About Pennie
Pennie Sheppard is a counsellor who focuses on making therapy practical and approachable. She works with people feeling stressed, anxious, depressed, or worn down by grief, anger or compassion fatigue. Pennie also supports those facing addiction, trauma and abuse, and people struggling with self-esteem or life changes.
She uses a mix of body-focused and talking approaches to help people feel more grounded. Somatic work looks at how emotions show up in the body, while client-centred and cognitive tools help make sense of thoughts and choices.
Background and approach
Breath and mindfulness practices are offered alongside practical skills for day-to-day coping. Pennie has 15 years of experience and holds BACP registration, which is listed as her professional credential. She draws on that experience to shape sessions that suit each person’s needs and pace.
Sessions are described as collaborative and respectful, with room to move at the client’s comfort level. Her background includes work with long-term illness, neurodiversity and dissociation, alongside common mental health concerns. This breadth means she can combine different techniques to address both mental and bodily aspects of a problem.
The focus is on steady progress rather than quick fixes. Pennie offers online formats, including video calls, phone, live chat and text messaging. She uses those options to make therapy easier to fit around everyday life and to keep talking accessible for people who cannot attend in person.
How Pennie’s approaches work online
Somatic work focuses on how feelings live in the body. It uses gentle attention to breath, posture and sensation to help people notice and reduce physical tension linked to stress, trauma or chronic pain. This can suit clients who find talking alone does not fully address their distress.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people settle on what matters most and take small steps towards those values. It mixes mindfulness with practical actions to reduce avoidance and increase meaningful activity. Client-Centred Therapy creates a supportive, non-judgemental space where the person's own pace and priorities guide the work.
Finding the right approach is part of the process and will be decided together. The therapist listens to your needs, goals and preferences and suggests techniques that fit. That collaborative way helps tailor sessions to what actually feels useful for the individual.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to stay connected. Video calls approximate face-to-face interaction, while phone sessions suit people who prefer voice only. Live chat and text-based messaging provide shorter, ongoing support between sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy going around work, care duties or mobility limits.
Frequently asked questions
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What professional credentials does she hold and where is she based?
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What online session formats are offered?
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English