Laura’s of a mind to help Brain therapist puts own struggle to use
A Stirling divorcee has found a new lease of life by following a fresh career path.
Laura Steventon has become a Brain Working Recursive Therapy (BWRT) practitioner and clinical psycho-hypnotherapist to help others who are letting age and chronic stress from life challenges determine their self-worth.
The 41-year-old was living in South Africa when she met her now ex-husband, who is English.
Laura moved back to the UK within six months of meeting him and after eight years of knowing one another they settled down in Oxford and married in 2015.
She said: “An issue in marriage is that people believe they no longer have to date, the romantic spontaneity is gone.
“We discussed that I wanted to start a family and four years of trying took a heavy toll on our relationship. We finally got our dream but sadly experienced a miscarriage and he later lost his job which ultimately left him depressed and terribly unhappy.
“We would always spend time every three months or so talking about how to save our marriage but ultimately it was over. Neither of us were happy.”
Inspired by the Howard Thurman quote, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive”, Laura knew she needed to leave her husband.
When she eventually moved out to live with a friend for 10 months, Laura started to rebuild her life.
She said: “Mel Robbins’ book ‘Stop Saying You’re Fine’ triggered me to change my life. I started going to the gym, walking every day and eating better.
“The day I truly took back my power was actually on international happiness day. I cut my hair into a graduated bob like I’d once had in my 20s and I felt amazing. It was a mark of here I am, this is my new beginning.”
Untethered to anyone else, Laura wanted to do something solely for herself. Previously retrained in 2012 as a clinical hypnotherapist, Laura decided to put her own re-invention to use and trained in brain working recursive therapy in June 2020.
She said: “It is a modern form of psychotherapy that works on rewiring the brain to move us from a state that we don’t want to be in such as anxiety, low self-worth, deep-seated fear or trauma to a state we’d rather be in which differs for everyone.
“I learnt about how to resolve issues that I’d personally gone through, like how chronic stress impacts the way you feel and how it affects the quality of relationships. I trained continuously until I felt confident enough to set up my business online whilst living with my friend.”
Laura has since moved back home to Stirling to return to her family, continuing to work as an online telehealth therapist, and has since opened her own stress management therapy clinic, where she helps numerous middleaged people with reclaiming their sense of self and their quality of life.
She said: “The majority of my clients are 40-plus years old and I spend my life talking about the societal rules I was once so worried about. Getting the house with the white picket fence, having the 2.5 kids, being in a perfect marriage.
“But there is no set plan, life is not linear. I spend a long time with my clients unpicking the impacts of stories, religion and movies with false expectations – there is a fantastic life to live even without ticking those society standard boxes.
“I believe that everybody has this tiny little spark of fire within them and through life challenges it constantly gets dimmed or put out. That’s how I felt inside but because I managed to relight my own I wanted to put the light back on in other people’s eyes. It brings me joy to see people make empowered decisions.
“I’ve never been happier, my whole life has changed. From last June to this June, I’m a completely different person. I’ve done a lot of personal work and removed my own anxieties to now be able to help others.”