DARING WOMEN: A CHAT WITH JESS, FOUNDER OF THE WELLBEING THERAPY HUT
- Katie Portman
- Feb 27
- 9 min read
Updated: Feb 28
My blog series 'Daring Women' is all about celebrating courageous women who are busy creating the lives and businesses of their dreams or whom have overcome significant personal challenges.
I'm a firm believer that courage is one of the most important attributes we need in life in order to be happy and successful and to thrive, so I'm delighted to continue to bring this series to you and hope you will find it inspiring or that it will give you some food for thought.
Today, I'd like to introduce you to Jess Farazmand, a qualified therapist and founder of The Wellbeing Hut, a business which prides itself on providing affordable and accessible counselling. Read on to discover more about counselling, why it's worth considering and do make sure you check out Jess' must read book recommendations as well as her advice on dealing with our busy, modern lives. Enjoy.
Hi Jess, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to talk to us at Daring Eileen. This series is all about celebrating women who are acting courageously in their lives - be that through work or on a personal level - so it’s wonderful to have you with us.
Let’s begin with a little introduction to you and your valuable work. Who are you, what’s your background and how did it all begin for your business?
I’m Jess and I’m the founder of The Wellbeing Therapy Hut, a low-cost therapy service, making therapy accessible to those in need. I've been supporting and working with individuals and families for nearly 15 years in a range of different settings.
I've always been passionate about supporting people with their mental health and trying to help them to understand that they’re not alone, and had an opportunity on maternity leave and being made redundant, that I was able to take the leap to the counselling profession.
I knew it was something that interested me, and I saw the massive gap in the support system around affordable and accessible talking therapies.
I really love that you are purposefully working to make counselling more accessible and affordable for people. How did you come up with that idea and why do you think it’s so important?
It was an early morning when I was up with one of my children, and just had a lightbulb moment. I have ADHD, and with this, I can get hyperfocused, and the business became my hyperfocus. I looked at what was in the area, assessing the need and what else was out there locally. For me it was a good time to start this after being qualified; I was ready to start something new and something that I was really passionate about.
I know the support around mental health and counselling is restrictive with waiting lists and only getting a certain number of sessions, so wanted to open this up so more people can access what they need and want.
We are client-led, so we focus on what the client wants to focus on, rather than a counsellor just having one modality or theory.
This means we can roll with the client in what they need theory-wise. I think it is so important and becomes less ‘fire fighting’ if you access therapy earlier, when things are not quite right. You don’t need to be in dire straits to access therapy. With it being affordable it means everyone can experience this on some level and get what they need from it.
Thinking back over the past few years since you got your business off the ground, what would you say has been the biggest challenge you’ve experienced so far? And how did you deal with it?
A positive challenge has been that the business has grown massively, but as a result, and because I hate waiting lists, it has been making sure that we are recruiting the best people for the team and their clients; not just bums on seats.
There are times that we might have a waiting list for a couple of weeks before we get new counsellors on board, and then it is identifying that we have enough space to be able to offer the times clients are looking for, and being able to keep up with the growth and maintain a quality service.
I have a great team that I work closely with to find out what the needs are and what the waiting list is like. When someone wants to get in touch to access therapy they are doing it because they need it there and then, so keeping the waiting list down is something that I am very passionate about. It can be difficult, but planning, looking at other options, and expanding our face-to-face spaces to make sure we can keep up with the demand.
And what’s been your proudest moment to date?
I am regularly proud when I do stop and look back at the business and how well it has done. Hearing the amazing feedback from clients, the team, external agencies that we work with, about the impact that we are making, makes me feel incredibly proud.
I think the recognition that we are getting from different awards also validates that as well. We recently won the silver award for Service Excellence in the Surrey Business Awards and last year I won bronze for Businesswoman of the Year at the same awards. I feel so grateful for the team and the clients that access this service. I understand that it can be a bit strange going to counselling, but we as a team totally understand that and break down the stigma.
I think many of us are interested in the topic of counselling (for various reasons) so what do you love most about your work and what’s the one myth you’d like to dispel when it comes to your industry and /or the services you offer?
I love empowering clients; allowing clients that space to work things out for themselves and to offer some theory or understanding of what they are experiencing and going through. Although no one can know exactly what you are feeling, it can be comforting to know that there is a theory around different feelings or situations, and seeing it ‘click’ with clients and that they get the support and what they have been looking for, is the best.
I also love the range of emotions in counselling. A lot of people think it is all sadness and tears. But there have been times when there has been belly laughing in a session or excited whoops and cheers.
I feel so privileged and honoured to walk along this journey with a client and being that cheerleader in the room with them; it’s not just the dark and gloomy stuff, but celebrating the small wins in the day too.
Let’s chat a little now about counselling itself, because I think this would be really helpful for some readers. Please can you tell us a little about how counselling works, what are the benefits for example and why we should consider booking a counselling session?
I always say that counselling is a unique experience. You are expected to go into a room and sit down with a complete stranger and bear your soul. So it can feel strange and uncomfortable to start with. But this is totally normal.
You also need to find your person with counselling. You might have had counselling in the past and might not gelled with the counsellor; that is OK. You need to feel comfortable to share. It’s not about making yourself go if you’re struggling with it.
At The Wellbeing Therapy Hut we feel that the key part of the therapeutic work is the therapeutic relationship. A counsellor can know all of the theory, but if your personalities don’t connect, then it won’t work as you won’t open up and share. Then it is just about building that relationship and looking at what you need to get from the sessions.
The benefits are that you are going to someone that is neutral. They don’t know your family, your partner, friends etc. You could turn around to your counsellor and be completely honest. Your counsellor can then explore that with you, without judgment.
A benefit can be looking at links in your life, such as repeating patterns, and then exploring change and other approaches to take. It is all down to what the client wants and needs in the sessions. You can’t say anything ‘wrong’ in sessions.
Life is so busy and with counselling it is a chance to let everything out, and then moving on from it, without it causing an argument with a partner or fear of upsetting a friend. The 50 minute session each week can be so sacred to get yourself feeling back to you again; you can just be you.
Modern life is busy and hectic, with all of us facing more challenges than ever before, so if you could only give one piece of advice to everyone in regards to our wellbeing and mental health, what would that be?
Taking time out. It can be whatever you have time for.
Even if it is just to go and stand outside and watch the clouds move or the trees swaying, just for a few minutes. Noticing your breathing and grounding yourself is vital. Just having that 5 minutes to listen to some music and focus on the lyrics.
Life is hectic and it is about setting boundaries for yourself. Sometimes you need to say no, and that’s OK.
Daring Eileen readers love books and book recommendations, so… I wonder, if you were stuck on a Desert Island and could only have three books with you, what would they be and why?
It Didn’t Start With You - Mark Wolynn
When The Body Says No - Gabor Maté
John Bishop’s Autobiography
It Didn’t Start With You talks about multigenerational trauma and how that is passed on, and how you can understand it. We can repeat patterns without even realizing we repeat patterns, and that understanding is the first step in being a cyclebreaker. This is so important if you’re struggling with how things are going for you and following those patterns.
When The Body Says No talks about how we live in such a fast paced world, and how our body is telling us to calm things down long before we realise we need to. We can get more ailments and issues with our bodies, and it talks about how we can recognise some of those signs. We might think our stomach doesn’t feel great, but we carry on, but really why doesn’t it feel great and exploring that.
The autobiography from John Bishop is there for some light relief! I was crying laughing reading it! We all need a laugh. Doing deep work on yourself is all well and good but we need to laugh too. I always recommend when reading self-help books to also have something light hearted, fiction, or humour to break things up.
Back to counselling, what kind of person would benefit most from the work that you do and why should my readers consider working with the Wellbeing Therapy Hut?
Anyone that needs someone to talk to. We’re not a crisis service, but if someone needs someone to talk to, then they can talk to us. It doesn’t have to be when someone is in a big mess or has a lot to deal with, although it can be.
Ideally counselling shouldn’t be at the final stage; like you’d go to a GP if you’re not feeling right, counselling should be about realising that you’re not feeling yourself, and wanting to do something about it before it gets worse.
We work with children as well as adults, and couples and families. We are also looking at doing some training and counselling courses to be able to support more people with mental health.
If you could give just one piece of advice to women about life or business, what would it be?
Don’t forget about yourself. It is difficult enough to be so many different versions of yourself for different people, that you can’t forget about yourself.
It is really important to remember that you are the person that holds all of those different versions together, whether you’re a mum, friend, business owner, manager, leader, and so on. You matter! If you don’t look after yourself and top yourself up with what you need, and you get into burnout, then everything else falls apart.
Finally, at Daring Eileen, I really want to encourage readers to be more courageous in their lives. So Jess, when do you think that you have been your most courageous? And how do you think we can all cultivate more courage?
Setting up the business was a big leap. There is a saying that I love: take the risk or lose the chance. That is something that I regularly remind myself.
Remember how strong you are and the difficult things you have faced before and overcome. Sometimes we can get in our own heads thinking about what if it doesn’t work out or if it fails. But what if it doesn’t? What will you learn?
I also think having a focus on how to overcome hurdles is better, rather than focusing on the hurdles themselves. I set up the business during lockdown, but there was a massive need and I knew that. I knew that I just needed to take that first step and the rest would keep going, and would work it out as I went along.
I had to trust myself and trusted that it was going to work. When you’re passionate about something, it can be a real driving force. Look at the first step and be your own cheerleader.
Thank you so much Jess! What a lovely interview and insight into the world of counselling. I'm already off to order a couple of books that Jess kindly suggested.
If you'd like to connect with Jess or find out more about her work and business, pop over to The Wellbeing Therapy Hut.
Would you like to interviewed as a Daring Woman or know someone whom you think I should feature? Then please do get in touch. I'd love to hear from you.
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