Hi, I’m Sarah Buchanan, the founder of The Anastasia Project Community Interest Company. I am an integrative psychotherapist (MA, MBACP) and I set up this project because of a commitment I made to women who are facing social services intervention and the removal of their children.

The Anastasia Project exists because these women are among the most neglected in our society. Having a child removed is a deep trauma, yet very little support is ever offered to mothers at this point. Long waiting lists, financial barriers, and a lack of specialist services mean that therapy is rarely available when it is most needed.

Too often, these women are written off, sidelined, forgotten. A social worker once said to me, “Once the decision is made to remove the children, the mother is left alone in her grief.” Those words stayed with me because they are so often true.

I have sat with women whose lives have been shaped by domestic violence, poverty, addiction, family breakdown, and trauma passed down through generations. I have seen how easy it is for services to look away, and how quickly society condemns without ever truly listening. I also see the way in which all the blame and responsibility for a woman’s ‘failure as a mother’ is laid at her feet, without due recognition of the neglected responsibilities of the broken family systems and societal systems which might have better supported and encouraged her.

The Anastasia Project is here to say that women’s stories matter, that their lives have value, and that they deserve to be supported to heal and restore their families wherever possible.

We also recognise that many women have turned to substances to cope with unbearable circumstances. For those women, 12-step recovery groups, especially women’s meetings, can be a vital part of finding stability, connection, and hope. The Anastasia Project believes in supporting that pathway as part of recovery and healing.

I bring to this work my training as a psychotherapist and years of study. I hold an MA in Integrative Psychotherapy and Counselling and a BA in Psychology and Counselling, both from Roehampton University. I am a BACP registered therapist, a Trauma-Informed Yoga Facilitator (RYT-200, TCTSY-F), and I am completing further training in Janina Fisher’s Complex Trauma Certification and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. I also lecture on embodied countertransference, which continues to shape the way I work with trauma.

The Anastasia Project is built out of this knowledge, experience, and conviction. It is a space for research, therapy, and advocacy that stands alongside women at their most difficult moments and works with them towards dignity, restoration, and hope. Please contact me today if you are inspired to find out more. We are a new and growing organisation and we are open to ideas and collaborations.