Garon Sheppard , NCPS

Garon Sheppard is a counsellor who combines lived experience with professional training to support people through difficult life moments. He brings nine years of counselling experience alongside a 16-year background working in the addictions, homelessness, and housing sectors, which informs a practical, empathetic approach to issues such as anxiety, depression, grief, relationship difficulties, addiction recovery, low self-esteem, and trauma. He has personally navigated addiction, homelessness, and grief, and uses that perspective to relate to clients facing similar challenges and to encourage resilience and growth.

Garon works from a person-centered stance and integrates cognitive behavioral and dialectical behavior strategies to help clients uncover strengths, manage emotions, and develop practical coping tools. He holds the NCPS credential, a professional accreditation in counselling practice, and offers a non-judgmental, collaborative therapeutic style focused on understanding and empowerment. His additional focus areas include attachment and communication difficulties, control issues, domestic violence and separation, substance addiction, first responder and veteran issues, guilt and shame, isolation, life purpose, men’s issues, and midlife transitions.

Services are tailored to each person and include online counselling, walk-and-talk sessions in and around Witney, Burford, Carterton, and Oxfordshire, Reiki healing, and mindfulness practices. Garon aims to meet clients where they are, move at a comfortable pace, and co-create strategies that support long-term wellbeing and meaningful change.

Therapeutic Approaches for Online Support

Garon integrates client-centered therapy, which emphasizes empathy and collaboration so clients feel heard and are guided to discover their own solutions - this approach supports those navigating grief, life transitions, and relationship issues. He also uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help people identify and change unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors, making it useful for anxiety, depression, and stress management. In addition, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) offers skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, which can be especially helpful for intense emotions, self-management, and relationship conflicts.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process - Garon will work with each person to assess needs, goals, and preferences and adapt methods over time so treatment fits the individual. He aims to blend techniques in a way that supports practical progress while honoring personal experience.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, offering flexibility for busy schedules, mobility limits, or geographic constraints. These formats allow therapists and licensed professionals to maintain continuity of care, respond between sessions when appropriate, and make therapy more accessible for people balancing work, family, and other commitments.