Jenny Hersey

Life Coach and Counsellor

Jenny Hersey is a life coach, counsellor, supervisor, and critical incident debriefer.

Jenny started her journey in mental health in 2003 after struggling with depression for several years. Her experience during this time was a lonely one, and she was dismayed at the lack of support available for people in crisis. Jenny's first role was with a community mental health charity in Bristol, UK, where she still lives. Her lived experience of being in crisis herself gave her the compassion and empathy to work with others in similar situations. Jenny continued working in mental health for 10 years. During this time, she worked in psychiatric hospitals, on intensive care and acute mental health wards, in rehabilitation, and with a dementia outreach service.

In 2013, Jenny began volunteering for a charity working with victims of crime. After six months, she was invited to work on the sexual violence, murder, manslaughter, and road death teams. It was at this time that Jenny felt the need for further training to help her truly listen and be present. She enrolled in a counselling skills course and immediately fell in love with it. She later completed a Higher National Diploma (HND) in therapeutic counselling and has been working as a counsellor and life coach since 2015. She holds diplomas in life coaching, couples and family therapy, management and leadership, SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities), CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), ADHD coaching, and child development. In 2024, she completed her advanced HND in counselling supervision and now supervises other counsellors, as well as professionals in sectors such as adult and child social services and the prison and probation services. Since becoming qualified, Jenny has worked in areas including sexual violence and abuse, domestic abuse, human trafficking, and modern slavery.

Jenny has also completed extensive training in trauma and critical incident debriefing. She travels across the UK, working with first responders who have witnessed traumatic events such as terror attacks, murders, natural disasters, and suicides.

Jenny continues to work with individuals from her home and online, supporting clients all over the world. She says she enjoys this work most of all. Jenny believes that everyone has the ability to heal themselves and sees herself as the vehicle to help them get there. She does not consider herself an expert in any field except her own life. She says:

"I will never tell a client what to do. Why? Because we all live our lives through our own lens. What may work for me may not work for you. I am an expert on me; I understand my strengths and weaknesses, know my triggers and how I respond, and I know what I like and don’t like. Everyone is their own expert on themselves. They just may not know it yet."