Dawn Mullen , BACP

Dawn Mullen is a BACP counsellor who supports people facing stress, anxiety, addiction and trauma. She helps with low self-esteem, grief, anger, relationship strain, career worries and life changes. Dawn also works with issues such as caregiver stress, codependency, dissociation, domestic violence, and process addictions. She uses straightforward, person-focused care to help people take the next step forward.

Dawn draws on seven years of experience that began in residential rehab settings. There she supported clients through depression, bereavement, trauma and the early stages of recovery from substance use. That background shapes how she understands relapse risk, post-rehab challenges and the complex feelings that follow traumatic events.

Her approach blends client-centred counselling with cognitive behavioural techniques. In practice this means sessions start by hearing a person’s story and priorities, then working together on practical ways to change thinking and behaviour. She also uses mindfulness and trauma-focused work when these suit someone’s needs.

Dawn aims to create a calm, warm space in conversation. She focuses on empathy and respect and on helping people notice what helps them cope. Sessions are collaborative and paced to match each person’s readiness to make changes.

If someone is nervous about starting therapy she offers a gentle first step. Dawn supports planning achievable goals, building new routines, and developing tools to manage distress. She encourages people to take back a sense of control and move towards clearer choices.

Therapeutic approaches and how they work online

Client-centred therapy starts by placing the person's experience at the heart of the work. The counsellor listens without judgement and helps people clarify what matters to them, whether that is recovery from addiction, coping with grief or rebuilding self-worth. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and offers simple exercises to test and change unhelpful patterns; it can be useful for anxiety, depression and stress. Trauma-focused work helps people process distressing memories and reduce their impact, using gradual, stabilising steps to make day-to-day life more manageable.

Finding the right approach is part of the journey. The counsellor will talk through options and decide together which methods suit the person's goals and preferences. That collaborative planning means techniques can be adjusted over time as progress is made or new priorities emerge.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video calls allow more face-to-face interaction, while phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a short break. Live chat and messaging are useful for brief check-ins or when typing feels easier than speaking. These formats help people access regular support around work, caregiving or other commitments.