Donna Ronald

I am available Wednesdays ( 9-5) and Thursdays (9-12). I have a counselling space in Banchory and also work from home nearby, so arrangements can be made depending on your preference and availability.

When working with teenagers, I will try wherever possible to be flexible around school hours.

Life can sometimes feel overwhelming. Whatever our age or stage, we can feel stuck, hopeless and struggle to see a way through. My aim is to offer counselling that can help you feel better. I am an experienced Person-Centred counsellor, working with adults & young people in Deeside, Aberdeenshire.

Alongside private practice work with adults, I am employed as a youth counsellor for a mental health charity, and work in different locations in Aberdeen & the Shire. I have longstanding experience of working with adults, children, families and young people in a variety of settings and with a wide range of complex issues.

Whether this is the first time that you have asked for help, or if you are someone who has already experienced the benefits of counselling, I understand that taking the first step in trusting someone new can feel enormous and full of risk. So, I want to offer you reassurance....counselling can be whatever you need it to be, and can be taken at a pace that feels right for you. 

For me, Person-Centred counselling is an opportunity to experience a safe and therapeutic relationship; one in which you can develop the trust to be yourself, feel heard and understood, no matter what you are facing or what has happened in your life. 

Our sessions together will be about exploring your thoughts and feelings around your experiences and looking at the relationship you have with yourself and with others. Together we will strive to understand how these impact on your day to day life and your capacity to move forward. 

The aim of counselling is to feel better; experience growth in understanding, increase confidence in yourself, develop new ways to think, and different ways to cope with and experience life.

My aim is to help you understand that you are the expert in your life and you can make the changes that you need to thrive.

What to expect from me: I will work alongside you, to develop a therapeutic relationship based on warmth, acceptance and trust. Counselling sessions will offer you a confidential space, with no judgement, so that you can feel safe enough to look at whatever is sore, difficult or getting in your way. What I don't do is offer advice or tell you what to do. You will be in control of what you share and we will go at your pace. My focus will always be on you, to listen to you, so that you feel heard and to understand you, so that you feel seen.

Our relationship: the therapeutic process can take time, courage and commitment. Counselling works best when we work together with a shared focus on understanding the issues you bring, in an atmosphere of warmth, acceptance and trust. My commitment will be to consistently offer you the safety of a therapeutic relationship in which you can explore and reflect on the issues that are having a negative impact on your life.

Will it hurt?: Counselling can bring up big, complicated feelings and it might be that in the beginning stages, you'll feel anxious, nervous or more emotional than usual. This is a normal response to the risk of sharing your vulnerable thoughts and feelings with a new person. That's why we will go at your pace, and only focus on what you feel ready to explore.

What to expect: Sessions last around 50 minutes and are usually arranged at the same time and day on a weekly basis. The amount of sessions needed can vary, some people feel they have addressed what they need to in a few short sessions, others may need longer. Counselling works best when sessions are consistent. Progress will be reviewed at regular intervals with scope to stop, pause or continue, whatever feels right for you.

I offer a free 30 minute consultation session on Teams or phone. This will give you an opportunity to ask questions and also to get a sense of what I can offer, and what it feels like to talk to me. It will help me understand what brings you to counselling and what you are hoping to change or achieve. 

From this session, I will send you some initial paperwork confirming what we have agreed and giving details of the next steps in coming along to your first session.