What I Help With

Whatever’s brought you here, let’s start there.

I work with individuals and couples across a range of areas. Some people know exactly what they are bringing. Others know only that something is not right. Both are a perfectly good place to start.

Couples Counselling

Relationships do not break overnight. They drift. I work with couples who want to understand each other better using Emotionally Focused Therapy.

Burnout & Midlife Transition

Maybe the drive has gone. Maybe you are functioning but empty. I have lived that. I work with people quietly struggling inside a life that looks successful from the outside.

Grief & Loss

Grief does not follow rules. It shows up in ordinary days. Whether your loss is recent or something carried quietly for years, there is no pressure to be further along than you are.

Redundancy & Career Identity

Losing a senior role hits identity, status, self-worth and security all at once. I have been made redundant. I know what it actually feels like.

Menopause

Menopause is not just physical. I am at that stage myself and understand how disorienting it can be, particularly for those who have spent years being capable and on top of things.

Blended Family & More

Domestic abuse, blended family life, anxiety, low mood. You do not need a dramatic event to seek support. The things that are hard to name are worth bringing too.

View All Specialisms

Debi Bell

Counsellor · East Yorkshire & Online

Level 7 Post Graduate Qualification in Counselling
MSc Counselling (completing October 2026)
MBA
BACP Member
Emotionally Focused Therapy, Externship Level
ASIST Suicide Intervention Accreditation
Accredited Mental Health First Aider
Civil & Workplace Mediation Qualification
Volunteer: Samaritans, The Blue Door, Cruse, Mind

About Debi

For a long time I was the person who kept everything moving. Senior director, big job, constant travel and somehow also the one expected to keep the rest of life running smoothly alongside it. Work did not stop when I walked through the door at home, and home did not stop when I walked back out again in the morning. I did it because I could. And because somewhere along the way it became the expectation that I would.

I know what that particular exhaustion feels like. Not the tiredness a good night’s sleep fixes. The bone-deep kind that comes from being relied upon by everyone and really known by almost no one. The loneliness of certain rooms, certain cultures, certain environments where you decide the safest thing is to be twice as good and half as visible. I led large teams, managed redundancies, and then one day I was made redundant myself. It hit me harder than I expected and if I am honest, it was one of the things that set me on this path.

I want you to know that I understand that from the inside and not just from a textbook.

What I did not talk about for years was that behind the functioning exterior, I was navigating something that had nothing to do with work. I have personal experience of domestic abuse and I carried that through a full-time senior career almost entirely alone. Not because I was strong. Because I was scared, and because keeping it together had become the only version of myself I knew how to be. It took years to come back up for air. I am telling you this not for sympathy but because if you are sitting in a similar place right now, holding it together on the outside while something else entirely is happening inside, I want you to know that I understand that from the inside and not just from a textbook.

I was a single mum through much of that. I have since remarried and built a life that genuinely fits. I have three children of my own, now adults, and two stepchildren including a teenager, which means blended family life is not something I have studied. It is something I live, with all the complexity and that quiet pull that nobody warns you about.

It was during Covid, when I started volunteering with Samaritans, that something shifted. I went in thinking I had something to give. I came out understanding how much I had to learn and how much this work mattered to me. I have since volunteered with The Blue Door, Cruse Bereavement Care and Mind. I retrained. And somewhere in that process I stopped pretending that a senior title or successful children were the point. It took me a long time to stop mistaking a full diary for a good life.

I still take occasional consultancy work in supply chain and strategy. Not because I have not committed to this, but because I think there is something honest about still being part of the world my clients are navigating. I am not standing outside it telling you what to do. I am in it too.

I read a lot. I swim. I have been known to turn up to something like hammock yoga just to see what it is. I stopped pressuring myself to hit the gym or project a particular image a while ago and I have not missed it. Chatty, energetic, loyal. Not the blank-faced nodding type. And after a long time of keeping the lid on things, I’ve decided that’s enough.

You don’t need the right words. You just need someone who’ll hear them.

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All Specialisms

You do not need the right words.

You just need to want things to be different. Most of what’s listed below I’ve either trained in specifically or lived through. Usually both.

Couples Counselling

Relationships do not break overnight. They drift. Things go unsaid. Small patterns form that neither person fully chose and before long the distance feels normal. I work with couples who want to understand each other better, communicate more honestly and find their way back to each other before things become harder to unpick.

I use Emotionally Focused Therapy in my couples work. Developed by Dr Sue Johnson, EFT works with the patterns underneath relationship difficulty, the attachment needs, the fears and the cycles that keep couples stuck. It is one of the most well-researched approaches to couples therapy available.

I work with couples at an early to moderate stage of relational difficulty rather than in acute crisis.

Burnout & Midlife Transition

You have worked hard, delivered, kept going. And now something has shifted. Maybe the drive has gone. Maybe you are functioning but empty. Maybe you have started wondering what the point of all of it actually is.

Burnout does not always arrive dramatically. Often it is a slow erosion of energy, meaning and the version of yourself you thought you knew. I have lived that. I work with people who are quietly struggling inside a life that looks successful from the outside, and with anyone at midlife who knows something needs to change but has not yet found the language for what.

Menopause

Menopause is not just physical. For many people it arrives alongside a loss of confidence that’s hard to explain when nothing dramatic has happened. I am at that stage of life myself and I understand from the inside how disorienting it can be, particularly for those who have spent years being capable, in control and on top of things.

If menopause is affecting your relationships, your sense of self, your work or your mental health and you want a space to talk about all of it without being handed a leaflet, I would welcome that conversation.

Redundancy & Career Identity

Losing a job, especially a senior one, especially one that has defined you, is a particular kind of loss that the world tends to underestimate. It hits identity, status, self-worth and security all at once. People around you may not understand why you are struggling when from the outside it looks like an opportunity.

I have been made redundant. I know what it actually feels like. This is a space where you do not have to pretend otherwise.

Grief & Loss

Grief does not follow rules and it does not keep a schedule. It shows up in the middle of ordinary days, in the things people say trying to be kind, in the anniversaries nobody else remembers. Whether your loss is recent or something you have carried quietly for years, there is no pressure here to be further along than you are.

I also have experience working with people bereaved by suicide. This is a particular kind of loss that carries its own complexity, its own unanswerable questions, and often a silence around it that makes it harder to grieve.

Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence

I bring both professional experience through my voluntary work with The Blue Door and Samaritans, and personal understanding to this area.

If you are wondering whether counselling might help and are not sure where to start, just get in touch. You do not need to have it figured out before you reach out.

Blended Family & Relationship Complexity

Stepfamilies, co-parenting, the push and pull of building a new family alongside an existing one. This is territory that gets very little airtime but causes a great deal of quiet pain. I live this. I work with individuals and couples navigating the specific pressures of blended family life, with all the guilt, loyalty and love that comes with it.

Anxiety, Low Mood & the Hard to Name

You do not need a dramatic event to seek support. Sometimes it is the fears you have not said out loud. The pressure to be perfect that nobody asked you to carry but you carry anyway. The hidden things. The sense that you should be managing better than this.

That’s enough of a reason.

Not sure whether any of this is you? Get in touch. The first conversation is free and there is no commitment beyond that call.

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Fees & Availability

Sessions

Sessions are 50 minutes. I offer individual and couples counselling both in person in East Yorkshire and online. Available Monday to Thursday 08:00 to 20:00, Fridays and Saturdays 08:00 to 18:00. In person and online are offered at the same rate.

Individual sessions	£60
Couples sessions	£80
Reduced rate singles	£50
Reduced rate couples	£70
Corporate	On request

A small number of reduced rate places are available for those on low incomes. Please just mention it when you get in touch. Debi manages these directly.

Payment & Cancellation

Payment is taken at the time of booking. Sessions not cancelled or rescheduled more than 24 hours in advance will be billed automatically. Full details are in your client agreement.

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Availability

Mon – Thurs08:00 – 20:00

Fri & Sat08:00 – 18:00

LocationEast Yorkshire & Online

ResponseWithin one working day

Between Sessions

I am not available for therapeutic support between sessions. If you need to contact me to rearrange or cancel an appointment please use email or phone. Please keep contact between sessions to practical matters only.

I will not follow, connect with or respond to clients on personal social media platforms. This protects the therapeutic relationship and your confidentiality.

If we happen to see each other in public I will not acknowledge you unless you acknowledge me first. This protects your confidentiality. You are not obliged to acknowledge me and I will not be offended if you do not.

While gifts are kindly meant, I am not able to accept them in line with professional guidelines. If you wish to express appreciation, a review on a professional directory such as the BACP directory is always welcome.

Corporate & Workplace

This is counselling. Not coaching.

I want to be straightforward about that. Because it matters.

I am not here to sharpen your leadership skills or help you perform under pressure. I am here because people in demanding roles carry things that have nowhere to go, and that has consequences that do not show up in performance reviews until they become serious.

I have been that person. Senior director across multiple sectors, constant travel, the one everyone looked to. I know the particular weight of that. I know how quietly and gradually things can come apart. And I know how rarely the people around you in that environment are the right ones to talk to about it.

I also still take occasional consultancy work in supply chain and strategy. I am not standing outside your world looking in. I understand the culture, the pressure, the language and what it actually costs because I am still in it.

I work with

Executives and senior professionals experiencing burnout, redundancy or transition
Individuals carrying something they cannot talk about at work or at home
Organisations looking to offer genuine therapeutic support as part of staff wellbeing
HR teams seeking a trusted referral partner for confidential employee support
Businesses connected to Blue Light Card and other workplace wellbeing schemes

Civil & Workplace Mediation

Alongside counselling I hold a qualification in civil and workplace mediation. This is not family mediation. If your organisation is dealing with conflict that sits below the threshold of formal HR action, or between individuals who need a structured and confidential route forward, please get in touch directly to discuss.

Rates for corporate work are agreed directly. Get in touch and we will have a straightforward conversation about what works.

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Privacy Policy

Last reviewed May 2026 · ICO Registration: ZC125133

Who We Are

Organisation: DEBELL LTD (trading as DeBell Counselling) · Data Controller: Debra Bell · Address: Cottingham, East Yorkshire · Email: contact@debell.co.uk · Phone: 07867 818018 · Website: www.debell.co.uk · ICO Registration Number: ZC125133

DeBell Counselling is a private counselling practice. This policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights in relation to it. It applies to clients, prospective clients, and visitors to our website.

What Data We Collect

Clients and prospective clients

We collect the following categories of personal data: contact information (name, email address, phone number, postal address), date of birth, GP name and surgery, emergency contact details, health and mental health information shared in the course of counselling, session notes and clinical records, payment and invoicing records, and communications between you and Debra Bell by email or phone.

Website visitors

If you use the contact form on our website we collect the information you submit, including your name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message. We do not collect data from website visitors beyond what is submitted via the contact form. We do not use tracking cookies for advertising purposes.

How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to provide counselling services and manage the therapeutic relationship, to communicate with you about appointments, invoices, and practical matters, to keep clinical records as required by professional standards, to ensure the safety of you and others including safeguarding obligations, to comply with our legal and professional obligations, and to process payments.

Legal Basis for Processing

We rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR: legitimate interests (managing the practice and maintaining clinical records), legal obligation (safeguarding duties and compliance with professional body requirements), vital interests (where processing is necessary to protect life), and contract (to fulfil the terms of the client agreement). Special category data (health information) is processed on the basis of Article 9(2)(h) UK GDPR, processing necessary for the provision of health or social care.

Who We Share Your Data With

Your data is confidential. We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. We may share your data in the following limited circumstances:

With our clinical supervisor (Joy Wanless) in the course of professional supervision. Your identity will not be shared unless required for safeguarding reasons. With your GP, emergency services, or statutory authorities where there is a serious and imminent risk to life, or where we are legally obliged to disclose. With third-party service providers who process data on our behalf, such as our practice management software provider (Zanda Health) and payment processor (Stripe). These providers are bound by data processing agreements and may not use your data for any other purpose. If required by law or court order.

Data Retention

We retain client records for seven years following the end of therapy, in line with BACP guidance and professional indemnity insurance requirements. If a client was under 18 at the point of ending therapy, records are retained until their 25th birthday. Records of prospective clients who did not proceed with therapy are retained for six months then securely deleted. Financial records are retained for six years in line with HMRC requirements. After the relevant retention period, records are securely and permanently destroyed.

How We Store Your Data

Client records are stored using Zanda Health, a GDPR-compliant and ISO 27001-certified practice management platform. All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Paper records are stored in a locked cabinet and destroyed securely when no longer required. Email communication is conducted via a secure business email account.

Your Rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights: right of access (you may request a copy of your personal data), right to rectification (you may request correction of inaccurate data), right to erasure (in certain circumstances you may request deletion of your data), right to restriction (you may request that we limit processing of your data), right to data portability (you may request your data in a portable format), and right to object (you may object to processing based on legitimate interests).

To exercise any of these rights, contact Debra Bell at contact@debell.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month. Please note that some of these rights are limited in the context of health records. We will explain any limitations when you make a request.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, please contact Debra Bell in the first instance at contact@debell.co.uk. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): www.ico.org.uk · 0303 123 1113.

Changes to This Policy

This policy is reviewed annually or whenever there is a significant change to how we process data. The current version is always available at www.debell.co.uk and on request by email.

DeBell Counselling · DEBELL LTD · ICO ZC125133 · contact@debell.co.uk · 07867 818018 · Cottingham, East Yorkshire · www.debell.co.uk

Complaints Procedure

Last reviewed May 2026 · Next review May 2027 · BACP 01024929

Our Commitment

DeBell Counselling is committed to providing a professional, ethical, and high-quality service. If something goes wrong, or you are unhappy with any aspect of your counselling, we want to know. Raising a concern will not affect your therapy or your relationship with Debra Bell.

What You Can Raise a Concern About

You may raise a concern about any aspect of your experience with DeBell Counselling, including: the conduct or behaviour of Debra Bell, how a session was handled, a breakdown in communication, administration, fees, or invoicing, how your personal data has been handled, or any other aspect of the service.

Step One: Raise It Directly

In the first instance, please raise your concern directly with Debra Bell. You can do this in person during or after a session, by email at contact@debell.co.uk, or by phone on 07867 818018.

Debra will acknowledge your concern within two working days and provide a full written response within ten working days. If more time is needed she will let you know. Concerns about data protection should also be directed to Debra Bell in the first instance. If you are not satisfied, you may escalate to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.

Step Two: Formal Written Complaint

If you are not satisfied with the response to your concern, you may make a formal written complaint. Please put your complaint in writing and send it to contact@debell.co.uk, marked Formal Complaint.

Your written complaint should include: your name and contact details, a clear description of your concern and when it occurred, what you have already raised and how Debra responded, and what outcome you are looking for.

Debra will acknowledge your formal complaint within three working days. A full written response will be provided within 20 working days. If an extension is needed she will notify you in writing and give a revised timescale.

Step Three: Escalation to BACP

If you remain dissatisfied after completing Steps One and Two, you may refer your complaint to the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). The BACP Professional Standards team can consider complaints about the professional conduct of its members.

www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/protect-the-public/professional-conduct/ · Phone: 01455 883316 · Email: bacp@bacp.co.uk · Post: BACP, 15 St John's Business Park, Lutterworth, LE17 4HB

You do not need to complete Steps One and Two before contacting BACP. You may contact them at any point if you believe there has been a serious breach of professional conduct.

Record Keeping

DeBell Counselling keeps a written record of all complaints received, the responses given, and the outcomes. This information is used to learn from concerns and improve the service. Records are held securely and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

Learning from Complaints

Debra Bell takes all concerns seriously and uses them as an opportunity to reflect on and improve her practice. Where a concern identifies a systemic issue she will take steps to address it and, where appropriate, discuss it in clinical supervision.

DeBell Counselling · DEBELL LTD · BACP 01024929 · contact@debell.co.uk · 07867 818018 · Cottingham, East Yorkshire · www.debell.co.uk

Sometimes you just need somewhere to start.

Whatever’s brought you here, let’s start there.

Couples Counselling

Burnout & Midlife Transition

Grief & Loss

Redundancy & Career Identity

Menopause

Blended Family & More

The first conversation is free.

You do not need the right words.

Couples Counselling

Burnout & Midlife Transition

Menopause

Redundancy & Career Identity

Grief & Loss

Domestic Abuse & Sexual Violence

Blended Family & Relationship Complexity

Anxiety, Low Mood & the Hard to Name

Most people find the first message the hardest bit.

Free Consultation

Client Agreement

Your Sessions

Sessions

Civil & Workplace Mediation

You do not have to have the right words.

Privacy Policy

Who We Are

What Data We Collect

How We Use Your Data

Legal Basis for Processing

Who We Share Your Data With

Data Retention

How We Store Your Data

Your Rights

Complaints

Changes to This Policy

Complaints Procedure

Our Commitment

What You Can Raise a Concern About

Step One: Raise It Directly

Step Two: Formal Written Complaint

Step Three: Escalation to BACP

Record Keeping

Learning from Complaints

Cookie Policy

What are cookies

What cookies this website uses

How to manage cookies

Contact