Founder of Naked Recovery

Adèle Théron is a trauma-informed psychological practitioner, author and Founder of Naked Recovery. For more than 20 years, she has worked with people navigating trauma, relationship breakdown, loss, major life transitions and periods in which life has changed profoundly and the way forward is no longer clear.

More than 7,000 people worldwide have engaged with Adèle’s work through individual Programs, workshops and recovery Programs.
Her work today brings together advanced training in trauma recovery, psychotherapy, coaching psychology, relationship therapy and behavioural change, alongside an earlier career working with organisations through complex business transformation and change.
This combination sits at the heart of Naked Recovery: understand what has happened, understand how it has affected you, and then work deliberately towards what comes next.

How Adèle Works?

Adèle’s approach combines psychological depth with practical application.

Trauma recovery cannot simply be about pushing someone forward before they have had the opportunity to understand and process what happened. Equally, insight alone does not necessarily change a person’s life.

Naked Recovery therefore works across both.

We explore the psychological and relational mechanisms that may be keeping someone stuck – trauma responses, attachment patterns, shame, avoidance, emotional dysregulation, loss of identity, protective behaviours and deeply held beliefs – while also helping clients develop the skills, resources and behaviours needed to create change outside the session.

The work is trauma-informed, compassionate, structured and highly individualised.

Depending upon the person and the programme, this may involve:

• understanding trauma and nervous-system responses
• developing emotional regulation and psychological resources
• processing difficult experiences and relational injuries
• working with shame, guilt, grief and self-blame
• understanding attachment and relationship patterns
• developing self-compassion
• rebuilding identity and self-trust
• improving communication and boundaries
• restoring agency and confidence
• behavioural activation and structured goal setting
• developing resilience and psychological flexibility
• translating insight into sustainable change

There is no single formula imposed upon every person.

The aim is to understand what happened to you, what is happening now, what you need, and what will genuinely help you move forward.

Relationships & Relational Trauma

Relationships are a significant part of Adèle’s work.

Her training includes Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy and Imago Relationship Therapy, alongside extensive experience in mediation and conflict resolution.

This allows her to work not only with individual trauma but with what happens between people – attachment, communication, conflict, betrayal, emotional disconnection, relational injuries and the patterns couples and families can become trapped within.

The objective is not always reconciliation.

Sometimes recovery means repairing a relationship. Sometimes it means changing the way people relate. Sometimes it means establishing healthier boundaries. And sometimes it means developing the psychological strength to leave something behind.

The work is about understanding what is happening and helping people make thoughtful decisions about what comes next.

Academic & Professional Development

Adèle’s practice has continued to evolve alongside extensive postgraduate education and professional training.

She holds a Master’s degree in Psychology with Distinction from Manchester Metropolitan University and postgraduate training in Traumatic Studies from the University of Reading.

She is currently completing advanced training in psychotherapy and working towards professional recognition in coaching psychology.

Adèle is also completing a doctorate in Health Psychology at the University of Auckland, where her research focuses on trauma-informed care in chronic disease management – particularly how trauma can influence people’s experiences of healthcare, treatment engagement and recovery, and how healthcare systems can respond more effectively.

Her doctoral research is supervised by Dr Anna Serlachius and Dr Rebecca Slykerman at the University of Auckland.

This ongoing academic work means that Naked Recovery continues to evolve alongside contemporary psychological and trauma research rather than remaining fixed around a model developed many years ago.

Supervision & Professional Accountability

Good Trauma Work Should Never Happen in Isolation

Trauma-informed practice can involve complex psychological, relational and ethical decisions. Adèle therefore places significant emphasis on ongoing professional supervision. Rather than relying upon a single perspective, her work is supported by a multidisciplinary supervision network spanning trauma psychology, psychotherapy and coaching psychology.

Together, this creates something Adèle considers fundamental to responsible trauma-informed work:

multiple professional perspectives, ongoing reflection and the willingness to have our thinking challenged.

Supervision is not about somebody else treating or managing a client from a distance. It provides a confidential professional space in which practitioners can reflect on their work, recognise blind spots, consider ethical and clinical issues and continue developing their practice.

Alongside this professional supervision, Adèle’s doctoral research at the University of Auckland is supervised by Dr Anna Serlachius and Dr Rebecca Slykerman.

Qualifications & Professional Training

Adèle continues to undertake ongoing professional development across trauma, psychotherapy, coaching psychology, relationships and health psychology.

Memberships

• New Zealand Psychological Society
• British Psychological Society
• Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists (ANZAP)
• Institute of Trauma Professionals 

The Naked Recovery Philosophy

We don’t believe recovery means returning to exactly who you were before something happened.

Sometimes that isn’t possible.

Sometimes it isn’t even desirable.

Recovery can mean understanding yourself differently. Developing greater compassion for the person who survived. Recognising patterns you could not previously see. Rebuilding trust in yourself. Learning new ways of relating. Making difficult decisions. Developing greater resilience. And gradually creating a life that is no longer organised around what happened.

We take trauma seriously.

We also take your capacity for recovery seriously.

Understand what happened.
Process what remains.
Rebuild what was disrupted.
Learn forward.

Because your trauma may be part of your story.

It doesn’t have to write the rest of it.