Coming to terms with my life..

I grew up in kind of a crazy household.

I can stand here now and tell this as a story. I was fortunate to find a teacher and guide who helped me walk from victim to survivor to a human being holding an intention to live in the moment, led by my heart. I came to terms with my life and now value it as my journey of learning.

Some background

Now let me back up a wee bit. Many people say they grew up in a crazy household, but with a manic-depressive mum, I mean it literally. On the one hand my mum did her best with the resources she had available. On the other hand, boy oh boy, she made some bad decisions!

My stepdad abused me and the abuse continued/intensified when Mum took my brother and I into a cult when I was 14. These events are painted onto a background of chaotic caring for mum. Our mission as kids was to protect her, to try and keep things stress free, relaxed, to make sure she didn’t end up in hospital.

I became supersensitive to signals of her going up or down or heading into psychosis. One day I came home to a cupboard stuffed full of sponges…rainbow packs that had pleased my mum’s eye. These sponges both heralded an upwards spiral and took us years to work through!

A lot of my childhood was scary. Uncertainty as to which mum was going to greet you at the door, or whether she was going to be there at all. Uncertainty as to who she would bring home or where she would be taking us next. Home was not necessarily a safe place to be.

Walking away

I was in my early 20’s when I walked away from the cult. At that point, all I wanted was to be “normal”. I spent much of my 20’s, and 30’s whitewashing or suppressing the experience of my childhood. I was the queen of being busy; the queen of the past is the past; the queen of thinking that my denial of its effects meant there had been no effects.

I played the role of “survivor”, “strong woman”, “sorted”, -- I was coping brilliantly…until my strategies started to fail. Memories began to resurface; I started experiencing panic attacks. I’d already been living with migraines and lower back pain for years and made no connection between these and the stress/trauma I was carrying.

My Journey of Change

I embarked on some intensive, often painful years of therapeutic counselling. My teacher taught me to lead from the heart not my mind. I came to terms with my past…I unhooked myself from perceptions and beliefs that no longer served me in the everyday.

Now I feel inspired to help others also walk this path knowing that my own experiences and subsequent training have given me safe hands to support others with understanding, compassion and no judgement. 

Leading from my heart and coming to terms

I’ve discovered that whatever your story is: past or present day, if you do not “come to terms” with it, then you get stuck in cycles of anger, hurt, sadness, grief, resentment which leaves you feeling anxious, broken somehow, feeling that you don’t belong.

My name is Emma Grant. I work with chronic worriers to become more present and grounded so that they can breathe more easily, stop over analysing and enjoy happier relationships with friends, family and themselves.

Unlike some other therapists who try to fix people via the mind, Heartfelt Change combines talking therapy with somatic experiences (eg breathwork or mindfulness) to shift the body, heart and mind.

I lead from my heart, for myself, my kids, my friends and my clients. Come join me.