Tired of Anxiety, Self-Criticism & Feeling "Never Good Enough"?
Integrative Psychotherapy & Nervous System Regulation
Westcliff-on-Sea & Online
Hi, I’m Mike Hanna — a qualified Integrative Psychotherapist and founder of Mike Hanna Therapy.
I specialise in supporting adults who feel overwhelmed by anxiety, guilt, perfectionism, and that relentless inner critic that never seems to switch off. Having navigated my own journey through burnout and recovery, I bring both professional expertise and genuine personal understanding to the work.
Using Transactional Analysis, somatic practices, and gentle nervous system regulation, I offer a warm, practical approach to help you feel calmer, clearer, and more at ease in yourself.
The Core Philosophy
Regulate First. Rewrite Your Story. Reconnect With What Matters.
Regulate
Calm the nervous system from the bottom up — so your body stops running on threat and your mind can finally think clearly.
Rewrite
Uncover the unconscious life scripts and old patterns keeping you stuck — and gently, powerfully begin to author a new story.
Reconnect
When we reconnect with our authentic self, life begins to feel richer, more grounded, and genuinely worth living..
At Mike Hanna Therapy, the work moves in two directions at once: bottom-up (body to brain — calming the physiology that keeps you locked in fight, flight, or freeze) and top-down (mind to life — reshaping the stories, beliefs, and choices that shape your world). Real, lasting change happens when both are working together.
About Mike Hanna
My Journey — From Holistic Roots to Integrative Psychotherapy
My journey into psychotherapy has been deeply personal and far from straightforward. After more than 20 years in the military aviation industry — including time based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia during the First Gulf War — I built a successful corporate IT career, leading large teams and managing multi-million-pound budgets. That high-pressure world taught me first-hand the devastating human cost of chronic stress, relentless performance demands, and eventual burnout.
Like so many others, I tried to manage rising anxiety and overwhelm through cycles of intense exercise and alcohol. What began as a way to unwind gradually became a serious addiction. I was hospitalised, labelled, prescribed medication, went through rehab, and engaged with 12-step programmes — yet nothing brought lasting change. These approaches focused almost exclusively on the symptoms while rarely addressing the deeper roots — the unresolved childhood trauma, the crushing low self-worth, and the nervous system that stayed stuck in survival mode, endlessly fuelling the anxiety.
Real transformation only began when I stopped focusing on what I didn’t want and started asking better questions. This shift led me into holistic healing and, eventually, integrative psychotherapy. Through my own recovery I discovered that lasting change requires three essential steps:
  • Regulate — Calm and rebalance the nervous system so the body feels safe.
  • Rewrite — Gently update the old stories, beliefs, and life scripts that keep us stuck.
  • Reconnect — Rebuild a compassionate relationship with our authentic self and our deepest needs.
I trained as a yoga teacher, energy worker, and massage therapist. I qualified in NLP and life coaching, and immersed myself in somatic practices, breathwork, trauma-informed bodywork, polyvagal theory, HeartMath®, and Heart Rate Variability training. I also made significant nutritional changes and published four books on wellbeing and personal transformation.
This lived experience — from the cockpit to the boardroom to the therapy room — now forms the heart of my work. I bring together clinical psychotherapy with somatic nervous system regulation and trauma-informed practices. Drawing on Transactional Analysis, Existential therapy, Human Givens, Person-Centred therapy, and body-based approaches, I support clients through the full process of Regulate • Rewrite • Reconnect.
My own journey taught me that real, lasting change happens when we move beyond symptom management and gently return to the wisdom of our authentic self. I understand what it feels like to sit in uncertainty, feel the pull of old patterns, and choose — again and again — to grow. I’m here to walk that path with you.
Credentials
My Training & Credentials
I bring over 20 years of continuous professional development across nervous system regulation, somatic practices, and integrative psychotherapy. My qualifications blend scientific understanding with holistic wisdom — creating a truly whole-person approach to change.
HeartMath Practitioner (2020)
Certified in the Foundations of Heart Rate Variability for nervous system coherence.
Wim Hof Method Fundamentals
Expertise in breathwork and cold exposure for resilience and vitality.
Cytoplan Nutritional Practitioner (2020)
Understanding the foundational role of nutrition in mental and physical health.
500-Hour Yoga Teacher & Yoga Therapy Training
In-depth knowledge of movement, mindfulness, and body awareness.
240-Hour ITM Thai Massage & Chi Nei Tsang
Specialised somatic bodywork for deep release and energetic balance.
NLP & Hypnotherapy Practitioner
Advanced tools for mindset shifts and unconscious pattern change.
NCPS Registered Integrative Psychotherapist
Committed to the highest standards of ethical, evidence-informed practice.
Additional training in advanced breathwork (Isha Yoga), business & performance coaching, and holistic bodywork underpins my integrative approach. Additional HRV Certifications: Foundations of Heart Rate Variability with EliteHRV Academy and CPD Certification with Parasym in understanding and applying Auricular Vagal Neuromodulation Therapy (AVNT) in Clinical Practice. I am a fully qualified and NCPS Registered Integrative Psychotherapist, practising in Southend-on-Sea and online across the UK. I am an RYT 500 Advanced Yoga Teacher and registered member of Yoga Alliance since 2017.
Private space
Your Private & Inviting Therapy Space
Step into a peaceful and welcoming therapy room, designed with comfort, safety, and meaningful exploration in mind.
Whether you’d like to settle in with a coffee, a cup of tea, or a glass of water, the space is created to help you feel immediately at ease. Alongside comfortable seating, you’ll find a treatment table, yoga mats, and cushions — giving us the flexibility to engage in talk therapy, somatic work, gentle movement, or nervous system regulation exercises, depending on what feels most helpful for you in each session.
Every element has been thoughtfully chosen to support a holistic, evidence-based approach to healing and self-discovery.
Location
Suite 1 (1st Floor)
50 Hamlet Court Road
Westcliff On Sea
Essex
SS0 7LX
07810645680
My Integrative Approach
Four Powerful Traditions. One Coherent Path Forward.
My work is grounded in an integrative approach that draws from several powerful therapeutic traditions to help you understand yourself more deeply and create lasting, meaningful change. At its core is the belief that we are not trapped by our past - we have the capacity to become aware, make conscious choices, and build a life that feels authentic and fulfilling.
Transactional Analysis
We explore your life script - the unconscious story begun in childhood, shaped by drivers ("be perfect," "please others") and injunctions ("don't succeed," "don't feel"). Once aware, you can gently rewrite it.
Existential Perspective
Drawing on Irvin Yalom's four givens - death, freedom, isolation, meaninglessness - we learn to face life's realities with courage, using them as a springboard for a more purposeful, intentional existence.
Human Givens
The nine essential emotional needs - security, autonomy, intimacy, meaning, and more - alongside your innate resources. When needs are met and resources used well, distress dissolves and resilience grows.
Person-Centred Foundation
Your unique subjective experience is the most important guide. I offer a safe, non-judgmental relationship - empathy, unconditional positive regard, genuine presence - allowing you to explore at your own pace.
Nervous System Regulation
Why Your Body Holds the Key to Change
Before the mind can rewrite its story, the body must first feel safe. Stress isn't just a feeling - it's a physiological state driven by ancient survival systems that were never designed for modern life. Understanding how your nervous system works is the first and most transformative step.
When the brain perceives threat - real or imagined - it triggers a cascade of responses that hijack thinking, feeling, and relating. Chronic stress keeps this system on high alert, eroding health, relationships, and quality of life. The good news? The nervous system is plastic. It can be retrained, regulated, and restored.
Nervous System Regulation
Polyvagal Theory: Your Body's States of Safety & Threat
Polyvagal Theory reveals how our nervous system constantly scans for cues of safety or danger, influencing our state of being. We navigate three core states, each impacting our thoughts, feelings, and ability to connect.
🟢 Ventral Vagal — SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT (Safety)
Calmness in connection · Settled · Groundedness · Curiosity/Openness · Compassionate · Mindful · Present · Safe, social connection and engagement
🟡 Sympathetic — FIGHT / FLIGHT (Danger)
Rage · Anger · Irritation · Frustration · Panic · Fear · Anxiety · Worry & Concern — Mobilised for movement away or toward threat. Hyperarousal state.
🔴 Dorsal Vagal — FREEZE (Life Threat)
Collapse · Immobility · Dissociation · Numbness · Depression · Shame · Hopelessness · Shut-Down · Raised pain threshold · Helplessness · Preparation for death · Trapped
"The Ventral Vagal Complex (VVC) is the beginning and end of stress response. Healthy regulation involves fluidly returning to this state of safety."
The Science of Stress
Fight, Flight & Freeze — Your Brain's Survival Wiring
The Threat Response
When you encounter a perceived danger, your amygdala - the brain's alarm centre - fires instantly, bypassing rational thought. Within milliseconds, your body mobilises for survival: heart rate surges, muscles tense, digestion halts, and stress hormones flood the bloodstream.
This is the fight-or-flight response, orchestrated by the sympathetic nervous system. In genuine danger, it saves lives. But when triggered repeatedly by work pressure, relationship conflict, financial worry, or even negative thoughts, it becomes the source of chronic suffering.
A third state - freeze - occurs when the threat feels inescapable. The system collapses inward: numbness, disconnection, fatigue, and shutdown. Many people living with trauma, depression, or burnout recognise this state well.
The Three Survival States
  • Fight — aggression, irritability, urgency, conflict
  • Flight — anxiety, avoidance, overthinking, restlessness
  • Freeze — numbness, shutdown, dissociation, fatigue
Common Triggers in Modern Life
  • Chronic work pressure and overload
  • Relationship and attachment stress
  • Financial uncertainty and insecurity
  • Rumination and negative self-talk
  • Poor sleep and physical depletion
The HPA Axis
The Stress Highway: Hypothalamus → Pituitary → Adrenal
The HPA axis (Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis) is your body's central stress-response system — a chemical highway that determines how much cortisol floods your system in times of threat. The hypothalamus detects stress and signals the pituitary gland, which in turn triggers the adrenal glands to release cortisol - the primary stress hormone.
What Cortisol Does
  • Raises blood sugar for immediate energy
  • Suppresses the immune system
  • Impairs memory consolidation and learning
  • Disrupts sleep architecture and quality
  • Narrows thinking to threat-focused patterns
Chronic Cortisol Elevation
  • Anxiety and persistent low mood
  • Weight gain, particularly around the abdomen
  • Inflammation and immune dysfunction
  • Cardiovascular strain over time
  • Burnout, exhaustion, and emotional blunting
The Vagus Nerve
Your Built-In Pathway to Calm
The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body — a two-way information superhighway running from your brainstem through your heart and lungs all the way to your gut. It is the primary nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system: your body's rest, digest, and restore system.
Crucially, around 80% of vagal fibres run upward — from body to brain — which means the fastest way to calm an activated nervous system is through the body, not through thinking alone. This is the scientific foundation of all bottom-up regulation work.
Vagal Tone
High vagal tone = greater capacity to recover from stress quickly, regulate emotions, and feel socially connected. Low vagal tone is associated with anxiety, depression, and inflammation.
Polyvagal Theory
Stephen Porges' landmark theory explains how the vagus nerve governs three states: safe and social, fight/flight mobilisation, and freeze/shutdown — and how to move between them intentionally.
What Activates the Vagus
Slow diaphragmatic breathing, cold exposure, humming, singing, social connection, gentle movement, and mindful body awareness all stimulate vagal activity and restore calm.
Practical Regulation Tools
Proven Techniques to Calm Your Nervous System
Regulation isn't something that happens to you — it's a skill you can develop. These evidence-based tools directly activate the parasympathetic nervous system, lower cortisol, and build long-term vagal tone. With practice, they become your first line of response rather than your last resort.
Extended Exhale Breathing
Breathe in for 4 counts, out for 6–8. The extended exhale activates the vagus nerve directly. Practice 5 minutes daily to build baseline calm and resilience.
Cold Exposure
Cold showers, cold water face immersion, or ice baths trigger a powerful vagal response. Even 30 seconds of cold water on the face activates the dive reflex and rapidly downregulates arousal.
Somatic Grounding
Feel your feet on the floor. Name five things you can see, four you can touch. Body-based grounding interrupts the amygdala's threat narrative and returns attention to the present moment.
Humming & Toning
The vagus nerve runs through the vocal cords. Humming, chanting, or even gargling creates vibration that directly stimulates vagal activity — a simple, accessible tool available anywhere.
Rhythmic Movement
Walking, gentle yoga, swimming, or dancing — rhythmic bilateral movement regulates the nervous system, integrates left and right brain hemispheres, and naturally reduces cortisol.
Safe Social Connection
Co-regulation — the calming effect of being with a safe, regulated person — is the most powerful nervous system tool of all. Humans are social mammals wired for connection above all else.
The Stress Cycle
From Chronic Stress to Genuine Wellbeing
Understanding your nervous system is only the beginning. The real work is building the capacity to complete the stress cycle — to move through activation and return to a regulated baseline with skill and self-compassion. Over time, this capacity becomes your new normal: a more resilient, resourced, and present version of yourself.

The body keeps the score — but the body also holds the solution. Regulation is not weakness; it is the bravest, most intelligent thing you can do for your health, your relationships, and your future.
Evidence-Based Practice
HeartMath® – Build Emotional Resilience & Self-Regulation
Stress, Anxiety & Nervous System Regulation through Heart-Centred Living
Did you know that chronic stress can seriously impact both physical and mental health? HeartMath® offers a proven, science-based way to reduce stress, increase emotional balance, and improve wellbeing.
HeartMath® is a research-backed system developed by the HeartMath Institute with over 30 years of scientific study. It teaches you how to achieve Heart Coherence — a state where your heart, mind, emotions, and nervous system work together in harmony. Using simple techniques and biofeedback tools, you learn to shift out of stress and into a calm, focused, resilient state quickly.
Reduce Stress & Anxiety
Significantly lower your stress levels and ease feelings of anxiety.
Improve Emotional Regulation
Enhance your ability to manage emotions and build inner resilience.
Better Sleep, Focus & Decision-Making
Experience improved sleep quality, sharper focus, and clearer decisions.
Increase Positivity
Cultivate greater feelings of calm, clarity, and overall positivity.
Strengthen Resilience
Boost your capacity to effectively handle life’s inevitable challenges.
As an integrative psychotherapist and trained HeartMath practitioner, I combine HeartMath techniques with counselling and nervous system regulation work. This powerful approach supports deep, lasting change — whether you’re dealing with anxiety, burnout, trauma, or simply want to feel more balanced and in control.
Human Givens
Your Nine Essential Emotional Needs
The Human Givens framework identifies nine core emotional needs that, when consistently met, form the foundation of genuine wellbeing and mental health. When needs go unmet — through circumstance, relationship, or old patterns — distress is the natural result. The work of therapy and coaching is, in large part, the work of identifying and meeting these needs more effectively.
Alongside these needs, we each possess powerful innate resources — imagination, rational thinking, empathy, the ability to learn, a self-observing 'meta-awareness', and more. When these resources are used skilfully, we meet our needs with ease. When they turn against us — imagination fuelling anxiety, attention consumed by rumination — suffering arises. Together, we restore the balance.
Life Scripts & TA
The Unconscious Story Driving Your Life
In Transactional Analysis, a life script is the unconscious story you began writing in early childhood — shaped by your experiences, the messages you received, and the decisions you made about yourself, others, and the world in order to survive and belong. These scripts operate silently beneath awareness, yet they drive much of what happens in your relationships, your self-esteem, and your sense of possibility.
Common Drivers
Compulsive rules that feel essential to being loved or safe:
  • "Be perfect"
  • "Please others"
  • "Try hard" (but never quite succeed)
  • "Be strong" (never show vulnerability)
  • "Hurry up" (rest is dangerous)
Common Injunctions
Deeper prohibitions absorbed from early experience:
  • "Don't succeed"
  • "Don't feel"
  • "Don't belong"
  • "Don't be important"
  • "Don't be close"
The empowering truth of TA is this: the script was written by a child making sense of the world with limited information. As an adult, with awareness and support, you can write a new one — choosing your own drivers, permissions, and ways of being that reflect who you truly are and who you want to become.
Existential Therapy
Yalom's Four Givens — And Why They're Liberating
Existential therapy, particularly as developed by Irvin Yalom, invites us to face four fundamental realities of human existence not with dread, but with courage and curiosity. These are not problems to be solved — they are the conditions within which a meaningful life must be lived.
Death
Awareness of our mortality, when held consciously rather than avoided, can liberate us to live more fully — choosing what truly matters rather than sleepwalking through life.
Freedom & Responsibility
There is no pre-written script for your life. This is frightening — and profoundly freeing. You are the author of your choices, your values, and your meaning. And that authorship is non-negotiable.
Existential Isolation
No one can fully inhabit another's inner world. Accepting this aloneness — rather than fleeing it through compulsive connection or self-abandonment — paradoxically deepens authentic relating.
Meaninglessness
Life has no inherent, pre-given meaning. Yet within this openness lies the greatest human creative act: choosing to create meaning through your values, relationships, actions, and commitments.

Rather than offering easy answers, existential thinking reminds us that facing life's realities with honesty and courage is itself the foundation of a deeply purposeful existence.
Integrative Approaches
Finding Your Path: More Tailored Approaches
Recognising that everyone's journey is unique, an integrative approach allows us to draw from diverse, evidence-based psychotherapeutic traditions. This ensures we find the methods that resonate most deeply with your individual needs and goals, fostering effective and lasting change.
Somatic Internal Family Systems (IFS)
IFS helps you understand and heal your inner 'parts' – the distinct sub-personalities within you. By befriending these parts, even the ones that cause distress, you can achieve inner harmony and self-leadership, resolving conflicts and fostering compassion for yourself.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
CBT focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours that contribute to emotional difficulties. It provides practical strategies to challenge negative thoughts, develop healthier coping mechanisms, and improve overall mood and functioning.
These are just two examples of how we can tailor our work together. Your unique narrative guides our choice of techniques, ensuring a truly personalised and empowering therapeutic experience.
Attachment Theory
Attachment Theory
Understanding how we relate to others
Attachment Theory explains how our early relationships with caregivers shape our expectations and patterns in adult relationships. The four main attachment styles influence how we connect, trust, and regulate emotions.
Secure Attachment
People feel comfortable with intimacy and independence. They trust others, express emotions easily, and maintain healthy boundaries.
Anxious (Preoccupied) Attachment
People often worry about being abandoned or not being enough. They crave closeness but may become overly dependent or reassurance-seeking.
Dismissive-Avoidant Attachment
People tend to value independence highly and find it hard to trust or rely on others. They often suppress emotions and dismiss the importance of close relationships.
Fearful-Avoidant (Disorganized) Attachment
People both desire and fear closeness due to past trauma. They may want connection but struggle with trust, often experiencing intense emotions and confusion in relationships.
Recognising your attachment style is the first step toward building more secure and fulfilling relationships.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Shame and Guilt?
Guilt says: “I did something bad.”
Shame says: “I am bad.”
Guilt is typically about a specific behaviour and can be constructive, helping us repair mistakes and make amends. Shame is much deeper and more painful – it's the feeling that something is fundamentally wrong with who we are. Shame tends to be more destructive and often leads to withdrawal, perfectionism, or self-sabotage.
In therapy, we gently work to transform shame into self-compassion and turn healthy guilt into positive change.
Do I need professional help for grief?
Grief is a natural response to loss, and many people navigate it with the support of family and friends. However, you may benefit from professional support if:
  • The pain feels overwhelming or lasts much longer than expected
  • You're struggling with daily life, work, or relationships
  • You're experiencing intense guilt, anger, or numbness
  • You're isolating yourself or using alcohol/food/work to cope
  • You're having thoughts of not wanting to be here
There is no "right" timeline for grief. Seeking support is a sign of strength, not weakness, and can provide a vital space for healing.
Featured Partner
Cytoplan Supplements: Where Nature Meets Science
For over 35 years, Cytoplan has been a leading UK-based supplement company, founded by experienced nutrition practitioners dedicated to science-backed, nature-inspired health solutions. They pioneered Food State™ and Wholefood formulations, ensuring superior absorption and bioavailability for maximum benefit.
Trusted by over 6,000 health practitioners, Cytoplan is uniquely owned by the charitable Nutritional Wellbeing Foundation. This means every purchase contributes to vital nutrition education and community health projects across the UK and beyond, making a real difference.
I proudly offer Cytoplan’s Bio-Effective® supplements, bridging modern nutritional gaps with practitioner-formulated, sustainable solutions, all available at discounted prices for my clients.
Resources
My Self-Published Books
While training as an integrative psychotherapist, I wrote these three books to explore more deeply the themes that frequently emerge in my client work — the mind-body connection, the search for meaning, and the path toward greater emotional resilience and self-compassion.
Each one offers practical insights and gentle tools drawn from my clinical practice: nervous system regulation and longevity in Mind-Body Wellness for Longevity, existential questions and Vedic wisdom in Her Existential Odyssey, and empowering cognitive approaches in Cognitive Therapy for Women.
I hope they spark curiosity, invite reflection, and serve as helpful companions on your own journey toward wellbeing.
Mind-Body Wellness for Longevity
Buy on Amazon
Her Existential Odyssey
Cognitive Therapy for Women
Pricing & Investment
How We Work Together – Investment Options
All sessions combine integrative psychotherapy with nervous system regulation and are available in-person in Westcliff-on-Sea or online.
Foundation
60-minute sessions
  • £95 per session
  • Perfect for flexibility or to experience my approach
Most Popular
Transformation
60-minute sessions
  • 6 sessions: £510 (£85 per session)
  • 10 sessions: £790 (£79 per session)
  • Includes: Personally selected book + 50% discount on Cytoplan supplements
Deep Renewal
Signature Offering: 75–90 minute extended sessions
  • £135 per session (or £125 in packages)
  • Includes: Full therapeutic work + Resting HRV baseline measurement + Real-time HeartMath Coherence training with biofeedback + Personalised nervous system plan
I offer a limited number of spaces each month to ensure I can give every client the depth of attention they deserve.
Low-Cost / Concession Sessions
I also offer a limited number of lower-cost sessions through the Counselling-on-Sea scheme. These sessions are charged at £40 to the client (I receive £25) and include the use of a professional therapy room and full administrative support. These places are strictly limited each month and are designed to make therapy more accessible for clients who find full private fees difficult at this time. Availability depends on my current caseload as a venue and placement manager for the agency.

If you have any questions about fees, bespoke requirements, packages, or concession availability, please feel free to contact me. I'm happy to discuss what would work best for your situation.
Book a Discovery Call
Ready to Begin? Let's Have a Conversation.
The first step is the simplest one: a free, no-obligation 20-minute discovery call with Mike. This is your opportunity to share what's brought you here, ask any questions about the work, and get a sense of whether this is the right fit. There is no pressure, no sales pitch — just a genuine human conversation.
Sessions are available online via secure video call, as well as in person. Whether you're navigating burnout, anxiety, relationship difficulties, low self-worth, or simply a sense that life could be more — you're in the right place.
Email care@mikehannatherapy.com or call/message 07810645680
Regulate First. Rewrite Your Story. Reconnect With What Matters.
You don't have to keep running on empty. You don't have to keep repeating the same patterns. You don't have to settle for a life that feels half-lived. The nervous system can be regulated. The script can be rewritten. The life you actually want is not out of reach.
Nervous System Regulation
Bottom-up tools to calm the physiology and restore your body's natural capacity for rest, connection, and clear thinking.
Integrative Psychotherapy
Top-down therapeutic change — exploring life scripts, meaning, emotional needs, and the relational patterns shaping your experience.
Holistic Wellbeing
Body and mind working together — because lasting change requires both the wisdom of the nervous system and the power of conscious choice.
You've taken the first step simply by being here. Whatever has brought you to this page — exhaustion, anxiety, a quiet sense that something needs to change — know that real transformation is possible. The nervous system can be regulated. Old patterns can be gently released. A life that feels calmer, clearer, and more authentically yours is not out of reach. I'd be honoured to walk that path with you.
Mike Hanna | Integrative Psychotherapist | Westcliff-on-Sea & Online | mikehannatherapy.com