Ann Ellison, BACP

Ann Ellison is a BACP counsellor with sixteen years of experience helping people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety or low mood. She offers a calm, down-to-earth approach. Sessions focus on what matters to each person and on practical steps they can try between meetings.

She draws on several evidence-based approaches to tailor sessions to each need. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps break unhelpful thinking patterns. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy supports people to live around difficult feelings while taking action that matters to them. Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is used where trauma memories cause lasting distress.

Ann aims to make sessions straightforward and non-judgemental. She listens first and works at the client’s pace. Conversations cover current difficulties such as sleep problems, grief, relationship strain, anger or workplace stress, and focus on building coping skills and clearer choices.

Practical tools are mixed with space to talk about painful experiences. This can include making small behavioural changes, trying different ways of thinking, and learning new strategies to manage attention and emotions. Ann encourages clients to set realistic goals and reviews progress regularly.

To begin, she asks a few simple questions about what brings someone to therapy. From there she and the client decide on a plan that fits their life and aims. The emphasis is on steady, manageable change rather than quick fixes.

Practical therapy approaches for online sessions

Ann uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. CBT involves clear, short exercises and homework that can be practised between sessions to improve mood and sleep or manage anxiety.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is also part of the work. ACT encourages people to accept difficult feelings while committing to actions that match their values. It is useful for coping with stress, low mood and life transitions.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Ann will discuss different methods and together with the client choose what feels most useful for their goals and preferences. This collaborative planning helps shape the focus and pace of therapy.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging, so people can pick what fits their schedule. Video suits deeper conversations when face-to-face contact helps. Phone can be a quicker check-in and needs less bandwidth. Live chat or messaging can work for shorter updates or when someone prefers typing to speaking. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, family and daily life.