Cheryl Backham, BACP

Cheryl Backham is a counsellor who focuses on helping people facing trauma, anxiety and major life stresses. She uses a calm, listening style and aims to create a straightforward space where people can talk about what is worrying them. Cheryl holds BACP accreditation and has six years of counselling experience in the United Kingdom.

She meets people where they are and keeps sessions simple and practical. Cheryl follows a person-centred way of working that centres the client's experience. That means she listens first, then helps people notice patterns and choices they can make.

Cheryl also works with people coping with grief, anger, low self-esteem, addictions and relationship strain. She offers focused support for sexual assault and abuse and for people who struggle with self-harm. Sessions are shaped around what each person needs that week.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, often shortened to EMDR, is one of the approaches she uses for trauma work. EMDR can help reduce the intensity of distressing memories when it is suitable for the person and their pace.

Her style is warm and respectful. She prefers clear goals and steady progress rather than long abstract discussion. Many people find this approach helpful when they need to manage stress, cope with change or rebuild confidence.

Cheryl offers sessions in English and works with people in the UK. New clients begin by completing a short questionnaire to match with a counsellor and then schedule sessions according to availability.

Approaches for trauma and practical online care

EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing is used to help reduce the intensity of distressing memories. It involves focusing on a memory while following guided bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess the event and ease strong emotional reactions.

Person-centred counselling focuses on the individual's experience and priorities. The counsellor listens without judgement, helps people name their feelings and supports them to set realistic goals for change.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Cheryl will work with each person to decide whether EMDR, person-centred work or a combination fits best. That decision is made together, based on the person's needs, goals and pace.

Online sessions offer practical flexibility. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when that is helpful. Phone sessions can be a good option when bandwidth is limited or a quicker check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging support shorter updates, follow-ups and people who prefer writing over talking. These options make it easier to fit counselling around work, family and travel commitments.