Feel calmer and safer inside
Helping people experiencing stress or chronic pain feel calmer and safer inside
Practical, evidence-based counselling and mindfulness-based support
Especially for people who care for children and others, and people living with chronic pain
Living with chronic pain, stress, or the responsibility of caring for others when you’re overwhelmed is not easy.
Your body might feel like it’s working against you — pain and fatigue making even simple things feel difficult.
Your mind might feel like it’s in overdrive — like there are too many tabs open and not enough time or space to close them
Your emotions might feel harder to manage — anxiety, irritability, sleeplessness, sadness, frustration, or fear can feel like they’re taking over.
At times, it can all feel relentless, exhausting, and unfair.
And you may find yourself reacting in ways you that don’t reflect who you are or how you want to show up.
You’re not alone, support is available.
Welcome, my name is Sophie Banks
I’m a registered counsellor, meditation teacher, and child safeguarding professional with over 20 years’ experience working across children, families, and education systems.
At Inner Safeguarding, I support people living with chronic pain, chronic stress, and overwhelm through counselling, meditation, and practical nervous system-informed support.
This includes people managing ongoing pain conditions, as well as people who care for children who are under significant pressure, either at home or at work.
My background spans law, policy, mediation, and education and capacity-building roles, including private practice, government, and education settings. Much of this work involved supporting people through complex, emotionally intense situations involving stress, pressure, and relational conflict.
This led me to design and facilitate wellbeing programs focused on emotional regulation and practical strategies for working with high levels of stress.
Having lived experience of burnout, separation, chronic stress, and chronic pain, I understand how difficult it can be when you feel overwhelmed but are still expected to keep going.
Through Inner Safeguarding, I help people reduce the impact of chronic stress and chronic pain, strengthen emotional regulation, and increase their capacity to cope with difficulty.
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![Cartoon illustration of a cute blue blobby character feeling overwhelmed with hands over eyes, stressed facial expression, and little yellow squiggly lines around body to indicate stress.]()
Stress.
When life’s pressures won’t let up, or exceed your capacity to cope, it can feel overwhelming
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![Cartoon illustration of a cute yellow blobby character lying down on its side with bad back pain, resting head on wrist, knees curled up, sad facial expression, crying.]()
Chronic Pain.
When you’re in constant physical pain, it impacts every aspect of your life and can feel hopeless
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![Cartoon illustration of a cute blue blobby character feeling stressed-out with hands over its ears, upset facial expression and little yellow lightning bolts above its head. On the ground next to the character is a smashed mug.]()
Emotional regulation.
When you’re running on empty, little things can feel enormous and tip you over the edge
“You can’t control the waves, but you can learn how to surf.”
— Jon Kabat-Zim
Are you experiencing any (or all) of these symptoms?
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Feeling emotionally exhausted, overwhelmed or emotionally low (i.e. running on empty)
Feeling “on edge” (e.g. getting snappy or teary or reactive with children)
Struggling to relax or be still, to fall asleep, stay asleep or wake up
Overthinking, ruminating (getting stuck on a problem) and feeling anxious
Feeling like there are too many tabs open in your brain
Finding it hard to prioritise self-care and healthy habits
Over-consuming (food, alcohol, drugs, shopping, social media etc.)
Under-consuming (healthy food, water)
Losing your self-confidence, self-belief, self-trust - including as a caregiver
Losing the desire to socialise, feeling like it’s too hard
Experiencing physical aches, pains (e.g. stomach, chest, or head)
Noticing changes to your libido, skin, hair quality
Getting sick more often
Generally feeling stuck, frozen, or longing for a major escape or change
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Experiencing persistent physical pain (lasting 3+ months), with or without a diagnosis
Struggling to cope with diminished function, abilities, caregiving
Feeling scared, lonely, frustrated, anxious or worried about the future
Worried about yourself and how this is affecting your children
Looking for solutions, or to better understand your experience
Constantly monitoring, analysing or researching your symptoms, their cause
Having difficulty coping, asking for help, getting help or finding hope
Feeling frequent irritation, annoyance, anger, frustration due to the pain
Experiencing guilt, shame, self-blame about the impact on others including children
Comparing yourself to other caregivers, feeling less than
Putting pressure on yourself, judging yourself harshly
Feeling disempowered, invalidated, unseen, unsupported, misunderstood
At the point where pain is dominating your life, and it’s hard to see a way out
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Behaving in ways you don’t like or want around children
Finding even small things overwhelm you, leading to a big reaction
Feeling hijacked by intense emotions
Experiencing feelings guilt or shame, wanting to be different
Trying to be different, but intense emotions keep taking over
Getting disappointed and finding it hard to “bounce back” or stay positive
Feeling like you a stuck in a cycle of reactivity and guilt
Trying (unsuccessfully) to avoid situations that trigger you
Finding it hard to make decisions, feeling overwhelmed by options
Resonating with any of the symptoms for stress and or pain (both of which impact regulation)
Generally struggling to show up in a way that reflects who you really are and how you want to be as a caregiver
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![Cartoon illustration of a cute blue blobby character floating in the air in a blissful state.]()
Find Calm.
Let’s work together to navigate life’s challenges, regulate your baseline state, and cultivate calm and life balance.
Identify your life stressors, as well as your stress signature and set some realistic goals for meaningful, values aligned change. Recalibrate your nervous system towards peace and calm.
In-power yourself with practical, evidence-based strategies to reduce stress and expand your window of tolerance.
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![Cartoon illustration of a cute yellow blobby character standing with one hand on heart, feeling happy and peaceful.]()
Reduce Pain.
Let’s work together to validate your pain experience, leverage pain science to your full advantage and increase your sense of inner safety.
Identify your available resources, honour your emotions, apply evidence-based strategies and set manageable goals to slowly but surely feel safer inside.
In-power yourself with knowledge, tools and self-compassion to create a new relationship with pain and reclaim your life.
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![Cartoon illustration of a cute blue blobby character holding a broom smiling while looking down at a smashed cup on the floor..]()
Increase Coping.
Let’s work together to fill up your tank, so you feel resourced to respond to life’s challenges.
Identify your triggers in a judgment-free, supportive environment. Practice self-compassion and learn practical techniques to increase your ability to respond mindfully rather than react.
In-power yourself with evidence-based strategies to find calm and share safety - even on those hard days.
Inner Safeguarding provides a safe, judgment-free space to be seen and heard, learn evidence-based techniques, set achievable goals and reclaim your life!
Get support tailored to your specific needs
Appointments Available Now -
Appointments Available Now -
I offer compassionate, judgment free 1:1 support and practical strategies tailored specifically to your needs, designed to achieve your goals while increasing your sense of inner safety and calm
Inner Safeguarding offers workshops to ‘in-power’ people who work with children, equipping you with personalised tools and skills to show up as your best possible self - every day.
Support for staff at your organisation
Workplace Workshops -
Workplace Workshops -
Enquire about tailored sessions for staff.
Workplace workshops in-power staff with a tool-kit of practical strategies to find calm and share safety with children and young people.
“When you get the inside right, the outside falls into place”
— Eckhart Tolle