Suzanne Wright came to counselling after 25 years working in pressurised senior leadership roles within media and finance.

“This honed my skills for mentoring, coaching and, above all, listening to people,” she said.

“It also taught me to hide when I was overwhelmed and anxious from those around me, wearing a mask of calm when I felt anything but.”

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In her forties she was hit with a leukemia diagnosis and the added complication presented by undergoing treatment at the height of the Covid pandemic.

“With my job I was used to fixing problems, but this was something I just couldn’t fix.

“I wanted to pretend that everything was OK for my family and friends,” she said.

“Going for treatment during the pandemic was hard because my immune system was so low and the Covid jabs weren’t effective. I was trying so hard to hold everything together; I was still working and that was when I started seeing a counsellor myself.

“It helped that they had no expectations of me and were extremely good at their job.

“It was about telling someone who did it for a living not just friends and family, who were incredibly supportive, but speaking to a stranger who was qualified was totally different.

“This planted a seed that I would like in my later years to pursue counselling.”

York businesswoman Suzanne Wright has started her own counselling service (Image: Suzanne Wright)

Now in remission, Suzanne, who lives just outside the city, has set up Suzanne Wright Counselling with an office in Oakdale Road at Clifton Moor.

“I love what I’m doing. This is the best move I have made – I feel I’m in the right place,” she said.

“Cancer was probably the catalyst, but it was also something that was unbelievably helpful in pointing me in a new direction and made me embrace my own vulnerability and made me open to considering others.”

“I’m passionate about helping other people in the way I was helped.”

Suzanne has a BSc Psychology degree from the University of York, and completed her Humanistic Counselling PgDip at York St John.

“I am qualified in online and telephone counselling working with anyone over the age of 16, and I am a registered member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and I am currently working towards my masters in humanistic counselling,” she said.

“Alongside my counselling practice I also volunteer at a charity counselling centre in York.

“I have a local office, but I also understand that one of the reasons I didn’t go to counselling for a long time was the practicality of fitting it in. I work online if that’s easier and I also do some evenings and weekends as I know not everyone can do it 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.”

To get in touch with Suzanne or find out more go to: suzannewrightcounselling.com

York businesswoman Suzanne Wright has started her own counselling service (Image: Suzanne Wright)