about me

I work with the woman behind the performance.

I'm Joy Donnell, an Imposter Syndrome Coach and Therapist working with high-achieving women who are quietly struggling behind a very competent exterior.

My approach combines psychological coaching, therapeutic practice, and behaviour change methodology, drawing on trauma-informed training to work at the level where the pattern actually lives, not just the surface where it shows up.

I don't work with women who are broken. I work with women who are exhausted from holding it all together and are ready for a different way.

I know this pattern. I lived it.

For years, I was the woman everyone assumed had it together.

High output, high standards, high functioning, and underneath all of it, a nervous system quietly running on fumes.

I didn't call it anxiety. I called it ambition, drive, discipline. It was "just who I am” and became my identity. Until my body decided to disagree.

That's when something shifted. The problem was never my work ethic, it was the wiring beneath it. The patterns I'd built to survive had quietly become the patterns keeping me from thriving.

So I went back to the beginning and trained as a trauma psychotherapist, in coaching, somatic practice, nervous system science, and functional health. Not to become someone new, but to become the version of myself who could actually sustain the life I'd worked so hard to build.

Now I help other women do the same.

in their words

Real Words. Real Women.

I was managing seven consultancy roles, a house renovation, and a first grandchild on the way. I thought I just needed better coping strategies. What I actually got was a completely new understanding of why I react the way I do, and what to do about it. I find myself wondering why I never considered any of this before.

PJ — Senior Consultant

I came thinking I needed to learn the how-tos of leadership. What I discovered was that patterns I’d carried since childhood were quietly running the show. Joy helped me find my voice, understand my values, and lead with a conviction I didn’t know I had. I’ve unlocked a sense of purpose I didn’t know was missing.

MN — Leader

I was shocked at how strongly my body responded, but in a way that told me something real was shifting. Going through the layers of emotion and memory was more powerful than I can put into words. The impact wasn’t just mental and emotional. It touched my physical health, my habits, my whole way of operating. Worth every penny.

What surprised me was how much the simple practices made such a difference. I came in feeling overwhelmed and struggling to process a really difficult experience. I left with genuine self-awareness, practical tools, and the ability to feel the difference in real time, in my relationships, my work, and how present I am day to day.

I knew intellectually how my past had shaped my behaviour. But I’d never connected with it emotionally, and I had no tools to do anything about it. Joy changed that. You (Joy) have walked in my shoes and you know what this feels like. That , combined with your skill, meant I felt safe enough to go to places I’d been avoiding for years. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her to anyone doubting themselves.

I’d tried so many things. Done so many courses. But there were beliefs from childhood quietly running the show, and until I worked with Joy, I had no idea. I was going into fight or flight every time I tried to post on social media. Suddenly, my behaviour made sense. I learned to slow down, listen, and rewire. Sometimes trying harder isn’t the answer. You need to find out what your unconscious is telling you when you think you’re not listening.

BG — Business Owner

training & credentials

The Training Behind The Work

My approach draws on formal training across coaching, therapeutic practice, and functional health. The accreditations below reflect the frameworks that underpin how I work — not as a list of letters, but as a foundation of rigorous, evidence-based practice.

an invitation

Ready to work differently?

If something resonated, trust that.

Book a free 15-minute Clarity Call and I’ll help you take that next step - conversation.

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