Pennie Sheppard, BACP

Pennie Sheppard is a BACP counsellor who helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression and midlife change. She works with those struggling with addictions, trauma and abuse, and people coping with grief or compassion fatigue. Her style is calm and respectful, with an emphasis on listening and practical steps that make daily life easier.

Pennie draws on about 15 years of experience in counselling. She adapts conversations and plans to each person’s needs rather than using a single approach for everyone. Sessions aim to make difficult feelings easier to understand and to find ways to manage them day to day.

Her background includes work with long-term illness such as MS and fibromyalgia, and with neurodiverse presentations including autism and learning differences. She also supports people dealing with attachment and abandonment issues, dissociation, and complex emotional patterns such as codependency and avoidant tendencies.

Pennie uses methods from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, Emotionally-Focused Therapy and client-centred counselling. She also integrates mindfulness, breathing and relaxation exercises and body-oriented psychotherapy elements when helpful.

People who benefit are often looking for a mix of practical tools and reflective space. Sessions can include problem solving, emotion regulation skills and paced exploration of painful memories. The aim is to make everyday challenges more manageable and to help clients move forward at their own pace.

How Pennie uses talking therapies online

Online sessions with Pennie draw on approaches that teach skills while also allowing space to reflect. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice painful thoughts without getting overwhelmed and choose actions that matter to them. It can be useful for stress, low mood and life transitions.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thinking and testing new behaviours. It often includes straightforward exercises to change patterns that maintain anxiety or depression. Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT) aims to clarify feelings and improve how people express emotions, which can help with relationship-related distress and attachment issues.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and what feels most helpful, and then tailor methods accordingly. That means practical skills, gentle exploration, or a mix of both depending on what a person needs.

Session formats are not specified in the original profile, so please confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, cut travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also support paced exploration of painful memories while using mindfulness and breathing practices between sessions to manage emotions.