My Approach

Donna is an experienced Integrative Psychotherapist and Person-Centred Counsellor. In the early 1990's she initially trained in the field of Transactional Analysis with the Manchester Institute for Psychotherapy; she also holds a Masters degree in Integrative Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy and Counselling with Terapia/Middlesex University.  Donna is accredited with the UKCP. 

Donna brings to her clinical practice over twenty-five years experience working within the statutory mental health and front-line social work field, meeting the needs of adults and young people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds. More recently, she provided long and short-term psychotherapy for a youth and community charity, and in partnership with schools and colleges across West Sussex.

Alongside her private practice, Donna also works for The Therapeutic Consultants (TTC) Sussex, a multi-disciplinary organisation specialising in long-term attachment and trauma-informed psychotherapy with adoptive children and their families and in partnership with the ASGSF initiative. She also holds  clinical space for private fee-paying families across parts of the Southeast. 
Qualifications

MA. Child.Psych.
Cert.TA.
DipSW.
Cert. Couns.

About Me

Donna offers a therapeutic relationship that is deeply reflective and authentic for both adults and young people. From her beautiful, quiet space in the coastal town of Selsey, Donna facilitates a creative, imaginative and introspective journey that aims to develop insight and encourage personal growth for clients. Her practice methods are informed by relational and developmental psychology, flavoured with a humanistic and existential philosophy. 

Donna is particularly interested in family dynamics and patterns of attachments and relating, which if not nurtured can cause a feeling of disconnection from oneself and worlds away from a life deserved. She pays particular interest in how anxiety, stress and trauma for instance, can affect the nervous system and neurological functioning within individuals and how these factors impact family functioning. 

Holding a Grade 8 in classical violin, Donna is deeply interested in the therapeutic power of music. She appreciates an eclectic range of musicality, bringing music and creativity in her work where appropriate. Whilst understanding how music can help support self-expression, Donna also holds space for some of the more challenging themes relating to performance anxiety, often resulting from a perfection-driven culture. 

Donna is also passionate about animals and the natural world. She believes both have the power to educate and heal us by expanding the understanding we have of ourselves if we are still enough to listen to their wisdom. 

I work with

• Children and young people
• Couples
• Families
• Individuals
• Private healthcare referrals

Special Interests

Like all UKCP registered psychotherapists and psychotherapeutic counsellors I can work with a wide range of issues, but here are some areas in which I have a special interest or additional experience.

Types of Therapies Offered

• Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist