Daniela Schirmer, BACP

Daniela Schirmer is a BACP counsellor who supports people facing relationship strain, trauma and abuse, grief, anxiety, depression, and the everyday stresses of life. She also helps with intimacy concerns, parenting challenges, addiction issues, and coping with chronic pain, illness, or disability. Her style aims to make therapy feel steady and approachable for someone who is worried or overwhelmed. She uses a mix of ways to work depending on what each person needs. That can include attachment-focused ideas that look at how relationships shape feelings, client-centred conversation that follows the person’s pace, and cognitive behavioural techniques to spot and change unhelpful thoughts and habits. Sessions pay attention to the patterns between people as well as what happens inside each person. Daniela describes her practice as relational and trauma-informed. That means she notices how interactions with others affect current difficulties, and she keeps in mind the impact of past hurt when planning support. She aims to create a calm, respectful space where people can say what matters to them and try out different ways of coping. She has six years of clinical experience and works in the United Kingdom. Her background includes work with individuals and couples in private practice and online settings, and she draws on varied methods such as Emotionally-Focused and existential approaches when helpful. Sessions are offered in English and Portuguese. People interested in matching with her can check the Start Therapy process to complete a short questionnaire and arrange sessions.

Approaches that guide online therapy

Attachment-based work looks at how early and current relationships shape emotional patterns and reactions. It can help people understand why certain situations feel threatening and try different ways of relating that feel safer and clearer. Client-centred work prioritises the person’s own pace and concerns. The counsellor follows what the client brings, reflects feelings and meanings, and supports self-directed insight and choices. Cognitive behavioural approaches focus on the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. They use practical strategies to identify unhelpful thinking and test new ways of responding to anxiety, low mood, or habits people want to change. Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the early work. The therapist will talk with the person about goals, preferences and what feels most useful, and will try different methods collaboratively rather than assuming one path from the start. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, for example by avoiding travel or fitting a session into a lunch break. They can also allow a quieter check-in without needing a long commute, or a shorter phone-style meeting when less visual contact is needed. Please confirm the specific session formats available with the therapist before booking, as the listing does not assume any particular online options.