About Project Pure
Nervous system healing for sleep, calm and emotional wellbeing in Christchurch
Project Pure supports people experiencing insomnia, anxiety and nervous system exhaustion through Deep Release Therapy, meditation and nervous system regulation, from a private studio in Sumner, Christchurch.
Healing begins when the body feels safe enough to let go
Why Project Pure Exists
Project Pure grew from both personal experience and professional inquiry.
After navigating my own struggles with insomnia and anxiety, I began to understand something fundamental:
Many symptoms begin to make sense when viewed through the nervous system.
What appears as anxiety, hyper-vigilance or chronic sleep disruption can reflect a nervous system that has learned to remain on guard.
That understanding changed the course of my life — and became the foundation of this work.
Today, Project Pure supports people in restoring calm, reconnecting with their bodies, and returning to a more natural way of living.
The Foundations of Regulation
Healthy nervous system regulation develops through six core foundations:
01
Safety
The early calibration of the nervous system — the felt sense that the body is safe.
02
Attachment
Relational co-regulation
and trust, the experience of unconditional love.
03
Authenticity
The capacity to feel
and express without suppression.
04
Connection
Love, social support, identity and the experience of being seen.
05
Agency
The ability to sense internally, set boundaries and take responsibility.
06
Rhythm
Breath, movement, sunlight and biological cycles — the natural regulator of the human system.
Symptoms Often Lessen When The Foundations Underneath Them Are Restored
About Annelies
My path into this work has been shaped by psychology, psycho-somatic practice, meditation—and lived experience.
With a Master’s in Psychology and training in psycho-somatic therapy modalities, my work bridges insight and embodiment.
My own healing taught me that understanding alone often isn’t enough.
The body needs involvement.
The nervous system needs safety.
Change needs to be felt, not only understood.
That is the heart of Deep Release Therapy.
My Story
The Search for Belonging
My curiosity about the “why” of people and the world began early.
Growing up in a small conservative village in the Netherlands, I often felt I did not fully belong.
That stirred a lifelong search for understanding — of love, life, and what it means to feel whole.
As a highly sensitive child, I felt deeply, cared deeply, questioned deeply, and often felt misunderstood and alone in my experience of the cold harsh world around me.
Crisis And Transformation
During university, my mental health declined.
I moved through anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction and periods of profound despair, eventually undertaking two and a half years of intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy — an experience that deeply shaped my understanding of healing.
After completing my Master’s in Psychology, I knew something in my life had to change.
I left familiar patterns behind, moved abroad, and eventually settled in Aotearoa New Zealand.
That decision became a turning point.
Years later, my own experience of chronic insomnia deepened this understanding further and ultimately shaped the insomnia and anxiety support I offer today.
The Work I Now Offer
Through Deep Release Therapy, psycho-somatic therapy and nervous system regulation, I support people experiencing insomnia, anxiety and emotional overwhelm to reconnect with themselves in a deeper, calmer and more authentic way.
Sessions are grounded, structured and relational, informed by both professional training and lived experience.
My approach integrates:
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Deep Release Therapy
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Nervous system regulation
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Meditation and somatic inquiry
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Personalised session notes and homework
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Support between sessions when needed
Sessions take place in a private studio in Sumner, Christchurch.
Achievement as Adaptation
My early survival strategy became achievement.
I was always top of the class, winning national medals in synchronised swimming (now artistic swimming), and later in road cycling.
Beneath it sat an unspoken belief:
"If I achieve enough, perhaps I will feel worthy of love."
Yet, no amount of accomplishment filled the deeper longing for connection, belonging, or inner peace.
Over time I came to understand high achievement had been both a gift and an adaptation.
A Different Way Of Healing
Alongside academic training, lived experience taught me something fundamental:
Many struggles begin to make sense when viewed through the nervous system.
What appears as anxiety, hypervigilance or chronic sleep disruption can reflect a nervous system that has adapted to stress and stayed on alert.
Healing often involves restoring relationship — with body, emotions, history and self.
That understanding lives at the heart of my work today.
Many struggles can be understood as signals from the body, pulling us back into relationship with ourselves.
What It's Like To Work Together
Sessions are grounded, collaborative and tailored to your nervous system.
This work combines:
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Deep Release Therapy
-
Nervous system education
-
Meditation and somatic inquiry
What makes this work different?
Support continues beyond the sessions:
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Personalised one-to-one support
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Session notes and integration practices after each session
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Space to reach out between sessions when needed
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A process tailored to your nervous system, not a one-size-fits-all method.
The aim is not symptom management alone, but deeper, lasting, life-altering change.
“Ultimately, healing flows from within. The word itself originates from “wholeness.” To be whole is much more than to experience the absence of disease. It is the full and optimal functioning of the human organism, according to its nature-gifted possibilities.”
- Gabor Maté
