Joel Burns

Joel Burns is a qualified Therapeutic Counsellor based in the United Kingdom with 5 years of professional counselling experience. He brings a creative and compassionate style to his work, supporting both immediate life difficulties and longer-term issues.

Joel offers a warm, sacred space to help with anxiety, panic attacks, depression, trauma, addiction, loss and grief, as well as family, personal and professional matters that can be hard to unravel alone. He believes that having a safe, confidential setting where a person can be heard often brings significant relief during times of struggle.

Past life experiences and relationships shape people in ways they may not always recognise, and unhelpful patterns can develop over time. Joel aims to illuminate unconscious patterns to increase understanding and self-awareness, enabling clients to make the changes they seek. He works with a calm, non-judgemental and compassionate manner and uses mindfulness to work at each client’s pace.

Originally from the USA, he has worked and studied in several countries and is passionate about life in a multi-cultural society. Joel intends to provide counselling to anyone who seeks support, regardless of race, caste, culture, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, sexuality, gender, disability, age or other differences. He describes himself as a creative, lifelong learner with a professional background in Counselling, Sport, Education and Social Work.

Through extensive experience working with thousands of adults, children and families, Joel has maintained an emphasis on emotional connection and self-awareness. He holds the view that therapists are most effective when they have engaged in their own personal growth, and he brings that perspective into his practice.

Joel’s approach to counselling is both educative and supportive. He works with children, adolescents, adults and families to draw on their existing resources and skills, and to explore personal passions. He aims to inform clients about treatment options, make appropriate referrals, and help people know what to expect as they address difficulties.

Each session focuses on building coping skills, increasing awareness and insight, fostering motivation, improving problem solving, encouraging self-learning and promoting autonomy. Joel recognises that beginning therapy can feel daunting and that it is normal to find vulnerability challenging; he supports clients through these steps as part of the self-healing process.

He practises in an integrative way, drawing on person-centred theory, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and positive psychology, woven together to meet individual needs. Joel believes that accepting imperfections while staying open to growth creates opportunities for meaningful change and self-compassion. He values the connection and rapport built in therapy and aims to be an agent for change by assisting clients in discovery and acceptance of self, offering a collaborative and safe therapeutic relationship that places the client at the centre of their therapy.