Claire Bottomley, BACP

Claire Bottomley offers calm, straightforward support for people feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, stress or big life changes. She speaks plainly and listens closely, helping clients name what’s hard and find small ways to cope. Claire works with each person to agree practical goals and steps they can try between sessions.

Claire has five years' experience and is a BACP member, which means she meets recognised professional standards through the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists. She trained with a First Class honours degree in Therapeutic Counselling and holds a postgraduate diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy.

Her practice takes an integrative approach. Sessions draw on cognitive behavioural techniques to spot and change unhelpful thoughts, acceptance and commitment ideas to clarify values, and client-centred listening to prioritise what matters to the person. Psychodynamic ideas are used when past experiences help explain current patterns.

Claire has worked with adults and young people on issues such as anxiety, panic, low mood, grief, relationship difficulties, trauma and sexual abuse. She also supports people dealing with parenting stress, addiction, ADHD, sleep problems, self-esteem and career pressures.

In sessions she aims to build a clear and collaborative plan. That might include short-term problem solving, trauma-focused work, or learning new coping skills. Claire encourages practical steps clients can try between appointments and reviews progress together.

Sessions are offered in English and Claire accepts international clients. She provides video calls, phone sessions, live chat and text-based messaging to fit different needs and lifestyles.

How Claire’s approaches work online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters to them and take small committed steps towards those values, while learning to accept difficult feelings. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) focuses on spotting unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviours to reduce anxiety and low mood. Client-Centred Therapy places the person's experience at the heart of the work, offering empathetic listening and a respectful space to decide what to change.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work and Claire treats it as a joint process. She will talk through goals and try different ideas to see what fits. Over the first few sessions she and the client agree which techniques to use and how to pace the work together.

Online therapy lets the same therapeutic approaches be delivered by video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging. Video is useful when visual cues help the conversation; phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text messaging suit people who prefer typing or need flexible, ongoing contact between appointments. These options make therapy easier to fit around work, family commitments and busy lives.