Melanie Duffin, BACP

Melanie Duffin welcomes people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, grief or low self esteem. She is a counsellor who aims to make starting therapy simple and straightforward. Melanie presents as calm and approachable and focuses on helping people take the next practical step toward feeling better.

Melanie holds a degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy and is a member of the BACP, which means she follows the UK professional body’s standards. She has around 10 years of experience supporting people through trauma, abuse, bereavement and family-related worries. She also works with concerns such as abandonment, attachment questions and issues around body image and chronic illness.

Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. Sessions are shaped around each person’s needs and pace rather than a fixed formula. She uses useful tools from cognitive behavioural approaches and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help with unhelpful thinking and to build workable coping strategies.

Attachment-based and Jungian ideas inform how Melanie understands relationships and personal patterns. This can help people notice long-standing habits and try different responses. Practical, short-term steps are blended with attention to deeper themes where that feels helpful.

Melanie aims to make the therapy space respectful and non-judgemental. She invites people to name goals and then works with them to change small behaviours, try new ways of thinking and track what actually helps over time.

Therapeutic approaches and online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. It is often useful for anxiety, persistent stress and when motivation has waned.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns and testing them with practical experiments. It tends to suit people who want clear strategies to manage anxiety, low mood or specific worries.

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship experiences shape current responses and helps people try new ways of relating and self-soothing. This can be helpful where patterns of avoidance, abandonment worries or relational difficulties are present.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will discuss goals and tailor techniques so they fit each person’s needs and preferences. This is a collaborative process where methods are adjusted as progress is reviewed.

If you plan to use online therapy, check which session formats are offered before booking as the biography does not list them. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, save travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. They may also suit people who prefer not to be on camera or who need a lower-bandwidth option, depending on the formats the therapist provides.