Helen Downs, NCPS

Helen Downs is an NCPS counsellor practising in the United Kingdom with seven years of experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, addictions, LGBT issues, trauma and abuse, and parenting strains. Helen also supports people dealing with grief, relationship and intimacy concerns, sleep and eating difficulties, and the lasting impact of ADHD or bipolar conditions.

Helen uses straightforward talking therapy combined with practical techniques. She draws on client-centred methods so the conversation stays focused on the person's priorities. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) tools and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) strategies are used to address unhelpful thinking and to build emotion regulation skills.

Her background includes work alongside people in the prison services and with neurodiverse clients. That experience informs how she approaches issues such as addiction, diversity-related worries and coping with complex life stresses. Helen also highlights supporting people connected to the criminal justice system and their family situations as part of her practice.

Sessions aim to identify clear, manageable steps for day-to-day life. Helen may use elements of hypnotherapy or psychodynamic ideas when they fit someone’s goals, always alongside conversational therapy work. She encourages practical problem solving, improved communication, and clearer boundaries in family and parenting contexts.

To begin, she asks people to outline their immediate concerns and what they want to change. From there she works collaboratively to set short-term goals and adjust approaches as needed. The focus is on usable strategies that can be put into practice between sessions.

How Helen uses therapeutic approaches in online work