Melanie O'Brien, BACP

Melanie O'Brien offers person-centred counselling that focuses on listening and understanding. She creates a calm, respectful space where people can talk about what feels hard. Melanie writes plainly and keeps sessions grounded and approachable for those new to therapy.

She works with a broad range of concerns including stress, anxiety, depression and addictions. Relationship difficulties, grief, parenting strain and self-esteem issues are also areas she supports. Melanie pays attention to attachment and abandonment themes as well as body image and eating concerns.

Her practice includes helping people cope with chronic illness or pain, caregiver stress, communication problems and separation or divorce. She also supports those dealing with guilt, shame, isolation and family of origin issues. Substance use, domestic violence and trauma are included in her focus areas.

Melanie uses Client-Centred Therapy as the core approach, which means she prioritises the therapeutic relationship and listens without judgment. Sessions move at a pace the person finds comfortable and focus on what feels most helpful in the moment.

She has five years of experience and holds BACP accreditation, listed as BACP. Sessions are offered in English and take place online via a range of formats. If someone wants to begin, they follow the site's start process to match and schedule a session.

Person-centred care and online counselling options

Client-Centred Therapy puts the relationship first. The counsellor listens without judgement and helps people find their own way forward. This approach suits issues like anxiety, low mood, grief and self-esteem where understanding and being heard matter most.

Melanie approaches sessions at the client’s pace and uses the therapeutic relationship to explore attachment, abandonment or relationship themes. She is collaborative about choosing helpful ways to work, and will discuss whether sessions should focus on feelings, practical steps or communication skills depending on the person's goals.

Online therapy can fit different lifestyles. Video calls let people use visual cues and more conversational work. Phone sessions are useful when bandwidth or comfort on camera is an issue. Live chat and text-based messaging offer short check-ins, ongoing reflection and flexibility across the week. These formats make it easier to schedule sessions around work, care duties or health needs and let people choose what feels most manageable.