If you have found us, you may be looking for something different from how your life feels today. Perhaps you know exactly what you want to change. Perhaps several parts of life feel out of balance. Or perhaps you cannot explain what is wrong, you simply know that you no longer feel quite like yourself. Wherever you are starting from, you do not need to arrive with all the answers. Balynsed was created around a simple belief: people deserve to be understood as whole human beings, not reduced to a symptom, diagnosis or problem that needs solving.
Balance isn't something you find once. It's something you keep coming home to.
We do not begin with a method. We begin by listening to you. Depending on your needs, support may include Insight Coaching, meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, EFT, Reiki or a carefully chosen combination. Where your needs extend beyond what we provide, we can also work alongside, or encourage you to seek support from, appropriately qualified professionals in medicine, nutrition and physical health. Some approaches offer practical ways to work with thoughts and patterns. Others create space to breathe, settle, reflect or reconnect with the body. What feels helpful and comfortable will be different for every person.
Our services can work alongside appropriate medical or psychological care. They are not intended to replace diagnosis, prescribed treatment or support from a qualified healthcare professional. Balynsed is not about promising a life without pain, pressure or difficult moments. It is about helping you understand yourself more clearly, recognize what you need and find ways of caring for your wellbeing that can become part of everyday life.
“Balance is not never being knocked off course. It is learning to notice sooner, listen earlier and find your way back with care.”
Balynsed was not born from a business plan. It grew from experiences that changed how I understood health, pain, living in a state of wellbeing and care. In 2012, I experienced corporate burnout. It wasn't my mental health that took a hit. Because of my background and education in psychology, I had trained myself to put up strong mental barriers, so my body had to break me physically to get me to listen. It started with bronchitis, then repeated infections. When these did not work, I woke up one day with no voice. Did that stop me? No. So then I developed tinnitus, so severe that sleeping became difficult. After a week with under 10 hours sleep and 24/7 hammering in my head, I could no longer work. Finally, I stopped. After 2 weeks with under 3 hours a night and the hammering, I looked like a zombie. After 3 weeks, I called my parents and told them I couldn't go on like this (between the physical illnesses and the effect the lack of sleep was having on me). I told them I wanted to die. I had reached a frightening point where I no longer felt able to continue or carry what was happening. Whether every symptom had the same cause or not, the message was impossible to ignore: I could no longer separate what was happening in my mind, my body and my life. I didn't fully learn from 2012, and came close to reaching that point again in 2019, and then in 2024, but I survived, barely. Those experiences taught me something equally important: support should not begin only after somebody has completely broken down.
We need to recognise the signs earlier, understand what is placing us under strain and learn how to respond before we lose ourselves within it. But pushing myself to the edge, and not listening, took its toll. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and a schwannoma on my L5/S1. Both cause pain, but the schwannoma caused unbearable nerve pain that mimicked sciatica. My body had left me a daily reminder of how far I had pushed my wellbeing, my health. After 2 years of chronic pain, I, again, wanted to give up on life. I believe prolonged stress played an important part in my physical decline regarding both conditions, a connection that my doctors also recognised. The pattern within my own body became impossible to ignore: when my stress increased, so did the inflammation and pain; when I felt calmer and more balanced, both began to ease. But I did also have medical options available to me, understanding from my workplace and social support. It gave me the chance to navigate and educate myself in holistic wellness, complementary, integrative and traditional medicine. It gave me the space I needed to start listening to my body again and added another layer to my understanding of health and wellness. From there, I started to get certified and recognised by professional bodies, and I went back to university to continue my education. Pain may begin in one part of the body, but it rarely remains neatly contained there. It can reach into sleep, energy, concentration, confidence, relationships and the simplest parts of everyday life. It can also be difficult to explain something that another person cannot see or feel. My diagnoses were physical, and the pain was real. But my experience showed me that physical health, emotional strain and the circumstances of our lives do not always exist as separate stories. I cannot know exactly what another person's pain feels like. But I understand how important it is to be heard, believed and seen as more than the part that hurts.
“Lived experience does not make me an expert in your life. It has taught me never to assume that I am.”
Jo, Founder of Balynsed
“The whole person should never disappear behind the part that hurts.”
These experiences led me to look more deeply at the relationship between physical health, emotional wellbeing, thoughts, stress and the circumstances in which we live.My background in psychology, psychotherapy and counselling, and my experience of corporate life and subsequent studies in medical sociology have each helped shape Balynsed.
So have the practices that helped me slow down, understand myself differently and become more aware of what my mind and body needed.I discovered that no single approach holds every answer, and that people should not have to force themselves into a method that does not feel right for them.
That became the purpose behind Balynsed: to create a place where different forms of support can be explored thoughtfully, without losing sight of the individual receiving them.
You may know which approach interests you, or you may have no idea where to begin. Your first step can simply be a conversation. We can talk about what you are experiencing, what you would like to change and which approaches you feel comfortable exploring. If something falls outside our professional scope, we will be honest about that and encourage you to seek the appropriate support. You do not need to choose a therapy before contacting us. You only need somewhere to begin.
Reach out below, and let's find what kind of support is right for you.
Free · 20 minutes · No commitment
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or feel unable to keep yourself safe, please seek immediate support.In an emergency in Malta, call 112 or go to the nearest Emergency Department. For free, immediate emotional support in Malta, call the 24-hour National Mental Health Helpline on 1579.
You can also contact: Richmond Foundation: 1770, Supportline: 179
In the United Kingdom: Call 999 or go to the nearest A&E.
Samaritans in the UK and Ireland: call 116 123 free, 24 hours a day.
UK text support: text SHOUT to 85258.
If you are outside the UK or Malta, contact your local emergency services or find a crisis line in your country at Find A Helpline https://findahelpline.com/
Balynsed is not an emergency or crisis service and cannot provide immediate crisis intervention.
