Di Hearne

Taking the brave step to consider counselling can often feel daunting and starting the process of choosing a counsellor can feel challenging, especially if you're not sure what to look out for in terms of skills, qualifications and experience. The good news is, now you are on this website you can be assured of finding someone who has attained at a minimum the status of Registered Member - this means that each practitioner is trained, qualified, and maintains their standards of practice through continuing professional development.  

Thank you for taking the time to read my profile. I hope it helps you with your process of finding the right counsellor for you.

About me

I have 20 years of extensive counselling experience working with adults and young people, both individually and in groups. I have previously worked as a Counsellor for the States of Jersey, in settings including the Psychology Department, Highlands College and the Youth Enquiry Service. I have also been in private practise since 2008, offering counselling and wellbeing courses. 

Up until 2024, I spent almost 10 years as a Managing Partner at an independent counselling training centre. As well as co-running the centre, I was a tutor on all levels from entry through to fully qualified.

In addition to being a Registered Member, I also received approval as an Accredited Member in 2014. 

Â鶹ԭ´´ describe Accreditation as the hallmark of experienced practitioners, distinguishing between members who have met minimum standards and those who have been assessed by Â鶹ԭ´´ as exceeding them and demonstrating the capacity for independent, competent, ethical practice.  

About my practise 

My aim is to offer you a warm, safe and confidential space where you can explore what's happening in your life and somewhere you feel you can do this without judgement. I use an integrative approach and can draw on a number of theories depending on your unique needs. I also spent 10 years teaching mindfulness and can incorporate this into our sessions if that interests you. 

Sessions last an hour and you can choose face-to-face, online or a combination of both. My office is on the outskirts of town and parking is free. 

Finding the right counsellor for you

Research shows that the relationship you have with your counsellor plays a really important part in positive outcomes of the sessions. It's really important to find someone you can feel safe with, and someone you can build trust with so you can talk openly about the things you want to share.

With this in mind, I offer a free half hour session to give you an opportunity to meet me, hear about how I work and it gives me an opportunity to get an overview of what you want to get from counselling.  It will also give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have. It's important to me that you find the right person to support you and at every stage, I encourage you to take the time to consider what feels right for you in terms of moving forward, there is no obligation to continue onto paid sessions. 

If you decide to go ahead once we've had our initial chat, we will then discuss what I can offer in more depth and spend some time unpacking what you need support with. From there we can decide together how we move forward.  People often come to the initial sessions wondering where to start and feeling everything needs to make sense, both to you and your counsellor - I want to reassure you that this is not the case for our sessions. 

I often liken the first session of counselling to you coming along with a jigsaw puzzle and scattering it out on a table - some pieces will fall face up and others face down. Each of those pieces will represent an area of your life and we can work together to start putting those pieces together in a way that you feel safe and in control. I won’t be forcing you to talk about anything you don’t want to and encourage you to always work at your own pace.