Sharmaine O'Keefe
Warm practical counsellor for life changes
About Sharmaine
Sharmaine O'Keefe helps with stress, anxiety, parenting concerns, low self-esteem and major life changes. She also supports people facing relationship and family difficulties, grief, trauma and abuse, eating and body-image issues, and workplace or career worries. Sharmaine works with people who are dealing with depression, panic, phobias and a range of women's and reproductive concerns.
She is named as a BACP member and practices from the United Kingdom. Sharmaine takes a practical, down-to-earth approach in sessions.
Background and approach
Conversations are straightforward and focused on what feels manageable for the person in front of her. She aims to build trust and a non-judgemental space so people can speak honestly about painful or confusing experiences.
Her work draws on several evidence-informed methods such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Solution-Focused Therapy, along with mindfulness techniques and client-centred ways of working. Sessions often involve looking at thoughts and behaviours, practising techniques for stress and anxiety, and setting clear, manageable goals.
With four years' experience, Sharmaine has worked in independent practice, senior school settings and charities. Before training as a counsellor she worked as a lawyer, teacher and lecturer, and she uses that background to help with practical problem solving and planning. People from different cultural backgrounds are welcome, and Sharmaine's international experience has informed her sensitivity to diverse perspectives.
Her aim is to help clients discover workable steps forward, restore hope and make daily life feel more manageable.
What Sharmaine works with
How Sharmaine works
Listed by Sharmaine among the ways they work.
Listed by Sharmaine among the ways they work.
Listed by Sharmaine among the ways they work.
Listed by Sharmaine among the ways they work.
Listed by Sharmaine among the ways they work.
Sessions & fees
Approaches you might meet online and how they help
Sharmaine commonly uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which focuses on helping someone notice and accept difficult thoughts and feelings while committing to actions that match their values. This approach can be useful for anxiety, depression and coping with major life changes.She also uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a hands-on method that looks at how thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact. CBT sessions often include practical techniques for reducing panic, phobias, social anxiety and unhelpful thought patterns.
Finding the right approach is a joint process. Sharmaine will work with each person to agree what feels most useful, try out methods in session and adjust based on progress and preferences. The aim is to match techniques to the client’s goals rather than follow a single formula.
Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and non-verbal cues, while phone sessions need less bandwidth and can fit into a lunch break. Live chat and text messaging suit shorter check-ins or people who prefer writing their thoughts. These options make it easier to arrange regular sessions around work, family and daily life with registered or accredited professionals and therapists.
| Session length | Typically 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Client ages | Adults, 18 and over |
| Fees | Subscription via BetterHelp, cancel anytime |
| Insurance | Not billed directly |
Questions people ask
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Areas of focus
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
Also listed
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Fertility issues
- Grief
- Jealousy
- Midlife crisis
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Relationship issues
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 4 years
- Registered with
- BACP
- Languages
- English
