Isla Donaldson

Isla Donaldson is a counsellor registered with NCPS and has five years of clinical experience in the United Kingdom. She works with stress, anxiety, relationship problems, trauma and abuse, low self-esteem and depression, and supports people questioning their life purpose.

Her style is person-centred and relational. Sessions focus on what matters most to the client and move at a pace set by the client. Isla draws on the therapeutic relationship to help people notice and use their own resources.

She also integrates somatic and trauma-focused approaches. That means paying attention to bodily sensations and present-moment experience to help process emotion, memory and nervous system responses. Practical regulation and grounding are part of the work when trauma is present.

Isla has worked with adults and young people on issues such as grief, low self-worth, self-harm, suicidal feelings, post-traumatic stress and sexual assault. Her background includes a first-class BA in Humanistic Counselling Practice and further training in somatics, Polyvagal Theory, attachment and related areas.

Sessions begin with a conversation about what has brought someone to therapy and what they want to change. Isla invites questions about the process and will discuss how to move forward together. She uses a subscription model for sessions that can be cancelled at any time, and asks people to use the site matching questionnaire to schedule a first session.

How her approaches work in online sessions

Isla works from a person-centred framework that puts the client’s concerns and priorities first. In practice this means the counsellor asks about what the client most wants to address, listens for what matters, and adapts the pace and focus according to the person’s responses. This approach suits people who want a collaborative, relational way of working.

She also uses somatic-informed methods which pay attention to bodily sensations and present-moment experience. Somatic work can help when anxiety, trauma or intense emotions feel stuck in the body, offering practical ways to notice sensations, calm the nervous system and manage distress.

Finding the right combination of approaches is part of therapy. Isla will discuss options with the client and decide together which methods fit their needs, goals and preferences. That means trying things out, checking how they land, and adjusting as work progresses.

Practical benefits of online sessions include fitting therapy into a busy week and reducing travel time. Please confirm the exact session formats available before booking, as formats are not specified here. Many people find online work allows for shorter check-ins, easier scheduling around work or family commitments, and the chance to focus on somatic noticing without a commute.