About
My story
Hi, I’m Danielle, a qualified counsellor based in Hove, working with adults in-person and online.
I’ve spent much of my career in places where people reach out at some of the hardest moments of their lives. I volunteered with the Samaritans, offering confidential support to people in distress, and with Release, a Hove charity supporting new mothers through postnatal depression. I also worked with Lifecentre, supporting adults through trauma. That work taught me how much courage it takes to ask for help, and has shaped how I listen.
Through this work, I came to understand how little room there can be for journeys that don’t end the way people hoped, particularly the road to parenthood. Miscarriage, unsuccessful fertility treatment, or a family that never came to be for circumstantial reasons are real losses. Yet, they’re often met with silence, misplaced advice, or with well meaning people who just don’t know what to say. There can also be difficult feelings around becoming a parent, difficult birth and pregnancy experiences that stay with you long afterwards, or a gap between the motherhood you imagined and the one you find yourself living.
Because of this, I trained further in grief, trauma and PTSD, completed the foundation course for fertility counselling with the British Infertility Counselling Association, and trained in childless-affirmative therapy, so there's somewhere to sit with these experiences and the grief they can bring, without being asked to move on.
I also work with couples through Relationship Sussex, formerly Relate, and have facilitated groups exploring how trauma affects the brain and body. This has deepened my understanding of how our experiences shape the way we feel, respond and relate to one another. Making sense of these reactions can bring relief, especially when we’ve spent a long time wondering what’s wrong with us. Sometimes, that understanding is enough in itself. At other times, it can open the door to exploring things more deeply and finding what helps.
Alongside this, I work with a wider range of difficulties, including trauma, loss and relationship struggles. If you're not sure whether what you're facing fits, get in touch and we can talk it through.
My Approach
Sometimes talking things through is what helps most. At other times, a more structured approach like EMDR can help, particularly when painful memories still feel very present in your mind and body. Where there is grief, it can help to have room to explore what you’ve lost and what it means to you.
There isn’t a set route, so we’ll find your way together. Patterns you struggle to change, or things you feel ashamed of, often began as ways of coping when something hurt too much or something important was missing. Rather than problems to fix, we can explore with compassion what they’ve helped you manage, and whether they still serve you.
I bring professional training and an understanding of how loss and trauma can affect us individually and within relationships, alongside an interest in your story. My approach is neuroaffirming, so if you’re neurodivergent, we’ll make sense of your experience in a way that fits how your mind works. I won’t tell you what to do or set homework. We’ll work at a pace that feels manageable, making sense of what’s happening and exploring what might help.
Qualifications and accreditation
Postgraduate Diploma in Humanistic Counselling and Psychotherapy, Brighton University
Post Qualifying Certificate in Relational Therapy, Relate
EMDR - EMDR Nexus part of EMDR Europe
Understanding and Working with Complex Grief & Ambiguous Loss
Foundation Course for Fertility Counselling - British Infertility Counselling Association
Childless Affirmative Therapy - Working with Involuntary Childlessness
Further Training
Working with Shame & Trauma
Working with Adult ADHD Therapeutic Themes & Interventions
Attachment & Utilising Therapy to Heal Attachment Wounds
Working With Neurodiverse Couples and Relationships: A Neuro-Affirming Approach
Advanced Practitioner Training in the Treatment of Trauma
Internal Family Systems & Complex Trauma
Certificate in Focusing Skills & Interventions
I’m an accredited member of the BACP (400326) and my work is grounded within their ethical framework.
