Dawn AM Counselling

Hi I’m Dawn,

I am a Southampton based counsellor and can provide support for anxiety, depression, stress, bereavement and loss. I have a particular passion for helping adults lessen the impact of childhood experiences on their lives.

How I help you

Above all, I provide you with a safe, private, confidential space to talk. I will listen without judgement and without assuming I know best. I believe you are the expert when it comes to knowing yourself. I believe you already have the ability to adapt and thrive.

I focus on helping you understand your emotions, senses, physical sensations and behaviours
I work with you at a pace that suits your needs
I incorporate neuroscientific understanding into my work
I can use various creative methods to help you explore yourself, your relationships and the environmental difficulties you may be experiencing.

The creative methods you and I can consider include:

Using objects (e.g. ribbons, buttons, toys, stones) to explore in greater depth
Movement to help express thoughts and emotions
Drawing to paint the picture that words fail to fully describe
Plus other experiments that you and I can create together to develop and enhance your awareness

In my private practice I provide counselling for anyone aged 18 and older.

About me

I have a varied background including 20 years service in the Royal Navy, social enterprise management, mentoring and school governance. Most importantly to me though, at the core of those experiences, I have always felt a strong pull to help people. I have studied psychology with the Open University, health psychology at the University of Southampton and Gestalt counselling with the University of Portsmouth. My health psychology studies included gaining a deep understanding of the impact of life limiting interstitial lung diseases.

I know first-hand how life can feel stuck, how difficult it can be to grapple with low self-esteem and how enduring the impact of difficult childhood experiences can be. I have lived experience of bereavement, depression, transitioning from military to civilian life, parental estrangement, sexual identity confusion and coping with terminal illness in the family. I have also experienced conflicting shifts in identity and roles in life that can occur as I have got older.

In previous employment, I have worked with clients who had experienced domestic abuse and/or historic childhood sexual abuse. I continue to offer a safe space for clients with the same difficulties in my private practice.

Through my own personal therapy, studies and self-reflection, I have been able to overcome these challenges.

I wish to provide you with the same time and space that I benefitted from.