Dorothy Thompsett


Every professional displayed on Counselling Directory has been independently verified by our team to ensure they have suitable credentials to practise.
This professional is available for new clients.
This professional is available for new clients.
About me
Some of the benefits of therapy include increased self-esteem, stability and calmness, and a reduction in social anxiety and the need to “people-please." Less fear of abandonment, and a growing ability to share intimacy. Better choices of friends and intimate partners based on mutual respect and equality (rather than familiar roles). More fun and playfulness, more spontaneity and more feelings of genuineness. Better ability to set healthy boundaries and limits, less fear of failure, healthier choices and behaviours.
I offer long and short term psychotherapy to young people (16 to 24) and adults. I include expressive arts person-centered counselling as part of my practice, which also encompasses more traditional talk therapy. This includes drawing, painting, imagework and other types of expressive play. I find that creative expression helps us to focus on what is happening inside and to be less concerned with 'getting it right' or what is happening outside of our control. I have found this especially useful with some neurodivergent clients and also young people in aiding an understanding of feelings, and a reduction in certain symptoms.
I work both face to face from my consulting rooms in Eastbourne and Lewes, and online. There is free parking at both sites, and the rooms are designed to help you feel at ease and safe. I have materials that we can use and you can suggest new things as we go along. There is no requirement to 'be good at' anything. What you create/talk about in our sessions is confidential, and your anonymity will be respected at all times, including in supervision. Sessions are weekly and take place in the same room. I charge £60 for a 50 minute session and also offer some concessionary places for people who need them.
You, the client are in the driving seat all of the time, determining the route, the pace and the content of our interactions. My job is to observe, to listen, to hold a consistent, predictable and reliable space and to support you to identify what is going on for you. As our relationship progresses and deepens, you may find yourself feeling soothed and regulated so that you can relax and unmask in the knowledge that I won’t try to fix, advise, or diminish your experience in any way.
I have worked successfully with many people who have found therapy to be extremely beneficial in helping to make sense of feelings, symptoms, issues and behaviours. As explanations begin to be uncovered and connections made to our past histories, we can release ourselves from shame and blame, and use our feelings to navigate the complexities of life now. Having access to our feelings leads to life changes in alignment with our real needs and goals.
I first trained in art psychotherapy, having been a professional artist and university lecturer in my previous career. As I experienced therapy myself in my late 30s I began to see and to understand the depths of what I had been through, how I had survived and what had been held and hidden all those years. From there I was able to integrate life and vitality back into myself, and my life changed radically.
I’m both experienced and well qualified, with a Masters and Ph.D as well as my professional counselling and therapy qualifications, and I am registered by the BACP (the counselling and psychotherapy professional body). I care a lot about my job and am professional at all times. I keep up to date with innovations in my field by undertaking continual professional development and am trauma informed and twelve step informed. I am trained in child development and attachment theory and I am experienced in working with ASD, ADHD, OCD, depression and anxiety, abuse, codependency, panic attacks, addictions, and self harming behaviours.
Please email me to set up an initial free 30 minute remote consultation where I can answer your questions and give you a sense of how I work, so that you can decide if you feel comfortable to proceed with me as your therapist.
Training, qualifications & experience
I specialise in working with adults and children encountering significant struggles and difficulties, many that arise as a result of traumatic events in their lives. For example, feelings of pointlessness or stuckness, problems concentrating, damaging addictive patterns, destructive family relationships, self-harm, repetitive behaviours, hoarding or emotional distress in the form of anxiety, depression or panic attacks. As a result, many clients have sought medical diagnoses and want to use therapy to fully understand them and to find their own individual routes through.
I have worked in schools, prisons, drug and alcohol services and currently work for local services that help people with bereavement issues, depression, low self-esteem, phobias, panic attacks and generalised anxiety.
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
£60.00 per session
Free initial telephone or online session
Concessions offered for
When I work
Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morning | |||||||
Afternoon | |||||||
Evening | |||||||
Night |
In Eastbourne I am available Friday afternoon and evening only.
In Lewes I have availability on Wednesday afternoons and Thursdays