Marian O'Donoghue

Are you struggling with anxiety, depression, changing moods, overthinking everything, or can't find any joy in life? And struggling to understand or explain why? It can be a lonely experience, to be in so much distress. It can affect your relationships, at home at work and make it difficult to form any new friendships. It can feel like you are in a bubble, on your own, looking out at everyone else and not able to reach out or take part in life. You don't feel up to it, isolated because you do not know how to explain why you are so unhappy. You can't find the right words, no-one will understand. Some days you can't be bothered to get out of bed, unless it's for work, or you can't make up your mind what to do with your free time (your own time) so you just put the TV on or spend time scrolling the internet or social media. If this sounds like you, I can help.

How I work

Carl Rogers, the founder of Person-Centred therapy, observed that: “People are just as wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be... I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch it with awe as it unfolds”.

As a Person-Centred counsellor I am passionate about giving people the time and space to be truly heard and seen. I offer a safe space where you can just be you, without judgement. You can take your time as we create a therapeutic relationship based on your needs. We can work at a pace that suits you, to help you to find the words to express what it is that's troubling you, how you are really feeling. I have worked with people who are so traumatised they just want to take the time to feel safe in my therapy room, no pressure. And that's okay. Or you may have some aims that you want to work towards, to be happy, to sleep better. And that's okay too. Sometimes, you may just want to be quiet. Silences can be powerful healing spaces. Sometimes, you may want to cry and shout out, be angry about whatever has brought you here, be it trauma, abuse, or just a lifetime of disappointments, or regrets, or neglect, not being seen and heard as the real you.

I respect people's individuality and different ways of being themselves. My aim is to listen with empathy and full attention and I will do my best to help you to unpick and make sense of what is troubling you, and to find new ways towards living a healthier and happier life. In the words of Carl Rogers, I believe that people are as wonderful as sunsets, and my job is to listen and support you as the whole you underneath all the pain and distress begins to emerge, to unfold.

About me

I came to counselling from a background in Advice Work, having worked in various settings including a Disabled People’s Organisation. I have always noticed that mental distress is a barrier to people being able to achieve their true potential and goals in life. If your mental health is under strain, it is difficult to build a career, easy to comfort eat or get into debt - both are ways human beings try to self-comfort when life is bleak.

I am passionate about mental health and working collaboratively with people to look after and improve their mental health. I have seen the power of listening in my previous occupation and it is a privilege to for me to offer this to my clients as a counsellor, with the enhanced training I have had in listening skills. 

I am a fully qualified Person-Centred Counsellor, having spent five years in training which included trauma informed counselling with survivors of childhood sexual abuse, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem and people experiencing suicidal thoughts.

I am a registered member of BACP and I work within their ethical framework. I am a member of a professional peer group, I have a BACP Accredited clinical Supervisor and I have regular ongoing training for my professional development.

I have a particular interest in working with education-based trauma and learning blocks. I also bring my own experience of working with the Irish diaspora to counselling, having left Ireland for London as a teenager in search of employment.   Many of my Advice Work clients and some of my counselling clients to date have been refugees or asylum seekers. I have a keen awareness of the sense of loss and longing for homeland, and the feeling of otherness that experience brings and the grieving and struggle with identity that has to be worked through as you strive to make a home in your adopted homeland.

I welcome all cultures and identities in my practice, online or in my cosy little garden room in Newark. I look forward to hearing from you.

Fees and payment:

I have some spaces for trainees and people on a low income, such as means-tested welfare benefits and I offer a sliding scale of reduced fees in these circumstances.

Are you a frightened learner?

I also have an interest in working with education-based trauma. People who have experienced a difficult time in school can become frightened learners and have difficulty progressing through school, college or university, coping with exams or assessments or realising their full potential. If this has been your experience and you feel it might be helpful to talk about it in a safe and non-judgemental therapeutic space, we can work together to explore what is holding you back, what makes you fearful in learning environments and try to find ways you might support yourself to have a more positive experience as a learner.