Melanie Duffin

Melanie Duffin is a wellbeing counsellor who offers direct, practical help for people under stress. She uses simple, grounded conversation to help with anxiety, low self-esteem and the strain of grief. Melanie aims to make sessions a calm place to talk honestly and feel heard.

She has a degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy and holds BACP registration. Melanie draws on ten years of experience helping people untangle family conflict, trauma and abuse, and the challenges that come with illness and ageing. Her work also covers issues such as attachment difficulties, caregiver stress, body image and chronic pain.

In sessions she focuses on what the person wants to change. She listens first, then helps people spot patterns that keep them feeling stuck. Practical tools from cognitive behavioural ways of working are mixed with acceptance-based ideas to build gentle, steady progress.

Melanie also uses client-centred practices to create a respectful, non-judgemental space. When helpful, she brings in attachment-based thinking to understand relationship patterns. Clients can expect an approachable style and straightforward steps they can try between meetings.

People come to Melanie for support with bereavement and end-of-life concerns as well as everyday pressures. She encourages small, manageable goals and works at a pace that fits the individual. To begin, she asks people to reflect on what matters most and what they hope to change.

Approaches that guide online counselling

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that reflect their values. It is often used for anxiety, stress and coping with loss. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting and testing unhelpful thinking patterns and trying practical experiments to change feelings and behaviour. It is useful for anxiety, low mood and many everyday problems. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns affect current connections and can help with repeated relationship difficulties and trust issues.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will listen to your concerns and goals, then suggest methods that fit your needs and preferences. This is a collaborative process and adjustments are made as therapy progresses so the plan stays relevant to you.

Please confirm current session options before booking, as formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into busy lives, such as shortening travel time or slipping a check-in into a lunch break. It can also allow for quieter, more focused conversations when that suits you. Registered or accredited professionals aim to shape sessions around what helps you keep therapy manageable and consistent.