The Harbour Minds Counselling team

Co-Director & Counsellor

Gail co-founded Harbour Minds with a vision of making counselling and emotional wellbeing support more accessible, affordable and connected to the communities it serves.

Her own training and experience highlighted some of the barriers people can face when trying to access appropriate support, as well as the challenges faced by counsellors at the beginning of their careers. This helped shape Harbour Minds as a service built around compassion, accessibility, ethical practice and collaboration.

As Harbour Minds has grown, Gail’s role has increasingly focused on developing partnerships, creating new opportunities and exploring different ways of bringing support into the community. She is particularly interested in developing services that respond to real gaps in provision, from affordable one-to-one counselling to group programmes, community wellbeing initiatives and partnership projects.

Gail believes that good mental health support does not always have to begin in a traditional therapy room. Sometimes it starts with connection, conversation and having the right support available at the right time.

At the heart of her work is a belief that counselling and emotional wellbeing support should feel approachable, inclusive and relevant to the people and communities it is there to serve.

Co-Director & Finance/Admin Lead

With a background in finance and business administration, Rachel plays a vital role in keeping Harbour Minds running smoothly behind the scenes. She supports our team, systems, and sustainability with a calm and capable presence, ensuring that the practical foundations of our service are strong.

Rachel brings a deep understanding of what it takes to deliver excellent customer service — combining professionalism with empathy. Her insight and dedication are instrumental in keeping the Harbour Minds vision focused and on track, helping us deliver our mission of accessible, ethical, and community-rooted counselling.

Co-Director & Counsellor

Debbie is dedicated to providing affordable, accessible counselling, and support for those in training to provide this valuable service. Her experience working with individuals affected by complex trauma has shaped her strong belief in the value of long-term therapeutic relationships. Through this work, Debbie has seen first-hand how high session fees can prevent people from accessing the sustained support they need to heal and thrive. She is committed to creating ethical, trauma-informed counselling services that prioritise compassion, inclusivity, and social justice, ensuring that cost is not a barrier to meaningful, ongoing therapeutic support.

Person-Centred Counsellor/ Coordination consultant

Craig is a person-centred counsellor.  At the heart of his work is a trust in each client’s capacity to be—and become—themselves. He believes people carry within them the inner resources to recognise what matters, to gain insight into themselves and their relationships, to make sense of their experiences, and to find their own way forward.

Craig brings experience working with young people aged 16–19, supporting them with such issues as social anxiety, relational difficulties, depression, grief, and identity confusion. He is also the counselling lead and a therapist for a cancer charity, where he oversees the day-to-day operation of a busy counselling service, and provides counselling to individuals affected by cancer (patients, carers, and those who are bereft).

Person-Centred Counsellor

Following a career in special needs in various settings Pete worked for fifteen years as a counselling trainer in higher education whilst also working as a person-centred counsellor. As a counsellor he often worked, although not exclusively, with young people. 

His  instincts have always led towards people who experience, in whatever way, exclusion, psycho-emotional and physical difficulties and those constraints imposed by financial problems. With the above in mind he is particularly pleased to have the opportunity to be part of Harbour Minds and our endeavour to make therapy more accessible whilst also supporting students as they seek to gain clinical experience.

As a therapist his experience continues to be that the therapeutic relationship is primary and that the complexity of a client's experience is best understood  when a high degree of trust is present. When this exists much which has previously been perceived and experienced as insoluble can be clarified and creative responses can emerge from the client's natural capacity to heal.

Working person-centredly means that I work holistically with the ‘whole’ person rather than with a ‘diagnosis’. Although classification of experiencing has merit, I find that it is through relating to another person as the person I am that the client may chose a more growth focused path  and suffer less. 

Person-Centred Counsellor

Leanne is a person-centred counsellor, who believes that each individual is unique in their own experiencing and that they have the ability to heal parts of themselves when supported within a safe, compassionate and non-judgemental environment. She believes we all deserve a space where we can explore ourselves at our own pace, that is affordable and accessible in order to try and make sense of what is going on for us, which at times can feel like psychological chaos, by being truly seen and heard by another.

Leanne has experience working with young people from the age of 15 years plus, navigating adolescence and the shift between childhood and adulthood, and the complexities that can come alongside this with regards to educational aspects, relationships and potential life decisions. She also has experience working with anxiety, depression, grief, neurodiversity, LGTBQ+ community and hormonal/cyclical changes.

I enjoy working creatively and would be happy to introduce creative elements such as drawing, expressive writing or self-exploration tools to the sessions if this was something of interest.

Integrative Counsellor

Ali is an integrative counsellor who believes that everyone should have access to high-quality emotional support, regardless of their financial circumstances. Through the Community Interest Company (CIC), her aim is to provide affordable, supportive group programmes that help people feel less isolated, better understood, and more able to cope with life's challenges.

She has a particular interest in developing peer support groups for people affected by alcohol and drug misuse, as well as groups focused on current life issues such as menopause and other challenges that can impact emotional wellbeing. These groups provide a safe, confidential and non-judgemental space where people can share experiences, learn practical coping strategies, and support one another.

Ali's approach is warm, collaborative and evidence-based, with a focus on helping people build resilience, strengthen connections, and create lasting positive change within their lives and communities.

Integrative Counsellor

Amanda is a qualified Integrative Counsellor offering a warm, relational and non-judgmental space where clients can feel comfortable being themselves and exploring what has brought them to counselling.

She believes that our experiences and relationships help shape who we are, and works alongside clients to help them explore and make sense of those experiences at their own pace.

Amanda’s integrative approach allows her to adapt the way she works to each individual. This may include talking therapy, reflective or creative approaches, and somatic work. She also provides a neuro-affirming environment.

She works with adults aged 18+ across a wide range of issues, with particular interests in domestic abuse, trauma, childhood abuse, addiction, body image, bereavement and adverse childhood experiences.

Amanda holds an Advanced Diploma in Integrative Counselling from Matrix College and a BSc in Integrative Counselling from Middlesex University. Her previous experience includes counselling and family support work with Suffolk Mind, Ipswich Children’s Centre and Suffolk County Council.