Profile / Australia
Doreen Patenall, PACFA
Australia
PACFA counsellor - Stress and relationship concerns
See online therapy options- CBT techniques
- ACT methods
- Grief and loss
About Doreen
Doreen Patenall is a PACFA counsellor with 25 years of professional experience. She helps people with stress, anxiety, relationship challenges, trauma and abuse, and coping with grief and loss. She speaks English and works from Australia.
Doreen uses practical conversation and clear steps to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and habits. Sessions focus on what to try differently day to day. She draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as one approach and also uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment-Based work, client-centred methods and Dialectical Behavior Therapy techniques where they suit the person.
In sessions she listens to what feels most urgent and then breaks problems into small, manageable parts. That can mean spotting patterns in thinking, practising new ways to react, or learning short skills to reduce panic and overwhelm. She also helps people talk through relationship strain, communication problems and issues around control and forgiveness.
Doreen supports people facing life transitions such as separation or end-of-life decisions, and she works with concerns like body image, social anxiety, guilt and shame. Grief and hospice-related worries are included in her focus areas, with attention to realistic coping steps and emotional pacing.
To start, people complete a short questionnaire and pick a first appointment. Doreen aims for practical, steady progress rather than quick fixes, and she helps people set clear goals and simple tasks between sessions.
How Doreen applies therapeutic approaches in online sessions
CBT helps people identify patterns of thinking that increase stress and anxiety and then try small behavioural experiments to test different responses. It is often used for panic, social anxiety and day-to-day worry by focusing on concrete steps and short practice tasks.Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, teaches ways to notice difficult thoughts and feelings without fighting them and to choose actions that align with personal values. This approach supports people facing grief, life purpose questions and ongoing painful emotions.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Doreen will discuss what feels most useful and adapt methods based on a person’s goals and preferences. She treats the choice of techniques as collaborative and adjusts the plan if something does not fit.
The biography does not specify which online formats are used, so check current session options before booking. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also let people use different tools between sessions, such as worksheets and practice tasks, to keep progress moving.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
25+ years
Listed in
Australia
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she commonly address?
She works with stress, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma and abuse, and grief and loss. Additional focus areas include body image, communication problems and control issues.
How does she use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in sessions?
She uses CBT to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and test different responses. Sessions include practical exercises and short tasks to try between meetings.
What is her professional background?
She has 25 years of professional experience working with emotional and relational concerns. That experience includes supporting people through trauma, panic and life transitions.
What credentials and region does she practice in?
Doreen is PACFA credentialed and practices from Australia. The PACFA credential is shown as provided by her profile.
Are sessions available in other languages or internationally?
Sessions are offered in English. She does not take international clients at this time.
Which session formats are offered?
The original profile does not list specific session formats. Please confirm current session options before booking.
How are costs handled?
Cost varies by location and sessions use a subscription model that can be cancelled at any time. Exact pricing is provided when selecting options.
What should I do to begin working together?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session to begin.
Details come from information the counsellor supplied to BetterHelp. A registration can be checked with the body that issued it.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are not safe, use the crisis numbers.