Coaching · Speaking · Training

From survival
to strength.

Coaching for women rebuilding after abuse and trauma. Powerful speaking rooted in lived experience, and practical training for organisations that want to respond with confidence, care and clear boundaries.

Senior Fellow, ACCPH Trauma-informed Fully insured
Raj Holness, trauma-informed coach, speaker and author

You are welcome here

You do not need the right words, a diagnosis, or a clear story to be here. If something feels hard to carry, that is enough.

Ways to work with Raj

How can I support you?

Whether you are seeking personal support, booking a speaker, developing your team or looking for resources to use in your own time, there is a clear place to begin.

Coaching

Rebuild with support

Trauma-informed one-to-one and group coaching for women ready to understand what shaped them, rebuild confidence and move forward at a pace that feels manageable.

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Speaking

Speaking that connects

Grounded, powerful speaking for conferences, churches, schools, universities and community events. Lived experience, insight and hope, without sensationalising trauma.

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Training

Help your team respond

Trauma-informed training that helps organisations understand abuse and trauma, communicate safely, hold appropriate boundaries and respond with greater confidence.

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Books & resources

Support in your time

Published books, the Beauty For Your Ashes journal and affirmation cards, created to support reflection and rebuilding at your own pace.

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Not ready to book anything? Start for free →

About Raj

I don't coach or speak from theory alone. I speak from what I have lived, and that is the foundation of everything I do.

Raj Holness speaking at TEDx
TEDx stage
Raj Holness at the House of Lords
House of Lords
Once Upon a Time in Birmingham
Women Who Dared to Dream
Raj Holness at 10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street

The woman supporting you
has walked the road


I'm a certified mindset and trauma-informed coach, speaker, trainer, author and ordained minister based in Birmingham. I've lived through domestic abuse, spiritual abuse, two attempted forced marriages and attempts on my life, and I now support others to rebuild.

I don't share what follows to impress you. I share it so you know the person supporting you has done the work, walked the road, and been recognised for it. Because I started exactly where you might be standing right now.

  • TEDx speakerSharing lived experience of abuse, and how asking a different question changed everything.
  • House of Lords & 10 Downing StreetInvited as part of ongoing advocacy for women and children affected by abuse.
  • Once Upon a Time in BirminghamOne of thirty women chosen, alongside Malala Yousafzai, Denise Lewis and Kit de Waal.
Read my story

Books & resources

Written from lived experience

Books and a journal written from real lived experience, for anyone finding their way through and beyond abuse and trauma. Something to sit with, in your own time and at your own pace.

The Only Arranged Marriage by Raj Holness

The Only Arranged Marriage

A raw and honest autobiography of survival, forced marriage, and finding freedom.

Uncovering Truths by Raj Holness

Uncovering Truths

The follow up autobiography exploring spiritual abuse, faith, and the courage to speak.

Beauty For Your Ashes journal by Raj Holness

Beauty For Your Ashes

A guided journal offering space for reflection, restoration, and gentle growth.

Empowerment Edition affirmation cards by Raj Holness

Also available

Affirmation cards

These cards are designed to offer steady reminders, reflection, and grounding in everyday life. They can be used quietly on your own, as part of a personal routine, or alongside journalling and coaching where appropriate. Some people use them daily.

Browse all books & resources

The structure beneath the work

The Foundation Framework

Most personal development starts with what people can see. This starts underneath, with what your life is built on.

One idea holds it together: you cannot build a strong future on a false foundation. A false foundation does not mean you are broken, or to blame for what happened. It means some of the beliefs you have carried, often formed through pain or survival, were never strong enough to hold the life you are trying to build.

How the Framework works

The Six Foundations™

Foundation1

Blueprint

What shaped me?

Understanding what formed how you see yourself.

Foundation2

Bedrock

What am I built on?

Looking honestly at beliefs and patterns.

Foundation3

Cracks

What are my patterns showing me?

Reading them as information, not fault.

Foundation4

Truth

What is actually true?

Testing a belief instead of accepting it.

Foundation5

Rebuild

How do I build differently?

One real change at a time.

Foundation6

Legacy

What will I pass forward?

What stops with you, and what begins.

The Foundation Framework brings together established trauma-informed coaching practice, the Unbreakable Mindset Method®, and material developed from my own lived experience and client work. I name my sources because you should know what you are being taught and where it came from.

What clients and audiences say

Real experiences from women, rooms
and readers Raj has reached

Before working with Raj, I felt trapped in fear. Now I have hope and a plan for my future.

Anonymous · 1:1 coaching client

Raj's talk was powerful, raw, and unforgettable. She held the room in silence, then moved us to hope.

Anonymous · Conference audience

In just one breakthrough session with Raj, I gained clarity and hope I hadn't felt in years. I've now committed to 12 coaching sessions. Scared, but more than that, excited for the journey ahead.

Anonymous · 1:1 coaching client

When Raj speaks, she doesn't just inspire. She shifts something inside you.

Anonymous · Church event

From a history of anxiety and depression and being done with life, to I'm so grateful for this life.

Anonymous · 1:1 coaching client

Raw, gripping, and deeply insightful. Spiritual abuse is not talked about enough.

Anonymous · Reader, Uncovering Truths

Shared with permission. Names shortened or withheld to protect privacy.

Not ready to book anything?

Two free ways to begin

Five Things Nobody Tells You About Rebuilding After Abuse — free guide

A free guide

Five Things Nobody Tells You About Rebuilding After Abuse


Five Things Nobody Tells You About Rebuilding After Abuse is a short, honest guide written for women who are finding their feet again after abuse. It names five things that are rarely spoken about but almost universally felt.

Send me the guide
Complete the Trigger Finder Self-Reflection Tool

A free tool

The Trigger Finder Self-Reflection Tool


If you are not yet ready to book a call or commit to a programme, that is completely understandable.

Begin with the free Trigger Finder Self-Reflection Tool. It is a simple, private way to identify the patterns, emotional triggers, and hidden blocks that may still be shaping your daily life.

There is no pressure and no obligation. Just a quiet first step toward understanding yourself a little more clearly. Clarity creates momentum. And momentum creates change.

Start the free tool