About Irene
Irene Hughes is an AASW counsellor with 15 years of experience who helps people facing anxiety, stress and relationship strain. She keeps sessions straightforward and faith-informed for those who want spiritual elements included alongside psychological tools. Irene uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and client-centred ways of working.
She focuses on what matters to each person, helps name values, and supports practical steps to reduce anxious patterns. Sessions aim to be calm and conversational rather than clinical.
Background and approach
For clients who want it, Irene weaves Christian faith into sessions. That can mean using Scripture, prayer and Christian perspectives to help people consider meaning, identity and hope. She matches the pace and depth of spiritual input to each person’s comfort and preferences.
Across fifteen years Irene has supported people through trauma, parenting strain, fertility and fatherhood concerns, caregiver stress, body image and issues around guilt and shame. She also works with communication, commitment and attachment concerns, and with people feeling isolated or overwhelmed. Irene aims to make practical changes feel achievable.
Conversations focus on simple, teachable skills and real-life adjustments. She encourages gentle progress so clients can notice change without becoming overwhelmed.
Approaches and online therapy that fit your life
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is about clarifying what matters and taking small steps that align with those values. It helps with anxiety, stress and difficult emotions by teaching practical skills to notice thoughts and act in ways that match priorities. Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening, empathy and letting the client set the pace. It helps people feel heard and understood while they work through relationship, identity or parenting concerns.Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Irene will collaborate with each person to decide which methods suit their goals and preferences. That conversation guides whether sessions lean more on ACT exercises, reflective listening, or a faith-informed emphasis when requested.
Online therapy is offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging to make support flexible. Video is useful for deeper conversations and exercises, phone can be easier when bandwidth is low, and messaging or live chat can suit short check-ins or busy schedules. These formats help people fit therapy around work, family and other commitments while keeping focus on steady, practical progress.
Questions people ask
What kinds of concerns does Irene address?
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
What is her professional background?
Which credentials and location apply?
Are sessions available in other languages or internationally?
What formats are used for sessions?
How much does therapy cost here?
How do I begin working with Irene?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Attachment issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 15 years
- Licensed
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.