About me
Hello, I’m Donna. As a qualified counsellor, with a background in general and bereavement counselling, I help clients with their personal challenges so they are given a chance to process their feelings, to find themselves and move forward.
How counselling can help
Sometimes, life can be hard, and we can often feel lost, confused or simply that we are at a crossroads in life. Events can happen that can destabilise our emotions and thoughts. In such times, we may need someone to support, listen, guide, and even gently challenge us to move forward. Counselling gives a client this opportunity in a non-judgemental and ethical way whilst enabling the client to maintain their autonomy and be themselves.
What you can expect in your sessions
I provide a comfortable, friendly, private and safe place for you to talk and be listened to either face to face, or over the phone or online according to your preference. Within the first session, we will establish and align our joint purpose and boundaries. This helps create a mutual understanding and respect to build our counselling relationship upon, with the aim to achieve a better outcome for you. Going forward, your counselling will be tailored to your needs whilst maintaining the core values of counselling such as empathy, authenticity and confidentiality. Through my previous work with Thurrock & Brentwood Mind as a counsellor, I have gained a wealth of experience and knowledge, listening to many of life's difficulties like bereavement, divorce, separation, past issues, anxiety and depression. I am a registered member of the BACP, and I am fully DVS checked.
I know deciding to have counselling can be daunting, and trying to find the right counsellor may seem overwhelming. Sadly, there are no magic fixes but what I can promise, is that I will walk the journey with you.
Book a 'get to know me' session
I offer an initial up to 30-minute assessment/chat for us to talk, discuss your reasons for counselling, what you are looking for from the sessions and see if you feel comfortable that I am the right counsellor for you.
Training, qualifications & experience
I have a Level 4 Diploma in Therapeutic counselling, Diploma in Grief and Bereavement Counselling and Diploma in Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I have done a couple of working with the inner child courses.
I have been working for a little over 6 years at Thurrock and Brentwood Mind as a bereavement and general counsellor. Prior to this I did my placement training at T&B Mind covering a range of personal issues. I also volunteered for a little over a year as a Befriender at Basildon hospital, where I sat with very ill patients in a time of great anxiety and worry. I use the BACP, CPD Hub to continue my learning.
Member organisations
BACP is one of the UK’s leading professional bodies for counselling and psychotherapy with around 60,000 members. The Association has several different categories of membership, including Student Member, Individual Member, Registered Member MBACP, Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Accred) and Senior Registered Accredited Member MBACP (Snr Acccred). Registered and accredited members are listed on the BACP Register, which shows that they have demonstrated BACP’s recommended standards for training, proficiency and ethical practice. The BACP Register was the first register of psychological therapists to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). Accredited and senior accredited membership are voluntary categories for members who choose to undertake a rigorous application and assessment process to demonstrate additional standards around practice, training and supervision. Individual members will have completed an appropriate counselling or psychotherapy course and started to practise, but they won’t appear on the BACP Register until they've demonstrated that they meet the standards for registration. Student members are still in the process of completing their training. All members are bound by the BACP Ethical Framework and a Professional Conduct Procedure.
Accredited register membership
The Accredited Register Scheme was set up in 2013 by the Department of Health (DoH) as a way to recognise organisations that hold voluntary registers which meet certain standards. These standards are set by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).
This therapist has indicated that they belong to an Accredited Register.
Areas of counselling I deal with
Therapies offered
Fees
£50.00 per session
Concessions offered for
Additional information
I can offer £40.00 for those on benefits.
When I work
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