Ellen Penny-Brookes, BACP

Ellen Penny-Brookes is a counsellor who helps people manage stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and other everyday struggles. She uses a gentle, respectful style and aims to make talking about hard things feel manageable. Ellen works with adults, children and adolescents and draws on several counselling approaches to suit different needs.

She holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Psychodynamic Counselling from Essex University. She also completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling at the University of East Anglia. Ellen is registered with the British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists - BACP.

In sessions she often looks at patterns that repeat in day-to-day life. Psychodynamic thinking helps identify early experiences and unconscious influences that shape feelings and relationships. This can help people understand why they react in certain ways and find new choices.

She also uses client-centred conversation to follow what matters most to the person in the room. Cognitive Behavioural ideas may be used when helpful to address unhelpful thoughts and habits. Trauma-focused ways of working are available for people coping with past harm or abuse.

Ellen runs a private practice in the United Kingdom and combines in-person and remote sessions. She can support issues including grief, relationship problems, eating and sleeping difficulties, ADHD-related struggles, compassion fatigue and parenting stress.

How these approaches translate to online work

Psychodynamic work looks at repeated patterns and how early experiences shape current feelings. Online sessions can be used to reflect on those patterns and make sense of how they affect everyday thoughts and habits.

Client-centred counselling focuses on following what matters most to the person and offering empathic listening. That approach works well online because the conversation is led by the client and aims to build trust and clarity over time.

Cognitive behavioural techniques target unhelpful thoughts and small habits. In remote sessions these can be practised between meetings and reviewed together to check what helps in daily life.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and practical needs and then agree a plan together. This collaborative process helps adapt methods as priorities change.

Session formats are described in the therapist's biography, so please confirm the current remote options when booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed, while still focusing on practical changes and clearer thinking.