportunity to speak freely in a safe space where you won’t be judged. You will be invited to talk about your problems, your history, your needs and wishes, your personal circumstances and how your current difficulties affect your life. Primarily, you will lead the sessions. But if I sense you might benefit from any therapy interventions, such as compassionate mind training or art therapy, I will offer these choices. I adapt and create a working style that is unique to you.
If you decide to opt for an 8-week course, then sessions will be formatted after our first session (needs expanding)
Therapy is unique for everyone so that means the duration varies; it’s also dependent on the nature of your issues. Some clients find a few sessions is enough to help them through a temporary difficulty. Yet others may require longer to resolve more complex issues. During our first session, I work with you to establish your therapeutic goals which we review along the way, until you feel ready to end the sessions.
Face-to-face sessions cost £65.00 for 50 minutes and online sessions via zoom cost £55.00 for 50 minutes. Please see my services and fees page for more information.
No, not unless you wish to tell them. Your sessions will not be on your medical records, and you are not obliged to tell your GP.
Get in touch via email amy@safe-space-counselling.com or call 07852 686862. I will respond within 24 hours to schedule a convenient time for an initial FREE 20-minute telephone consultation. I can explain my approach to counselling and how it works. It’s also a great opportunity for you to ask me questions, talk about what brings you to therapy and what your goals might be. If I feel I can help you and you want to collaborate, we book your first appointment. This appointment is slightly longer than the standard 50-minute session as it is a more in-depth assessment.
Everything you discuss with me during our sessions is completely confidential. There are some exceptions to this where I am obliged to break confidentiality: if you disclose involvement in or knowledge of any criminal activities or if there is a safeguarding issue that you or any adult or child related to you could potentially be under threat of harm or abuse. Or if you are involved in terrorism or money laundering.
Get In Touch
Get in touch via email amy@safe-space-counselling.com, fill out the form below or call 07852 686862. I will respond within 24 hours to schedule a convenient time for an initial FREE 20-minute telephone consultation. All contact is strictly confidential.
I am based in Lymm, Warrington within easy reach of Altrincham and Knutsford.