Penelope Overton

As your coach, I will help you to make change. Together we will uncover what’s holding you back, blocking you, or causing you frustration and unhappiness. I will help you work out what you can do about it, and how to go about setting that in motion.  

My approach, though reflective enquiry, deep listening, gentle and challenging questions, and understanding of the impact of trauma, is to stay on your side, travel at your pace, to find practical, manageable and lasting answers to your current questions. My interest and training in Compassionate Inquiry™ have given me an understanding of how we develop core beliefs and coping strategies from our earliest childhood, and how to approach them with curiosity and compassion, turning these responses and behaviours from indelible facets of our personality to responses that no longer serve our adult lives.  

I recruit all my experience to this work - my professional background as a solicitor, a mediator, a business owner and coach as well as everything that’s ever happened in my personal life. I am experienced in helping people manage conflict, both external and internal, helping you find ways to effectively communicate difference and be confident in difficult conversations.

I will bring humour, humanity, tact, tenacity and wisdom to our work.

Contact me to book a free sample session, visiting my website to find out more.

Are you:

• Stuck over a decision?
• Circling around the same old thoughts?
• Frustrated by lack of progress?
• Feeling a lack of control over what you do next?
• Unable to make yourself heard or understood?
• Worried about or unhappy in a relationship, at home or at work?
• Aware that time is running away and that you're not getting on with what you really want to do?

I can help - contact me for a first free session.

What people say:

"Penelope engaged me in focusing on what issues I could work on and enabled me to choose the ones that linked together for our sessions. She demonstrates her willingness to be alongside a client while keeping her perspective and within her role. She is warm, she has maturity and is interested in her client and wants them to achieve their goals."  Suzanne 2016

"Even after the first session with Penelope I felt like I had gained some order and control back in my life. I had just been through a dreadful divorce which had traumatised my two teenagers and myself. Every session with her has been unique and always beneficial for me. We talk about different aspects of my life and difficulties that I might be facing. Penelope has boosted my confidence and helped me to gently tackle one issue at a time." Victoria - 2016

"Penelope's gentle, perceptive way of suggesting what she hears when I speak has helped me to see possibilities and hope, leading me to a more objective and positive vision of my future. Her support and total engagement has been enormously helpful in my present situation and what looked like dark, total disruption now has lots of chinks of light. Thank you Penelope, also for your unassuming humour and humanity."  Clarissa 2018

"Penelope is a fantastic life coach. I came to her at a low ebb, not sure what was wrong. There had been some bereavements, I was always anxious. I said I wanted to write. I’d never spoken to a life coach before, I wondered whether we would fill the sessions.

But we did. The conversation is a two way street, it is dynamic and creative; unexpected avenues can be explored. Penelope feeds back what she hears you saying to help you.
 
And at the end, I have changed, I have learned what was blocking me, I am less anxious, I have tools to take me forward, a weight has lifted. And I am writing. So as I said, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Penelope, she has really changed my life for the better. Thank you Penelope"  Tim 2019

"I retired from my job in a caring profession with lots of ideas about what I could do next -and promptly stalled! Through a process of attentive listening and thoughtful reflection, Penelope enabled me to identify some issues that were keeping me stuck, and supported me to explore what would give meaning and purpose to this next phase of life. I found her sessions extremely helpful."  Pippa 2019

"I feel very lucky to have experienced coaching with Penelope. She is incredibly insightful and managed to gently yet powerfully intervene in the stories running rampant in my mind, truly helping me see things differently. I loved her line of questioning and left the session with a clear commitment to a new perspective which, a few weeks after the session, I’m happy to report has completely stuck. If you’re thinking of working with her, I’d say go for it!"  Elloa 2020

"Penelope has been such a supportive and empathetic influence, providing encouragement and guidance in helping me go forward in my life.

I have been wanting to change direction in my career and have spent so long procrastinating, feeling completely stuck in making decisions and paying far too much attention to the negative chatter in my head.

She has an innate ability to observe, listen and understand.

Penelope would challenge my ‘saboteur’, she would mindfully bring me back on track when I’d skirted around a question and she wont let you off the hook! She steers you gently and breaks things down into manageable/achievable bitesize chunks.

I now feel energised and so much more positive about what the future holds.

She’s clearly passionate about wanting to help people achieve the best of themselves. I would wholeheartedly recommend her."  Linda 2020

"Penelope has helped me so much to know myself better and regain confidence. With her intuition and  capacity to feel what lies beneath my words, she is able to reflect back what I am not conscious of.

She is patient and non-judgemental in her approach and her sense of humour adds a lightness of touch.
 
Penelope has a way with words and is perceptive and gently accepting whilst being willing to challenge me when necessary. I love her honesty and clarity. I highly recommend her." Anna 2020

"Before I approached Penelope for help, I had spent years deliberating and procrastinating over a house move and/or relocation.  I was living what felt like a “half life”, with few friends nearby and in a town I didn’t love.  I was unhappy but paralysed by indecision and just didn’t know how to move forward and make a change.

Within 6 weeks of first speaking with Penelope my house was on the market, and I had focus and a sense of direction that had been absent for years.  Penelope is incredibly perceptive and intuitive; she actively listens and has an enormous talent for getting to the heart of a problem swiftly, effectively and with great empathy.  She’s also a lot of fun!  I have now happily relocated to Bristol and am loving my new life.  I honestly don’t believe this change would have happened without Penelope’s insight, encouragement and support.  Penelope challenged me in all the right ways, and life is now looking so much better for having met her! " Melanie 2020

"Penelope has been everything that I hoped for and needed in a coach. She combines incredible skill, wisdom and flexibility with a warmth and humanity that is inspiring. Although I originally thought that I wanted coaching solely with respect to my professional life, our sessions have looked at my relationships, parenting and my sense of myself. Penelope’s holistic approach has supported to me to get to a place where I feel grounded, contented and confident in myself and am able to bring ideas, energy and compassion to others in all areas of my life." Lyndsay 2021

"I had reached a point in my life where I recognised that I needed to make some changes. Penelope skilfully and sensitively unblocked internal thought processes that were holding me back and equipped me to manage their recurrence. I am now able to leave behind that which had served me in the past and to move freely forward to realising a new vision of myself. Having found Penelope through a search on the internet, I leave with profound respect and gratitude." Alan 2022

"A friend of mine recommended Penelope at a time where I was unhappy in my career and not sure where my life was heading.  After having an initial conversation, I was really taken with her approachable and straightforward style and decided that was exactly what I needed to get me through some sticky decisions.  Penelope has really helped me to challenge my own limiting beliefs and gain the confidence to make some major changes in my life and that including resigning from my job and taking a career break – something I’ve wanted to do for a number of years.  Her style is very much collaborative, but she isn’t afraid to ask tough questions (tough to me) so that I actually make progress – that is something that has really made the difference.  I’m not quite there yet and have some more work to do on my own, but I will have no hesitation in going back to Penelope to get me over the next hurdle!  Thanks Penelope." Sam 2022

"When I first contacted Penelope I was in a bit of a state, with a poor work/life balance and a tendency to dwell on negative emotions. Penelope’s sessions have enabled me to recalibrate, in terms of work, leisure and wellness, and reach a more balanced emotional state. It has turned my life around." Mark 2023

"I was really helped by Penny to organise my thoughts and needs. She is very attentive and perceptive. I would recommend Penny very highly." Lisa 2023

"It was a chance encounter for me to meet Penelope and then decide to choose her as my life coach/counsellor. I found Penelope very approachable, practical and non-judgemental. When I first met her, I was going through a very difficult phase in my life and my regular sessions with her helped me immensely. She helped me appreciate the enormity of the issues, with her methodical
approach and tools. She is a very good listener and and has a very affable personality. Over the course of several months after each session I came home positive, uplifted and enriched. I would highly recommend Penelope." Sanjay 2023

"Penelope has helped me understand what I need practically and emotionally at a time of huge upheaval and loss . Her insight , intelligence, warmth and humour have helped bring clarity and comfort as well as the tools needed to move when I felt stuck. She guided me to help see what is in front of me .
She helped me have focus and courage to navigate on to the place I want to be . I cannot recommend her too highly." Abbie 2024

I" had been through a very difficult period in my life, having lost my partner, left my job and struggled with my mobility. I reached out to several life coaches, hoping to find someone I felt comfortable with who genuinely understood me.

From the outset, Penelope understood my situation and the challenges I was facing. We worked together step by step, looking at past behaviours, understanding how they had shaped my life and exploring how they might affect my future.

With Penelope’s support, I’ve reached a much better place in my life. I feel more positive about the future and am looking forward to finding a new job and building a new relationship.

I’m very grateful to Penelope for her understanding, support and guidance in helping me move forward." Tim 2026

From https://substack.com/home/post/p-218391973 Hollie and the Van:

"Penelope helped me uncover things I’d been carrying around for decades without even realising it. Much of it related to childhood, my relationship with my parents and the beliefs I’d formed about myself at a very young age.

Eight months later, I can see those things clearly. I can now see why I do certain things, why some of my personality traits developed and why I become hyper-productive when life feels difficult. I also understand why I have a tendency to quietly lose myself, even while appearing productive, capable and in control.

What I’ve learned is that many of the things I thought were simply personality traits are actually coping mechanisms.

One example is my need to constantly do.

I’ve always been someone who gets things done. I don’t procrastinate and I’m almost always moving from one task to the next. For years, I thought that was because I was disciplined and productive. What I’ve come to understand is that somewhere in childhood I learned that acts of service earned love. Taking care of other people became my way of proving my value.

Over time, that evolved into a deeper belief that if I wasn’t useful, I wasn’t worthy. If I wasn’t helping someone, fixing something or carrying the load for others, I wasn’t enough.

Once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it.

Penelope helped me recognise those stories when they appeared. She taught me to notice the feelings underneath them and, most importantly, how to make space for those feelings instead of immediately pushing them away.

One phrase of hers has stayed with me more than anything else:

“How would it be to make space for that feeling?”

Whenever something feels too overwhelming, uncomfortable or big, I hear her voice asking that question. Somehow, it unlocks something every time. Instead of fighting the feeling, I can pause and become curious. I can listen to the story I’m telling myself and ask whether it’s actually true.

The most remarkable thing about all of this is that there is one story I don’t tell myself anymore.

I don’t tell myself that I’m not good enough.

After years of carrying that belief around, I simply don’t believe it to be true anymore. I can see my value now and what I bring to the people around me, and I wish every woman who is shrinking herself, dimming her light or apologising for taking up space could see the same thing in herself.

I want to shake every single one of them and say:

Ruffle the bloody feathers.

You’ve worked hard to be here. You’ve survived things people know nothing about. You’ve carried responsibilities, heartbreak, pressure and expectations. If you’re a mother, you’ve literally given your body to bring life into this world and continued giving pieces of yourself every day since.

Take up the space.

Stop worrying about whether you’re too much.

There are people who leave such a profound mark on your life that you carry them forever. In a slightly morbid way, I sometimes think about the faces I might remember at the very end of my life. The people who changed me, shaped me and helped me become who I am.

Penelope will be one of those people." Hollie Londers 2026

• Trauma
• Addiction

Individual sessions, £70 per hour session.

Sliding scale and packages available.