Dorcas Upshall
Practical, person-focused counselling for real life
About Dorcas
Dorcas Upshall is a counsellor based in the United Kingdom with three years of practice and a BACP registration. She centres sessions on the goals each person brings and works collaboratively to find what helps most. Her approach is practical and straightforward, aimed at helping people feel more like themselves again.
She offers a calm space to talk about stress, anxiety, trauma, relationship worries, grief, addictions, eating and body image issues, and questions about identity or intimacy.
Background and approach
Sessions are used to make sense of thought patterns, habits and past experiences that are getting in the way. The focus is on small, practical steps you can try between meetings. Dorcas draws on client-centred work to keep the conversation rooted in what the person wants.
She also uses cognitive behavioural ideas to identify unhelpful thinking and behaviours. Internal Family Systems and existential perspectives are used when it helps to look at different parts of yourself or life meaning and purpose. Her background includes work in domestic abuse services, LGBTQ+ charities, addiction and recovery settings, women’s centres, pastoral care in schools and teaching roles.
She is kink-aware and comfortable discussing BDSM and alternative sex culture. She has experience supporting people affected by family problems and compassion fatigue. Sessions are available online in English and international clients can be supported.
Work is tailored to each person, with attention to communication, boundaries, and gradual changes that build emotional confidence.
What Dorcas works with
How Dorcas works
Listed by Dorcas among the ways they work.
Listed by Dorcas among the ways they work.
Listed by Dorcas among the ways they work.
Listed by Dorcas among the ways they work.
Sessions & fees
Approaches that guide online counselling
Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening and following what matters to the person. The therapist offers non-judgemental support and helps people clarify their goals and feelings in everyday language. This approach can help with identity, self-esteem and relationships.Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, looks at patterns of thinking and behaviour. It helps identify unhelpful thoughts and tests small changes to reduce anxiety, low mood or unhelpful habits. Practical exercises are often used between sessions to build new routines.
Internal Family Systems works with different parts of a person - for example the critical part, the anxious part or the part that shuts down. It can be useful when past experiences or internal conflicts make decision-making and relationships harder.
Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the person about goals, preferences and what has worked or not worked before. Together they decide which approach or mix of approaches feels most helpful and can be adjusted over time.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let people read facial cues and talk face to face, phone sessions need less bandwidth and can fit into short breaks, live chat can suit quick check-ins, and text-based messaging supports ongoing reflection. These options make it easier to fit counselling around work, family and travel while keeping a steady therapeutic process with registered or accredited professionals.
| Session length | Typically 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Client ages | Adults, 18 and over |
| Fees | Subscription via BetterHelp, cancel anytime |
| Insurance | Not billed directly |
Questions people ask
What issues can I bring to sessions?
How does she work in sessions?
What is her professional background?
What credentials and region are relevant?
Which languages are supported and can international clients connect?
What session formats are available?
How does payment and cost work?
How do I begin if I want to work with her?
Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Body image
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 3 years
- Registered with
- BACP
- Languages
- English
