How to Work with Us
Group Work
Breaking the Rules group programmes are for anyone over the age of 16, of any gender, who wants to explore where unhelpful rules are making life less fun, more stressful and preventing you from thriving in your relationships, at work, in education and within yourself.
It is also a space to explore whether unhelpful rules are perpetuating issues around disordered eating, exercise, stress and anxiety.
Within the Breaking the Rules group we look at identifying unhelpful rules that no longer serve us well, tuning into our own needs rather than being ruled by ‘shoulds’ or ‘oughts’.
As well as developing a more playful attitude towards food and your wellbeing, our aim is to help you become more compassionate and able to put aside self-criticism.
Join our mailing list below to be the first to hear about our next group programme.
Breaking the Rules Webinars & Workshops
These webinars or workshops are an informal and interactive chance to identify and discuss rigid beliefs and restrictive behaviours and how to free yourself from these thought patterns and self-critical thinking. We introduce you to the concept of unhelpful rule-based thinking (and compare it to helpful rules or rule-free living), help you to start identifying unhelpful rules in your life and inspire you to tune in to your actual needs, rather than what your rules may tell you.
These webinars are not another piece of destructive “wellness” nonsense. They do not promote any certain way of eating, exercise or lifestyle. Instead, our aim is to support everyone to be their own unique imperfectly perfect human selves.
Sign up to our mailing list below to be notified of our next workshop or webinar date.
Our Practices
Dr. Natalie Chambers and marissa-catherine carrarini are successful independent practitioners who have come together to create this innovative collaboration - challenging rule-based behaviour that causes conflict and difficulty in people’s lives.
In their own practices, Natalie is a Counselling Psychologist with nearly twenty years experience working in private practice with a diverse client group. She supports clients to deepen self-awareness, find steadiness in self-acceptance and initiate meaningful change.
Marissa is a nutritional therapist with fifteen years experience, working predominantly with clients who have difficulties with their mental health. She spent many years working as Head of Nutritional Therapy in a private eating disorder unit and now exclusively works in private practice.
Our Free Resources
We have a wealth of free downloads and resources available to support you in everything from managing difficult feelings to understanding and improving your relationship with exercise.
You can also find in-depth articles on this website which aim to help you understand more detail around topics such as identifying unhelpful rules, how to connect to the body, common fears around the restrict-binge-purge cycle as well as articles that have a feminist-political understanding to rule based behaviour & culture.
Corporate Work
We believe that too many people have unhelpful rules that manipulate their lives destructively to some degree. Although Chambers and carrarini see these issues arising in the consulting room, in varying degrees they are familiar to most people from water cooler conversations, locker room chat, “banter” and dominant media messaging.
We bring workshops to the corporate space, covering topics that can be tailored to your company or industry. Previous topics include Exercise Culture in the Workplace, Food Culture in the Workplace, The Working Woman & Unhelpful Rules, New Year New (unhelpful) Rules.
Join the Conversation on Instagram
Over on Instagram, we share psycho-educational content and interview interesting people who are breaking unhelpful rules in their personal and professional lives. Follow us for regular posts, interviews with professionals and free resources, as well as the latest updates on our upcoming webinars, group programmes and workshops.
Testimonials
“Thank you for a great, insightful masterclass. It was rather engaging and I appreciated how the speakers not only shared their expert knowledge but also fostered an environment that encouraged us to reflect on our behaviours.”
“It shifted my whole perspective and made me realise I am not alone. A lot of the examples shared were relevant to my experiences and I felt really comfortable sharing my own experiences. I really enjoyed the overall experience and got a lot out of it.”
“Every question or comment was handled well - loved that the presenters were never dismissive of anybody’s comments. I loved how reflective the session was and the scope for engagement. I especially enjoyed the stories that marissa shared, as they reminded me of a lot of things I had heard growing up.”
“A sense of not feeling alone in my feelings, an understanding and appreciation of the struggles other people might be having, helpful way of seeing that rules can be sometimes helpful but not always, understanding that a previously unhelpful rule with added nuances can be okay.”
“I found this session to be such an eye-opener into how hard I can be on myself. It really allowed me to reflect on my feelings around food, spoken and unspoken rules and how these have shaped my emotional responses over the years.”