Bridget Blackford-Read, NCPS

Bridget Blackford-Read helps people struggling with stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, low self-esteem and major life changes. She offers a calm, steady presence and aims to make it easier to talk about painful things. Bridget works at the person’s pace and focuses on practical steps that feel manageable.

She uses a blend of approaches so sessions match what the person needs. Conversations often look at how past experiences affect present feelings and behaviour. Bridget may suggest short activities between sessions like journalling, grounding exercises or simple reflection tasks to build new coping habits.

Before becoming a counsellor she worked for UK charities as a caseworker and manager supporting victims of crime and people attending courts. That experience shaped her understanding of trauma, loss and the practical pressures people face after stressful events. She has been practising for three years and holds NCPS as a listed credential.

In sessions she aims to create an open, non-judgemental space where people can share their experience in their own words. Bridget describes counselling as a process of change that can feel risky, so she offers steady support throughout and adapts the pace to each person.

Messages are usually answered the same day during Monday to Friday and within 48 hours at the latest. She checks for messages at weekends and generally responds on Monday if she has been in sessions.

Approaches that guide online sessions

Attachment-based work looks at how early relationships shape current feelings and reactions, helping people understand patterns in close connections and cope with loss or abandonment. Client-centred therapy focuses on listening and reflecting back what a person says, creating space to make sense of difficult emotions and build confidence. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, often called CBT, helps spot unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns and tries small experiments to shift them, which can ease anxiety and improve mood.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Bridget will discuss different ways of working and agree what feels most useful. This is a collaborative choice based on the person’s needs, goals and preferences rather than a fixed programme.

Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging, giving options that fit different routines. Video calls mirror face-to-face conversation, phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier when movement is needed, live chat suits shorter check-ins and text messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These formats make therapy more flexible and help people fit support into busy or unpredictable lives.