Sharon Lenihan, BACP

Sharon Lenihan is an integrative counsellor who offers calm, compassionate support to adults and young adults who have experienced sexual violence, trauma, or other distressing life events. Since 2021 she has worked with a Sexual Survivors Trust, drawing on that specialist experience to create a space where people can feel listened to, believed, and supported as they explore the difficulties affecting their wellbeing.

Her therapeutic style is warm, collaborative, and flexible. Sharon adapts her approach to each person rather than expecting clients to fit a single model, combining person-centred principles with cognitive behavioural techniques, psychodynamic ideas, and mindfulness-based practices to suit individual needs and goals. She moves at the client’s pace and treats sensitive material with care and respect.

Together with clients she focuses on processing overwhelming experiences, developing practical coping strategies, and rebuilding a sense of safety, self-trust, and resilience. She commonly supports people managing shame, anxiety, low mood, relationship difficulties, and the long-term effects of trauma, offering a steady, supportive presence while making sense of these experiences.

Before training as a counsellor, Sharon spent many years working in safeguarding roles, supporting individuals and families through crisis, risk, and complex systems. That background informs her trauma-aware practice and her ability to remain grounded when working with highly stressful situations. She holds the BACP credential - British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - and provides therapy in English from the United Kingdom, accepting clients both locally and internationally.

Therapeutic Approaches for Online Support

Sharon commonly draws on person-centred principles, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), and mindfulness-based techniques when working online. Person-centred work focuses on offering a non-judgemental, empathetic space where clients are listened to and supported to find their own answers - it is helpful for building self-worth and processing emotional pain. CBT involves identifying patterns of thought and behaviour that maintain distress and developing practical strategies to change them - it is often used for anxiety, low mood, and stress-related problems. Mindfulness-based techniques teach simple ways to notice thoughts and bodily sensations with more balance, which can help manage emotional overwhelm and reduce reactivity.

Finding the right therapeutic approach is part of the process, and Sharon treats this as a collaborative conversation. She will work with each person to explore what feels most helpful, adjusting methods to match their needs, goals, and preferences so that therapy is both effective and respectful of individual pacing.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility - sessions can take place by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different schedules and comfort levels. This variety makes it easier to access consistent support from licensed professionals and therapists even when travel, work, or other commitments make in-person appointments difficult.