Life can sometimes feel overwhelming — whether through grief, loss, big transitions, or the quieter struggles that build up over time. You may feel stuck, anxious, low in mood, or unsure how to move forward.
Hi, I’m Daniela. I offer a warm, steady and accepting space in Lewes, Brighton & Hove and online, where you don’t have to hold everything together on your own.
I support adults experiencing anxiety, low mood or depression, emotional overwhelm, grief, life transitions, and neurodivergent challenges, including ADHD.
Let's start with a free 30-minute introductory call.
Therapy offers a space for change and growth. You may be feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to move forward - perhaps experiencing low mood, anxiety, or a sense that your usual ways of coping no longer feel helpful.
As a BACP-registered counsellor based in Lewes, East Sussex, I offer to meet you just as you are - with compassion and curiosity - in both your stuckness and your hope for something new.
My Approach
I offer a calm, accepting and collaborative space where you don’t need to leave any part of yourself at the door. Even the parts you might usually hide, judge or feel unsure about are welcome here.
In my work, we’re not so focused on whether you are suffering — suffering is part of being human. What matters more is the meaning that formed around it, and how that experience was met and supported. Many of the ways we think, feel or react today once helped us cope in difficult situations. Therapy is a space to understand those responses with kindness, rather than trying to push them away or criticise yourself for them.
I work with curiosity rather than judgement. Together, we slow things down enough to notice thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations or emotional shifts that are often missed in everyday life, and begin to make sense of what they’re telling you. This can help reduce self-blame, deepen self-understanding, and open up new ways of responding that feel more supportive and aligned with who you are now.
Over time, many people find they feel steadier, clearer about their needs, and more able to respond with choice rather than feeling pulled by old reactions.
I work in a relational and integrative way, drawing from Person-Centred, Gestalt and Existential Therapy, Parts Work, and Transactional Analysis. This allows our work to remain flexible and responsive, shaped around you rather than fitting you into a single model.
What to Expect
Starting Therapy
You don’t need to prepare for therapy or know what to say. It’s okay to feel unsure, hesitant, or even resistant — all of that can be part of the work.
We’ll go slowly, checking in as we go, and you remain in control of what you share. Therapy is not about pushing through, but about creating enough safety to begin noticing what’s happening inside.
How Sessions Work
Sessions are 50 minutes long and usually take place weekly. This offers a regular space to pause, reflect, and focus on yourself.
You might choose to bring something that feels particularily present or important, or we may begin by noticing how things have been for you recently. Often, starting with what’s here right now is enough.
Over time, you may begin to notice:
- What's been weighing on you emotionally
- Patterns that leave you feeling stuck or drained
- How past experiences may still be shaping your present
- Clearer insight into your needs, wants and choices
Working Together
Our work is collaborative and shaped around what feels most helpful for you. Together, we may:
- Give space and language to your thoughts and feelings
- Develop self-understanding and self-compassion
- Find practical tools that help you feel steadier
- Build on your strengths and move towards changes that feel right
I aim to close sessions with a brief moment of reflection, giving you time to gather your thoughts and take anything useful back into everyday life.
"Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he can only build bridges to other islands if he is first of all willing to be himself and permitted to be himself."
Lori Gottlieb
About me
Hi, I’m Daniela. I’m a qualified Humanistic Integrative Counsellor and a registered member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
I run a private counselling practice based in Lewes, East Sussex, offering in-person sessions locally and online counselling across the UK and Europe. I also work from a counselling room in Brighton & Hove. I work with adults who are navigating anxiety, low mood, grief, life transitions, emotional overwhelm, and questions of identity or belonging.
At the heart of my work is a simple belief: with care, respect and acceptance, we all have the capacity to heal, grow and find our own way forward. I know how confusing it can feel when thoughts and emotions pull in different directions, and how meaningful it can be to have a space where you don’t need to have everything worked out, but are met with steadiness and genuine care.
Alongside my private practice, I’m part of a local network offering low-cost counselling for people on reduced incomes. A charity close to my heart is St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Eastbourne, where I supported adults and young people through grief and bereavement. This work continues to shape the compassion, sensitivity and grounded presence I bring to my practice.
“Hope comes when we start to move.
When we start to act.
When we start to take steps
– any steps –
to make things better for ourselves.”
Carolyn Spring
My background
Originally from Austria and now settled in the UK, I understand the subtle shifts that come with change, belonging, and finding your place over time. Living between cultures can bring both opportunity and loss, and this lived experience informs my work with clients exploring identity, transitions, and personal growth — including through online therapy with people living abroad.
Before training as a therapist, I worked as an events manager — a fast-paced, high-pressure environment where emotions often ran high. In that world, I learned the importance of listening carefully, staying grounded, and offering steadiness when things felt intense or uncertain. That learning remains central to how I work today.
I also have years of experience working in educational settings, supporting adults and young people who are neurodivergent or experiencing social, emotional and mental health challenges. This reinforced how powerful it can be to be met with consistency, empathy and curiosity — without judgement or pressure to perform.
Across all of my roles, I’ve seen how a genuine, reliable relationship can nurture confidence, resilience and self-acceptance. I believe we thrive when we feel seen, understood and valued.
International Online Therapy
Living abroad or between cultures can change how you experience yourself, your relationships, and your sense of belonging. Alongside opportunity and growth, many people carry quiet forms of loss — for familiar places, language, routines, family, friends, or a version of life that once felt more like yourself and settled.
You might be coping well on the surface, yet feel emotionally tired. At times, you may feel different, othered, or unrooted — unsure where you belong. Some people notice a growing sense of being torn between who they are and who they’ve had to become, or a feeling that parts of themselves have been lost. For others, anxiety, sadness, or relationship difficulties begin to feel harder to hold alone.
People often seek me out for online therapy when they are living abroad or between cultures and want to work with someone who understands this terrain. Alongside my professional training, my own experience of growing up in one country and making a life in another informs how I listen and work. I support expats and internationally mobile clients across the UK and Europe who are navigating anxiety, grief and loss, overwhelm, identity questions, relationship difficulties, or significant life transitions — often alongside a sense of feeling in-between.
Together, we pay attention to what you’re feeling now, what may be weighing on you, and what you need in order to feel steadier and more at home within yourself.
“Part of getting to know yourself is to unknow yourself to let go of the limiting stories you’ve told yourself about who you are so that you aren’t trapped by them, so you can live your life and not the story you’ve been telling yourself about your life.”
Areas I support
Anxiety, stress, and emotional overwhelm
Low mood, depression, and feeling “stuck”
Neurodivergence, ADHD, and high sensitivity
Grief, bereavement, and loss
Life transitions, big decisions, and identity shifts
Relationship patterns, boundaries, and communication
Self-esteem, body image, and self-worth
Trauma and difficult past experiences
Work stress, burnout, and pressure to cope
Cultural or cross-cultural experiences, including living between worlds
Women’s emotional and hormonal wellbeing
“Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.”
Brene Brown
You can read more about my approach to counselling here.
Language and Expression
I offer counselling sessions in English and am also fluent in German. You’re welcome to bring your own language, culture, and way of expressing yourself into our work together.
Some people find it easier to speak in their mother tongue, while others communicate through imagery, metaphor, pauses, or silence. All of this is welcome. Therapy doesn’t have to be about finding the “right” words — it’s about finding what feels true for you.
This can be especially supportive if you sometimes feel caught between different worlds, move between languages, or find that words don’t quite capture what you want to express.
“Many people come to therapy seeking closure. Help me not to feel. What they eventually discover is that you can’t mute one emotion without muting the others. You want to mute the pain? You’ll also mute the joy.”
Carl Rogers
Therapy Location in Lewes
I offer counselling from calm, private rooms in and close-by Lewes, East Sussex. Each space is peaceful, confidential, and easy to access via public transportation and parking on-site or near-by:
Corner Room
Meeting House
32 Friars Walk
Lewes, BN7 2LE
Gather Rooms
The Old Granary
16 Upper Stoneham Farm
Lewes, BN8 5RH
Therapy Location in Brighton & Hove
I offer counselling from calm, private rooms in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. Each space is peaceful, confidential, and easy to access via public transportation and parking close-by:
69 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2BB
Online and Phone Counselling
I offer online sessions via secure platforms, as well as telephone therapy, if working from home or another familiar space feels more supportive for you. Some clients choose a single way of working, while others find a combination that suits their needs.
Sessions & Fees
Session Length: 50 minutes
Fee: £55 per session
(in-person in Lewes, online, or by phone)
Sessions usually take place weekly, though this can be reviewed together depending on your needs and circumstances. Therapy can be open-ended or time-limited, and we’ll check in regularly to make sure our work continues to feel supportive.
I offer a limited number of reduced-cost sessions for students and people on a lower income. If cost feels like a barrier, please feel welcome to ask about availability.
Cancellation Policy: If you need to cancel or reschedule a session, please let me know at least 48 hours in advance. Sessions cancelled with less notice will be charged at the full fee, as I’m unlikely to be able to offer the time to someone else at short notice.
An Invitation to Reflect
“Sometimes a feeling belongs to more than just the moment we’re in — it echoes somewhere older in our story.”
There are times when our emotional response feels bigger than the situation in front of us. A tone of voice, a delayed reply, a small misunderstanding — and suddenly the body reacts with intensity. Often this isn’t overreacting, but remembering. Our nervous system responds to what feels familiar, not just what is happening now.
Therapy can be a space to slow moments like these down — to gently ask, “Is this feeling about right now, or might it be touching something from before?” With curiosity rather than criticism, we begin to understand our reactions, soften shame, and offer compassion to the parts of us that once learned to protect us.
If this resonates, you’re welcome to keep reading this month's blog or reach out whenever you feel ready.
“Growth occurs when individuals confront problems, struggle to master them, and through that struggle develop new aspects of their skills, capacities, views about life.”
Carl Rogers
Get in Touch
If you’d like to explore whether working together feels right, we can begin with a free 30-minute phone call. This is a gentle space to ask questions, get a sense of how I work, and see what you might need at this time.
There’s no pressure to commit, and you don’t need to have everything figured out — reaching out is enough.
“When someone really hears you
without passing judgement on you,
without trying to take responsibility for you,
without trying to mould you,
it feels damn good…”
Carl Rogers
