A woman sitting cross-legged on the floor with a blanket, surrounded by musical and meditation equipment in a cozy, decorated space with candles and plants.

Regulation Sessions 

For Stress, Overwhelm and Emotional Resilience

Regulation Sessions are gentle, nervous-system-led sessions that help people feel more grounded and resourced, especially during periods of pressure or change. They work well in corporate settings, festivals, yoga studios or online, and can be woven into the day before work, at lunch, or at the end of the day, to offer a moment of settling and reset. 

While therapy helps us understand why we do what we do, Regulation Sessions focus on how we support ourselves in the moment, especially when life feels demanding, uncertain or emotionally full. Each session is creative and tailored to your specific needs and offers a variety of tools that you can take away with you. 

When stress hits - deadlines, conflict, pressure, change -  our nervous system often shifts into fight, flight, freeze or shutdown. In these states, thinking narrows, communication becomes harder, and we’re more likely to react than respond.

Regulation Sessions are designed to help with that.

Using gentle but effective, nervous-system-led practices, these sessions support you to build a felt sense of grounding and safety in your body. Over time, this creates internal resources you can return to when things feel wobbly, rather than being hijacked by unruly stress responses.

By practising regulation before we need it, we strengthen our capacity to return to balance, stay present under pressure, and relate more openly with others. This work supports self-regulation,  so we’re better able to co-regulate, connect and respond with intention rather than impulse. 

Find Out More

What The Sessions Do

Through guided, experiential, fun and functional practices, participants learn how to:

  • shift out of fight, flight, freeze or shutdown

  • build nervous system flexibility, capacity and resilience

  • notice early signs of activation before overwhelm takes over

  • support emotional regulation and impulse control

  • strengthen co-regulation, communication and relational safety

  • stay grounded during pressure, uncertainty and conflict

Rather than trying to eliminate stress, the focus is on building a felt sense of safety and internal support — so there’s more choice in how we respond, even when things are hard.

People participating in a yoga or meditation session inside a large, beige fabric yurt, with two women speaking at the front and participants sitting or lying on yoga mats.

The Science Behind It

Regulation Sessions use psychotherapeutic and body-based approaches to help you feel calmer, more grounded, and in control. They focus on:

  • Supporting your body and mind to settle when stress or overwhelm arises

  • Practising techniques that help you recover more easily after activation

  • Building resilience and flexibility in your emotional and physical responses

Activities are chosen to help:

  • Reduce stress responses

  • Support the body’s natural ability to self-regulate

  • Improve recovery after tense or activating moments

These sessions draw on somatic principles, highlighting how your nervous system learns safety through experience, helping your body understand it can relax, and giving you tools to return to calm more easily next time. Plus, they're pretty fun!

What To Expect

Each session is carefully facilitated and can include:

  • Practical nervous system regulation tools

  • Body-based and not-so-embarrassing somatic practices (less woo woo - more stuff that works)

  • Breath, sound, rhythm, and guided awareness

  • Fun techniques to discharge stress and tension from the body

  • Space to ground, integrate, and reconnect

Sessions typically run 30–90 minutes and are adapted for the group, setting, and context. Get in touch to discuss more of what you want.

They can be delivered:

  • Before work: build capacity and start the day feeling grounded

  • At lunchtime: a reset and recalibration to recharge your mind and body

  • At the end of the day: support transition, recovery, and unwinding

  • Within leadership, wellbeing, or training programmes: equip teams with tools to manage stress and build resilience

  • At yoga studios or wellness centres: integrate with existing body‑mind practices, or offer clients something new

  • At festivals or retreats: immersive sessions for grounding, relaxation, and emotional balance

  • In community or creative spaces: accessible sessions for connection and personal regulation

Two women sitting on a red and white checkered blanket in a fenced outdoor area, engaging in a conversation. One woman has her hair in a bun and is wearing a white sleeveless top, while the other has long brown hair and is dressed in black. Behind them, there is a pink towel with the text "self space, feel it all, wild ones" and an empty white director's chair.

Who It’s For

Regulation Sessions work particularly well for:

  • Businesses and leadership teams looking to improve focus, resilience, and wellbeing

  • High-pressure, fast-paced environments where stress and burnout are common

  • Creative, media, and people-facing roles seeking more balance and clarity

  • Educators, carers, and helping professionals who carry emotional load for others

  • Individuals and teams navigating uncertainty, change, or recovery from stress

  • Retreats, festivals, and community spaces offering immersive wellbeing experiences

  • Anyone wanting to feel more grounded, calm, and in control of their body and mind

Sessions are available in person or online, and can be tailored from professional and structured to more creative, exploratory, and experiential, making them suitable for both individuals and groups.

Why it matters

We can’t co-regulate with others if our own nervous system is overwhelmed.

Regulation Sessions give people the skills to stabilise internally, so they can think more clearly, communicate more effectively, and stay connected even under stress.

It’s about building the capacity to stay present, responsive, and human. And sessions can be really fun too! 

  • "As a workshop and training facilitator, she’s exceptional. Sophie can hold a group like a steady container, being warm, boundaries, and alive  while still tending to individual needs within it. She has that quiet authority that doesn’t need to announce itself. The room settles when she speaks, conversations naturally deepen, and people lean in rather than check out."

    — Lynsey Skinner, Dramatherapist, EMDR, and CBT Therapist

  • "I've worked with Sophie since 2023, facilitating workshops, leaders and mental health champions training as well as co-running supervision sessions for groups. Sophie is warm, professional, reflective and able to hold people and spaces with care and expert clinical skills. It's not so common to witness another therapist in what they do, and it's been inspiring to see how Sophie interacts with human beings with such authenticity, empathy and insight. Something I really appreciate with Sophie is she is totally real, present , and I see how people respond to that, they open up, they feel safe to do so. I have always felt so supported when working with Sophie - her integrity exceeds the therapy space. I often recommend 1:1 clients to her as I I know they are in totally safe hands."

    — Kate Hogan, Psychotherapist and Coach

  • "What truly sets Sophie apart is her ability to translate therapeutic theory into the real world without losing its integrity. Her workshops don’t just sound good on paper, they properly work. She blends clinical depth with lived experience so seamlessly it can look effortless. This is someone who understands the nervous system, relational dynamics, and psychological safety and knows how to make those ideas land in a way that actually changes how people think, feel, and act."

    — Lynsey Skinner, Dramatherapist, EMDR, and CBT Therapist

  • "Sophie holds space with such depth, care and robustness. She brings a sense of safety and groundedness in her presence and her general way of being, which creates space for exploration and growth. Her attention to detail and noticing what matters in a room and wider is also what makes her a great therapist and colleague.”

    — Nibarna Kannathasan, Clinical People Lead, Self Space

  • “Sophie combines genuine warmth with a focused, thoughtful approach. She creates a space that feels both safe and empowering, helping people build confidence, clarity and resilience on their path to growth and healing.”

    — Sarah Costas, Counsellor

  • “Sophie combines strong clinical knowledge with genuine warmth and care. She offers a truly non-judgemental space where clients feel safe, supported and confident they’re in good hands.”

    — Louise Seffron, Therapist

  • "Sophie is brilliant, she’s smart, creative, professional and understands what it means to be human. This comes across in all that she does. 5 stars from me!"

    — Jodie Cariss, CEO, Self Space

  • "Sophie brings a rare combination of warmth, steadiness, and depth to her therapeutic group delivery work. From the moment you meet her, there is a quiet confidence and genuine presence that helps people feel at ease. Her way of working is thoughtful, grounded, and deeply human. Sophie does not perform empathy or authenticity; she embodies them. She offers careful attention, emotional attunement, and a quality of contact that allows people to slow down, breathe more fully, and feel truly met. This creates a therapeutic space that feels both safe and alive....gentle at the edges, and solid at its core"

    — Anna Davis, Senior Psychoeducation Manager, Self Space

  • "Sophie is an amazing therapist who makes you feel safe and heard every step of the way. She brings into the space a sense of warmth and understanding that makes you feel like nothing you say is going to be judged or used against you, and she is an absolute dream to work with. Sophie takes to every task she does with passion and focus that leaves you feeling everything she does is important, and that you are never not a priority in her workspace."

    — Mitali Soni, Senior Clinician, Self Space

  • "I had the absolute pleasure of working alongside Sophie at Self Space and got to witness what a multitalented professional she is. Her gift with words sits beautifully alongside her clinical integrity and unwavering commitment to the betterment of humanity. Sophie is a thoroughly decent human being who I witnessed seeking growth, holding ground and being a compassionate space holder when needed."

    — Adam Laidler, Psychotherapist

  • "Sophie takes time to understand others and truly cares about connecting with and helping them. She has a beautifully calm presence and is genuinely interested in what others have to say. She's incredibly knowledgeable and kind, and it's a pleasure working with her."

    — Olivia Muir, Clinical Operations Lead, Self Space

  • "Sophie is a therapeutic counsellor who knows how to sit with what’s real. She doesn’t rush to fix, soften, or over-intellectualise. She listens properly. She tracks the room. She notices what’s said, and also what isn’t. People feel safe with her not because she’s vague or gentle for the sake of it, but because she’s precise, attuned, and deeply respectful of the work."

    — Lynsey Skinner, Dramatherapist, EMDR, and CBT Therapist

Bookings & Enquiries

To enquire about bookings, collaborations, or hosting Regulation Sessions in your space or online, please get in touch: sophie.okelly@live.com

Book A Call
Email