Counselling for low mood and depression in Nottingham

I'm Mandy van Zwam, a psychotherapeutic counsellor, and I offer counselling and psychotherapy for adults living with low mood, in Beeston, Nottingham, and online across the UK. When everything feels heavy, it is hard to believe talking could help. We go slowly and start from where you are.

My private practice opens in early 2027. Sessions cost £80 for 50 minutes, in person or online, and we start with a free 20-minute discovery call. Until then, please see your GP, who can check for physical causes and talk through your options, or refer yourself to NHS talking therapies.

What does low mood feel like?

Flat, grey, heavy. Things you used to enjoy don't reach you. You sleep too much or not enough. You get through the day and have nothing left for the evening. Small jobs, like replying to a message or opening the post, take far more than they should. Some people feel sad. Many feel mostly numb, irritable, or tired all the time.

Low mood can follow something obvious: a loss, a break-up, a move to a new country. Sometimes there is no clear reason, which can make it harder, because you feel you have no right to feel this way. You don't need a reason.

How can therapy help with low mood?

Low mood often carries something that has gone unheard: anger turned inward, grief that had no room, needs you were never allowed to have. In relational therapy we make room for those. My training is in transactional analysis, which pays attention to the old rules that keep a mood in place, such as "don't need anything" or "don't make a fuss", and to how they play out in your life now.

Early on, the work may be having one session a week where you don't have to pretend to be fine. Later we look at patterns: what drains you, what you have stopped allowing yourself, and what you might want back.

Is this the right help for me?

If you have felt low for most of the day, every day, for more than two weeks, please see your GP as well, whatever else you do (the NHS advice on depression says the same). They can check for physical causes, talk about medication and refer you on. Some people in therapy take antidepressants and some don't; both are fine, and that choice is for you and your doctor. Therapy with me is one session a week. If you need more support between sessions than that, your GP and the NHS can arrange it. If you are having thoughts of ending your life, please don't wait: call Samaritans on 116 123 at any hour, or 999 if you are in danger now.

What happens next?

My private practice opens in early 2027, and you can join the waitlist now. When a place comes up, we start with a free 20-minute discovery call to talk about what is happening for you and whether working together feels right. If it does, we meet weekly for 50 minutes, in person in Beeston or by video from anywhere in the UK. If getting out of the house is hard, online sessions mean you don't have to.

You can read more about me and my training, see what therapy costs, or read common questions about sessions and confidentiality.

Common questions

Do you work with depression?

I work with low mood, including depression. I don't diagnose; your GP can do that. If you have a diagnosis, you are welcome to tell me about it. If you don't, you don't need one.

Can we work in Dutch?

Yes. Therapy in Dutch.

Where I see clients in and around Nottingham

In person at Highfields Therapy in Beeston (NG9), a short tram, train or bus ride from Chilwell, Attenborough, Bramcote, Stapleford, Wollaton, Lenton and West Bridgford. Online by video anywhere in the UK.