Sharmaine O'Keefe

I work Monday to Friday. My hours are flexible so please feel free to contact me via my website (see the red link above) or by telephone or email.

Hello and welcome! I am a Masters level qualified counsellor and a registered member of the BACP. I offer a safe, non-judgemental and confidential space to support adults, children and adolescents with warmth, kindness and empathy. 

It is really important to find a counsellor who is not only highly qualified, but who you feel comfortable with. I understand that opening up to someone you don't know can be daunting, but with the right therapist you will feel a sense of safety and trust and most importantly feel heard and understood. 

My practice is integrative which means that I draw upon several counselling theories including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Solution Focused Therapy (SFT) and Mindfulness Techniques. ​

I offer counselling for adults in many areas as detailed on my website (see the red link above) including anxiety, trauma, PTSD, depression, grief, work related issues, relationship problems, parenting issues and eating disorders.

I also have a special interest counselling children, adolescents and young adults after working for over 20 years as a teacher and lecturer in schools and universities. Working in both private practice and school settings has provided a thorough understanding of the developmental, emotional, social and educational issues experienced by children and young people, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, grief, PTSD, trauma, burn out, study stress, school anxiety, separation anxiety, social anxiety, bullying and learning difficulties due to dyslexia, ADHD and autism spectrum disorders.

I take a person-centred approach to counselling, knowing that you are the best expert on yourself. By working in a collaborative manner, I hope that together we can work through issues, make sense of thoughts and feelings, uncover insights, reach goals and find solutions so that life becomes more manageable and ultimately more meaningful.

I am trained to provide on-line therapy and in-person therapy as well as via email, instant messaging, text and phone calls. 

All sessions will be 50 minutes. The first 50 minute session will include some brief documentation to read and sign and a series of simple questions to answer which will assist me in gaining a greater understanding of your issues. There will also be plenty of time for you to talk about the issues being faced and to ask questions. 

I don't set a pre-determined number of sessions that I think are required. Instead, we will constantly review our progress together and you will be very much in control of how many sessions are needed.