Dorcas Upshall, BACP

Dorcas Upshall is a BACP counsellor in the United Kingdom with three years of experience. She focuses on common pressures such as stress, anxiety, depression and relationship strain, and she also works with issues around addiction, intimacy and codependency. Sessions are described as collaborative - the client's goals guide the work.

Dorcas talks through thought patterns and behaviours that get in the way. She helps people notice what keeps repeating and tries out small changes. That can mean practical tools to manage anxiety, thinking work to challenge unhelpful beliefs, or conversations about past experiences that still affect day-to-day life.

Her background includes work in domestic abuse services, women’s centres, LGBTQ+ charities and addiction and recovery settings. She has experience in pastoral care at schools and in special needs provisions, and she previously worked as a teacher for over ten years. These roles shaped how she listens and responds in counselling.

Dorcas is kink-aware and comfortable with a range of relationship arrangements. She also notes experience with issues such as attachment, body image, shame, infidelity and men’s issues. That makes her practice relevant to people dealing with intimacy, identity or complicated relationship patterns.

Her stated approaches include Client-Centred Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Internal Family Systems. In sessions she aims to work collaboratively, helping clients develop clearer emotional awareness and practical ways to act differently when old patterns emerge.

How her approaches translate to online work