Deborah Dalley, BACP

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, focuses on helping people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without being ruled by them, then choose actions that match their values. It can help with anxiety, stress and living through major changes. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationship patterns affect current feelings and reactions; it helps people understand attachment worries and build safer ways of relating to themselves and others. Client-Centred Therapy emphasises a respectful, non-directive stance where the counsellor reflects and supports a person's own capacity to find solutions and make choices.

Finding the right approach is usually a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each person to identify goals, try different ways of working and adapt methods based on what feels most helpful. This means approaches can be blended so the focus fits the person's needs and preferences rather than following a single method.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when a fuller interaction is useful, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins or people who prefer typing, and text-based messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it simpler to fit counselling around work, caregiving and changing routines while keeping the therapeutic focus on progress and wellbeing.