Debra "Debs" Barritt, BACP
Experienced counsellor for parenting and loss
Explore online therapy options- Years in practice
- 15
- Registration
- BACP
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Relationship issues
- Focus
- Grief
About Debra
Debra "Debs" Barritt is a counsellor with 15 years of experience who focuses on helping people through difficult life moments. She holds BACP accreditation which she uses to guide her work. Debs draws on lived experience and a long career in bereavement care to support clients who are struggling with loss, stress, anxiety and relationship concerns.
She originally trained in person-centred counselling and keeps that human, listening-first stance at the heart of her practice.
Background and approach
Sessions tend to be steady and warm. Debs aims to make conversations feel simple and practical rather than overly clinical. Her background includes work in a hospice bereavement service where she sat with people at the end of life.
Those years shaped how she sits with grief and helps people find ways to carry loss without forgetting those they loved. She also draws on wider experience with addiction, trauma, low self-esteem and compassion fatigue. Debs blends client-centred ways of working with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Internal Family Systems approaches when helpful.
That means she listens closely, notices unhelpful thinking patterns, and gently looks at the different parts of a person that can feel stuck. Many people come for help with parenting stress, communication and coping with life changes. Debs keeps the room focused on practical steps and small shifts that can ease day-to-day strain.
She encourages people to recognise their strengths while they work through painful feelings. If someone wants a calm, experienced counsellor who values simple, honest conversation, Debs can be a steady presence during hard times.
What Debra works with
Everything Debra lists, in their own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Debra helps people with.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
- Self esteem
- Depression
- Addictions
- Trauma and abuse
- Intimacy-related issues
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counselling
- Impulsivity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Traumatic brain injury
- Trichotillomania
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Debra lists
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each counsellor names and does not check training records.
How Debs uses therapy approaches online
Debs commonly draws on Client-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in online work. Client-Centred Therapy focuses on empathic listening and building a trusting relationship so people can find their own solutions; it suits worries about self-esteem, bereavement and relationship strain. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) helps identify thinking patterns and behaviours that keep problems going and teaches practical strategies to reduce anxiety, manage mood and tackle unhelpful habits.She also uses Internal Family Systems ideas to gently map different parts of a person that may be anxious, critical or protective. This can help people understand inner conflicts and reduce self-blame. Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Debs will discuss goals, preferences and what feels most useful, then adjust methods to fit each person’s needs.
Online therapy with Debs uses video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging to offer flexibility. Video works well for face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone calls are useful when bandwidth is limited, live chat can suit brief check-ins, and messaging lets someone reflect in writing between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy around family life, work and caregiving responsibilities while accessing a clinician with bereavement and parenting experience.
Questions people ask about Debra
What kinds of concerns does Debs help with?
She works with stress, anxiety, grief, depression and relationship difficulties as well as parenting strain, addictions and trauma. Additional areas include self-esteem, anger, ADHD and compassion fatigue.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
She uses a person-centred approach with gentle direction when needed. Conversations aim to be practical and grounded, focusing on what can help in daily life.
What is her professional background?
Debs has 15 years of counselling experience and worked in a hospice bereavement service early in her career. That work informs her approach to loss and end-of-life conversations.
What credentials and location are listed?
She is registered with the BACP and is based in the United Kingdom.
Which languages are supported and can international clients join?
Sessions are offered in English. She does not accept international clients at this time.
What session formats are available?
Debs offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.
How are fees handled?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions are provided through a subscription model that can be cancelled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Use the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
More counsellors who work with stress & anxiety
See all of them
Benedicta Okoli
BACP
9 years in practice English, Igbo
Compassionate practical support for parenting and relationships
- Addictions
- Relationship
- Family
8 years in practice
Support for parents and individuals
- Addictions
- LGBT
- Relationship
Kay Kimberley
BACP
6 years in practice
Support for stress, addiction and parenting challenges
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Family