Lorraine McDonnell

Lorraine McDonnell is a counsellor who focuses on helping people manage overwhelming thoughts and strong emotions. She holds BACP accreditation, and draws on four years of experience working with adults who feel stuck by anxiety, grief or low self-esteem. Her style is straightforward and compassionate, with an emphasis on making therapy feel practical and meaningful for everyday life.

She understands how persistent worry can make daily life tiring. Sessions aim to reduce unhelpful thinking patterns and build clearer ways to cope. Lorraine uses approaches that help people notice patterns in their thoughts and feelings, and then try out new ways of responding.

In the room she adapts to each person’s pace and needs. Sometimes this means looking at how past experiences shape current reactions. Other times the focus is on practical steps to change thinking and behaviour. She encourages active collaboration so people feel involved in planning the work.

Clients often bring concerns such as bereavement, anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship strain, career stress, or challenges with parenting and caregiving. Lorraine also offers support around ageing and end-of-life matters, chronic illness and pain, and feelings of isolation. Her work attends to both immediate coping and longer term personal understanding.

Sessions are intended to be a calm place to talk honestly, sort priorities and agree on small, workable goals. People can expect clear language, gentle challenge, and tools they can use between meetings to help manage emotions and move forward.

How her approaches translate to online counselling

Client-Centred Therapy places the client's experience at the heart of the work. The counsellor listens without judgement, reflects what she hears, and helps the person find their own solutions; this can be useful for grief, low self-esteem and adjustment to life changes.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, focuses on spotting unhelpful thought patterns and testing practical changes in thinking and behaviour. It often suits people dealing with anxiety, depression or persistent negative thinking because it gives concrete strategies to try between sessions.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapy journey. Lorraine will work collaboratively to choose methods that match a person’s needs, goals and preferences. That may mean combining listening-based work with practical CBT tasks, and adjusting the plan as progress is made.

If you are considering online sessions, please confirm the current session options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit meetings into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow follow-up tasks to be discussed between appointments. It also lets people keep continuity of care when life circumstances change, while focusing on the same practical aims as face-to-face counselling.