ABOUT
Echidna Counselling
Echidna Counselling is a professional practice based in Chelmsford, offering specialist support for individuals navigating grief, trauma, anxiety, identity struggles, and complex emotional challenges. We provide a compassionate, non-judgmental space—both in person and online—where clients can explore their thoughts and feelings with experienced therapists using evidence-based CBT and relational psychodynamic approaches. We prioritise confidentiality, respect, and empathy, supporting you on your path towards greater emotional resilience and well-being.
MISSION
Empowering Lives
Echidna Counselling is dedicated to empowering individuals to navigate their unique challenges, build resilience, and lead fulfilling lives. We are committed to providing personalised counselling services that promote mental health, emotional stability, and overall well-being.
Through a client-centered approach, we strive to create a supportive environment where individuals can gain insight, develop coping strategies, and achieve positive growth and transformation.
Megan Crouchman
I’m a psychodynamic counsellor and groupwork practitioner, offering a reflective and compassionate space to explore emotional difficulties, identity, and life’s more complex experiences. My approach is grounded in curiosity and collaboration, supporting clients to make sense of what may feel confusing or stuck. I have particular experience in working with grief, trauma, fertility and childlessness and childfree by choice, and the impact of relational patterns over time.
Approach & Model
Psychodynamic therapy, with attention to how past experiences and unconscious patterns influence present emotions and behaviours
Offers long or short-term therapy, individual or group work, both in-person and remote
Client Work & Style
My approach is relational and exploratory. I help clients make sense of feelings that may feel overwhelming, stuck, or difficult to articulate. Much of my work involves supporting people through grief, loss, identity struggles, and ambivalence — particularly when these experiences are hard to share with others.
I work by paying close attention to emotional patterns and the dynamics that may be shaping your current difficulties, especially those rooted in early relationships or repeated experiences. Together, we look beneath the surface to understand what might be going on internally, and to begin making meaning of it in a way that feels manageable and containing.
Areas of Special Interest
Bereavement, grief, and childlessness (including the emotional impact of IVF)
Fertility-related distress, trauma and loss
Supporting individuals who are childfree by choice, exploring identity, meaning, and societal expectations
Abuse, trauma, and emotional pain that feels hard to voice
Mental health difficulties such as anxiety, low self-esteem, depression
Group dynamics and identity in the context of change or loss
Background
Accredited BACP psychodynamic counsellor
Group Work Practitioner with the IGA
Experience working in NHS, hospice, and private practice settings
Recognised by Bupa
Grant Cowie
I’m an accredited CBT therapist with extensive experience in both NHS and private practice. I specialise in helping people navigate common mental health challenges, including trauma, depression, and postnatal anxiety. My approach is collaborative and tailored to your unique needs, combining structured, evidence-based techniques with empathy and understanding to support lasting change. I also provide supervision to other CBT therapists and am committed to helping you make life more manageable.
Approach & Model
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), using evidence-based models to explore how thoughts, behaviours, and physical responses interact and contribute to emotional distress
Specialising in:
Behavioural Activation (BA)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Trauma-Focused CBT
Offers structured, goal-focused therapy — short or longer-term — both in-person and remotely (video/telephone)
Client Work & Style
I offer evidence-based therapy to help people manage a wide range of mental health difficulties, including trauma, anxiety, and low mood. I have particular experience in supporting individuals with postnatal anxiety and depression, as well as those facing complex or long-standing challenges.
My approach is collaborative, empathetic, and grounded in helping clients understand what may be maintaining their current difficulties. Together, we identify and break unhelpful cycles, build coping strategies, and work towards lasting change. Therapy is always tailored to your goals, pace, and individual experience.
Areas of Special Interest
CBT for postnatal depression, anxiety, and trauma
Trauma-Focused CBT for complex or long-term difficulties
Behavioural Activation for low mood and motivation
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for OCD and related anxiety
Supporting recovery and emotional resilience in the face of relapse risk
Background
Accredited CBT therapist with extensive experience in NHS and private settings
Delivers individual therapy and clinical supervision
Recognised by Bupa, AXA and other Health Insurance providers
Works with both common and complex mental health presentations