Tess Hunneybell
I’m a British trauma therapist and international speaker, and founder of Healing Trauma Retreats at San Flaviano — a private monastery in Umbria, Italy.
I work with women navigating trauma, grief, and major life transitions — often those who appear “high functioning” on the outside while carrying the long-term physiological aftermath of what they’ve lived through.
My work is intensive, relational, and grounded in the nervous system. It is shaped not only by clinical training, but by extensive field experience across U.K, Europe, Mexico, The Caribbean and West Africa — including humanitarian work and building projects that sit directly alongside real lives, real risk, and real resilience.
My work in practice
I work intensively with a small number of women each year through private retreats, one-to-one therapeutic work, and selected international teaching.
Most arrive highly capable and outwardly successful, yet living with the long-term physiological effects of trauma, grief, or sustained pressure. Many have already done significant reflective work. What they are seeking now is change that is lived and embodied.
Our work focuses on stabilisation, regulation, and increasing capacity in real life — in relationships, decision-making, and the ability to remain present under pressure.
This is not a high-volume practice.
It is deliberate, relational work that unfolds over time and is designed to produce lasting shifts rather than short-term relief.
Alongside private clinical work, I teach and facilitate internationally and have worked across Europe, the UK, and West Africa in both private and humanitarian settings. That breadth of experience informs a grounded, direct approach to what genuinely supports change.