ENTER AS YOU ARE
For deep self-connection, expanded capacity, and more authentic sustainable ways of living, loving, leading and relating.
From stress, anxiety, burnout, chronic illness, and ADHD to all things relationships, intimacy, grief, identity, self-worth, self-efficacy, expression, purpose & leadership.
WORKING WITH
INDIVIDUALS
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COUPLES & FAMILIES
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GROUPS & TEAMS
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COACH, CONSULTANT
& SOMATIC PRACTITIONER
Hello, I am Essena!
My work sits at the intersection of somatic and cognitive modalities, supporting people across interconnected areas of life including emotional experience, identity, psychological and physical health, relationships, intimacy, communication, leadership, and self-connection.
I work with the patterns, protections, conflicts, emotions, relational dynamics, and internal worlds that shape how we live, relate, love, work, and move through life.
Together, we explore not only what is happening on the surface, but also the deeper emotional, relational, behavioural, and nervous system patterns underneath it.
I CONSULT, I COACH, BUT I AM A HUMAN BEING FIRST.
I know what it is to navigate challenge, disconnection, change, uncertainty, and the ongoing work of building, repairing and reshaping our relationship with ourselves, with life, and with the people we love — across time.
Like many people, I’ve lived through periods of fragmentation, adaptation, loss, health struggles, rupture, grief, anxiety, fear, shame, and profound internal and relational conflict — alongside moments of joy, connection, passion, love, meaning, discovery, and deep aliveness too.
Again and again, life has asked me to meet myself differently.
To build a relationship with parts of myself I either didn’t fully understand yet, or felt afraid to let in.
To navigate what happens when the body changes, when relationships change or break down, when identity shifts, when coping strategies stop working, and when life does not unfold the way you imagined it would.
None of it happened all at once.
It happened slowly, in layers, across time, relationships, experiences, losses, decisions, and new understandings.
And that process continues.
MY COMMITMENT
My connection and commitment to this work comes from more than lived experience alone, and began long before I started my education and training.
In fact for as long as I can remember, I’ve been deeply attuned to people, relationships, emotion, behaviour, conflict, patterns, and the spaces between what is felt, expressed, misinterpreted, hidden, protected, and wanted deep down.
I’ve always been drawn toward understanding, toward repair, resolve and cultivation, toward bridging disconnection and misunderstanding, and toward what helps people come back into relationship with themselves, and with one another.
It can be painful, beautiful, confronting, connective, messy... And it all matters.
FUN FACTS
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I love and ride motorcycles.
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I take sanctuary in the wild places - ocean waves, soft sand beneath me, forests, mountains, lakes, waterfalls.
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My love affair with music is deep and real, I am given life and moved by so many genres and instruments, although guitar and drums light up my body & soul, always have always will.
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I'm a major self-talker, out loud and body processor. If it's not dance and movement, it's talking and singing.
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I treat green tea-making like a sacred ritual.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
RELATIONSHIP WITH SELF
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Self-worth struggles (e.g. feeling like something is wrong with you, inadequate, unloveable)
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Identity (e.g. difficulty knowing who you are, experiencing multiple and contradictory parts of yourself)
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Internal conflict from competing parts of yourself
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Sense of self influenced by others (e.g. becoming like a chameleon around different people)
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Shame
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Self-criticism and harsh inner dialogue
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Difficulty believing in yourself and feeling confident
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Perfectionism and pressure to get things 'right'
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Self-abandonment (e.g. neglecting your own needs, feelings, boundaries, desires)
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People-pleasing and over-adapting or contorting for others
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Boundary challenges (e.g. difficulty saying no, going against your own instincts and needs due to fears, over giving, opening up before you're ready / wanting to)
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Emotional overwhelm and difficulty regulating emotions
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Difficulty trusting your own judgment, instincts, intuition, decisions or actions.
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Expression (e.g. hiding yourself in subtle, big & literal ways, fear of being seen, difficulty speaking up or taking up space)
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Disconnection from your body
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Body image difficulties (self-monitoring, shame, and feeling self conscious about your appearance, or difficulty adjusting to changes occurring with age, hormones, illness, or past experiences)
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Sexuality and sensuality
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Disconnection from your needs, desires & what matters to you
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Authenticity struggles (e.g. difficulty being fully yourself)
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Emotional disconnection or avoidance
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Repetitive emotional, cognitive, and behavioural patterns
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Maladaptive schemas, beliefs, fears & behaviours (e.g. defectiveness, abandonment, dependence, failure)
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Hyper-independence, difficulty trusting and relying on others.
RELATIONSHIP
WITH PARTNER
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Emotional intimacy
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Physical intimacy
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Sexual intimacy
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Attachment dynamics
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Trust
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Vulnerability
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Communication difficulties (e.g. expressing needs, difficult conversations, feeling misunderstood)
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Conflict & recurring arguments
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Boundaries
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Emotional disconnection
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Relationship anxiety
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Fear of intimacy
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Fear of commitment
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Fear of abandonment
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Fear of rejection
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Fear of losing yourself
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Jealousy
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Resentment
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Unmet needs
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Emotional avoidance
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Repetitive relational patterns and dynamics (e.g. pursuer / withdrawer)
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Rupture & repair
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Authentic connection
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Difficulty navigating difference (e.g. different needs, communication styles, nervous systems, ways of processing, cultures)
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Impact / strain from previous realtionship wounds, including sexual trauma.
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Grief & loss
RELATIONSHIPS WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS
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Family dynamics & friendship dynamics
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Emotional distance or disconnection
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Conflict & relational tension
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Communication difficulties (e.g. expressing needs, difficult conversations, feeling unheard or misunderstood)
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Boundaries with family or friends (e.g. overgiving, doing all the emotional labour, responsibility, enmeshment, saying yes when you don't want to)
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Caretaking roles & feeling responsible for others
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People-pleasing
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Difficulty expressing needs or feelings
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Lack of emotional safety (e.g feeling unseen, unheard, unsupported, misunderstood, or experiencing hurtful communication / behaviour from others)
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Longstanding relational patterns
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Intergenerational patterns & family conditioning
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Family misunderstandings around ADHD, chronic illness, or mental / physical health
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Guilt, shame, or obligation within relationships
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Grief from loss of unresolved hurt and ruptures that have not been repaired
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Trust & emotional intimacy
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Belonging, connection & authenticity
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Navigating changing relationships, distance, or life transitions
STRESS, ANXIETY & NERVOUS SYSTEM HEALTH
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Anxiety (e.g. social anxiety, health anxiety, relationship anxiety, BDD, OCD, obsessive thinking, chronic worry)
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Chronic stress
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Burnout
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Emotional overwhelm
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Hypervigilance at home when alone / when around other people at home / out in social situations
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Panic & panic attacks
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Nervous system dysregulation
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Survival states (fight, flight, freeze, fawn)
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Shutdown, numbness, or dissociation (and even losing chunks of time)
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Emotional regulation difficulties
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Using coping strategies to manage stress, emotions, emptiness, or overwhelm (e.g. food, binge watching things, sex, scrolling on social media, overworking, over exercising, alcohol or other substances)
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Feeling unsafe in your body
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Restlessness or difficulty slowing down
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Chronic tension & bracing
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Difficulty resting or switching off
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Over-functioning & constantly pushing through
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Exhaustion & depletion
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Difficulty feeling present or grounded
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Stress responses impacting relationships, work, or daily life
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Difficulty self-regulating or accessing co-regulation
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Difficulty accessing sensations, calm, joy, pleasure, or full range of aliveness
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Living in survival mode
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Getting sick more often and prolonged recovery
ADHD &
CHRONIC HEALTH CHALLENGES
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ADHD
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Chronic illness (e.g. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome)
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Chronic pain (e.g. Fibromyalgia)
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Executive functioning difficulties (e.g. focus, motivation organisation, follow-through, task paralysis, decision fatigue)
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Sensory overwhelm
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Inconsistency
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Pacing & capacity
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Burnout cycles
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Emotional sensitivity
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Nervous system sensitivity
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Impulsivity, risk taking and safety
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Emotional intensity and reactivity, finding it hard to self-regulate.
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Masking, numbing, and other coping strategies that don't help in the long run
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Shame around functioning
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Self-criticism
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Self-efficacy
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Self-esteem
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Identity beyond your health
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Feeling misunderstood
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Communication challenges
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Oversharing
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Boundaries
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Difficulty knowing and expressing needs
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Difficulty navigating fluctuating capacity
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Difficulty asking for / receiving help
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Difficulty maintaining routines & responsibilities
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Relationship / family strain
WORK,
PURPOSE &
LEADERSHIP
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Workplace relationships, dynamics & conflict
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Communication difficulties (e.g. speaking up, difficult conversations, giving or receiving feedback, being clear without over-explaining)
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Leadership pressure & responsibility
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Imposter syndrome
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Self doubt, with difficulty making and trusting your decisions
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Perfectionism
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Over-functioning
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Burnout
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Boundary struggles (e.g. saying no, over-giving, availability, workload, emotional labour, blurred roles)
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Fear of failure
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Fear of disapointing others
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Feeling a lack of purpose or direction
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Misalignment with values
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Navigating ambition, performance, levelling-up, and success
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Discomfort or lack of confidence with visibility (e.g. being seen, taking up space, sharing your work, being recognised)
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Difficulty expressing yourself authentically within work or leadership
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Difficulty switching off
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Difficulty delegating and trusting your team
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Difficulty creating a work-life balance
How it works
THE 4 EASY STEPS
1.
We start with connection and discovery in a complimentary 60-minute call, just you and me. This is an open, curious, no-pressure space to tune in to the things you care about and long for, any challenges you are experiencing, and how coaching and working with me can help you personally. It's also a beautiful opportunity to get a feel for my energy and approach, and see if we are a good fit.
2.
CONTAINER CHOICE
Once you've decided you feel a resonance and wish to work with me, we discuss my 3 / 6 / 9 /12 month containers. From there you simply select the coaching container you want to commit to, and we set up payment. Then we will move through the on-boarding process, in preparation for our first session.
3.
WEEKLY 1:1 COACHING
You meet with me weekly for 1-hour sessions. Through consistent exploration, compassionate supportive strategies, expression and practices, transformation takes root in your body, and naturally unfolds in your life and relationships.
Together we co-create a flexible, living road map, aligned with you, your values, desires and goals. One that also honours your unique rhythms, includes your body and nervous-system, and builds your capacities.
4.
ONGOING SUPPORT
You'll have the option for check-ins and email support, offering you continued support, guidance, reflections, tools and resources. To help you integrate and move through things that arise, in and outside of our sessions - in situations, relationships, moments and challenges.
Stay inspired!
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A closer, more personal window into the work — how I actually see and move through things in real time, across client work and my own life.
And occasionally, I’ll share ways you can work with me or join something I’m offering.