About Colette Hart

I’m Colette the founder of Heart 2 Hart Solutions. Originally owning three successful wellbeing and cosmetic clinics together with a private school in South Wales, I chose to train to become a Psychotherapist after health problems caused me to close my business, leaving me with little in the way of hope for the future and a distinct lack of emotional support when I needed it the most. This instilled a passion and dedication in me to help those who have been similarly affected, resulting in a dedicated, private medical trauma service supporting mental and emotional health and wellbeing.

As an integrative therapist I favour a combination of the models of compassion focused, somatic and mindful cognitive behavioural therapy, meaning I offer a comprehensive, holistic and compassionate way of working with medical trauma. I am the only certified Medical Trauma Psychotherapist in the UK having completed my training at Xavier University, Ohio, USA where the first medical trauma certification was introduced in 2022 by Dr Michelle Flaum. I also favour Babette Rothschild’s somatic approach, having completed a year’s post graduate training with the US trauma specialist in London, and I have also assisted on Babette Rothschild’s training programme.

I have vast experience of working with all types of trauma and PTSD; however in recent years it has become very obvious how unique and unacknowledged medical trauma is and how important it is to honour those differences, as well as all our medical trauma survivors – of which I am one.

In addition to my private practice I have worked within the traumatic stress service of the Cardiff & Vale NHS health board addressing issues of single and complex trauma and PTSD. I was the therapist for the ‘Living with Secondary Breast Cancer’ group for the South Wales division of ‘Breast Cancer Now’ and have provided a number of workshops on communication and relationships after a diagnosis, as well as coping with anxiety for those living with primary and secondary breast cancer. I established ‘In this 2gether’; educational therapy groups across Wales for those with a secondary breast cancer diagnosis post covid in association with Moondance and Macmillan, and I was the Lead Group Therapist until 2024, then becoming Consultant and Mentor.

In addition, ‘Cake & Counsel’ – educational group therapy for those living with a chronic medical condition – took place over a 10 month period when progress results were measured, collated and presented to a group of Health Care Professionals. Those attending noticed a considerable improvement in their mental health and medical anxiety/trauma symptoms, and the group continued to meet afterwards.

Medical trauma as explained on a separate page is unique, diverse and complex, affecting many life domains. Aside from my private practice I am advocating for greater awareness amongst colleagues and healthcare professionals as an Educational Trainer & Speaker in Medical Trauma and Trauma Informed Care, for Counsellors, Health Care Clinicians, Mental Health Workers & Health Boards. (Heart 2 Hart Healthcare Solutions.) This year has also seen the emergence of The Medical Trauma Collaborative (see designated page) and this Autumn I’m proud to be introducing my podcast Heart 2 Hart Conversations, stepping outside the counselling room with reflective story telling of personal, lived experience.

Much as I love my work I also need to take my own advice, ignore my inner critic and take time out for me! That might look like dog walking somewhere remote, baking and eating cake, mantrailing with my dogs, eating more cake, indulging in my reignited passion of reading about/visiting historical places, and reading or watching easy fiction whilst eating chocolate - sometimes with a glass of wine!