Saima Durrani, ACA

Saima Durrani is an ACA credentialed counsellor practising in Australia who draws on professional and multicultural experience to support clients through a wide range of concerns. She specialises in working with stress and anxiety, relationship and couples issues, trauma and abuse, grief and loss, and parenting challenges, while also supporting people with anger, addictions, sleep and eating difficulties, self-esteem, ADHD and coping with life changes. She takes a strengths-based, collaborative approach, working alongside clients to identify existing resources and practical steps that can help them move forward.

Saima believes clients are the experts in their own stories and aims to create a respectful, empathetic space where those stories are heard and explored. She offers therapy in English, Punjabi, Pushto and Urdu, enabling culturally attuned care for people from diverse backgrounds. Her work also addresses attachment and abandonment concerns, codependency, communication and family problems, body image, guilt and shame, and issues around divorce, commitment and isolation.

Saima integrates evidence-informed approaches to tailor support to each person’s needs and goals. She holds ACA, a recognised professional counselling credential, and uses a collaborative process to set achievable goals and develop practical coping strategies. Her style combines empathetic listening with clear, actionable guidance to help clients navigate critical moments and build lasting change.

Approaches that guide online counselling with Saima

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters most to them and learn practical ways to accept difficult thoughts and feelings while taking committed action. It can be useful for anxiety, stress, and navigating life transitions.

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on creating a supportive, non-judgemental space where the client’s perspective guides the work. This approach helps build self-awareness, self-compassion and stronger decision-making when facing relationship, grief or identity concerns.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) addresses unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns by teaching practical skills to reframe thoughts and develop healthier coping strategies. CBT is often used for anxiety, mood concerns and sleep or eating-related issues.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process and will be determined collaboratively. Saima will work with each person to explore which methods fit their needs, goals and preferences, and may blend elements from different approaches to suit the client.

Online therapy offers flexibility and accessibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life, to access culturally attuned support from home, and to maintain continuity of care when in-person appointments are not practical. Appropriately qualified or registered professionals can adapt these formats to provide effective, personalised support.