Chiara Stoten, BACP

Chiara Stoten welcomes people who are feeling overwhelmed, stuck or worn down by life’s challenges. She aims to make sessions straightforward and practical so a worried parent can understand what will happen. Chiara listens for what each person needs and sets goals at a pace that feels comfortable.

She uses a mix of approaches rather than a single method. Expect conversations that explore how past experiences link to current problems, alongside practical steps to ease day-to-day distress. Chiara focuses on helping people find clearer thinking, improved coping, and more manageable routines.

Her work draws on client-centred ways of relating, which put the person’s perspective first. She also uses psychodynamic ideas to look at patterns that repeat over time. Solution-focused techniques are used when a short-term plan and small changes can help quickly.

Chiara has six years of overall experience and has run a private practice in the Bristol area for four years. That practice gave her wide exposure to issues such as trauma, dissociation, abuse, depression, stress and anxiety. She has also worked with young people in schools and at university settings and is gaining recent experience with autism and ADHD.

Sessions are conversational and practical. Chiara helps people set realistic steps between meetings and reviews progress together. She aims to create an environment where a person can speak honestly and start to feel more able to manage daily life.

Approaches that guide online sessions

Client-centred work puts the person’s experience at the heart of sessions. The therapist listens closely and follows what matters most to the individual, which helps when someone needs a respectful, non-judgemental space to talk about stress, anxiety or relationship concerns.

Psychodynamic ideas are used to spot repeating patterns that link past experiences to present behaviour. This can help when someone wants to understand why certain feelings or reactions keep returning and to change long-standing habits.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Chiara will discuss different ways of working and decide together which methods suit the person’s goals and preferences. This is a collaborative process and plans can be adjusted as needs change.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let people use visual contact for deeper conversation, phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins and text-based messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy around family life, work or study and to keep momentum between meetings.