Claire Exley, BACP

Claire Exley is a counsellor practising in the United Kingdom with three years of professional experience and a BACP registration. She focuses on helping people through relationship strains, family difficulties, grief and loss, low self-esteem, and motivation challenges. Claire aims to respond with respect, sensitivity and calm when someone first reaches out.

Her approach is person-centred, which means conversations are led by the person's concerns. She listens closely and helps people make sense of their feelings. Sessions are adapted to each person's needs rather than following a rigid formula.

Claire often supports people facing anxiety, stress, depression and bipolar-related struggles. She also works with issues tied to attachment, codependency, control, dissociation and the aftermath of separation or divorce. Practical day-to-day matters such as sleep problems, parenting stress, career choices and anger are included alongside deeper themes like emptiness, guilt and impulses.

When grief or end-of-life matters come up she aims to offer steady presence and practical coping ideas. She helps people name feelings and find ways to carry on after loss. Claire also addresses intimacy-related worries and feelings of isolation.

Therapy sessions are shaped around what the individual wants to achieve. Claire sets clear, compassionate goals together with each person and checks progress as they go. Small steps are valued alongside bigger changes.

How Claire’s person-centred approach works online

Claire primarily follows Client-Centred Therapy, which centres on the person's own experience. The counsellor listens without judgement, reflects what they hear, and helps the person find their own solutions. This approach is helpful for anxiety, low self-worth, relationship strain and processing grief.

Finding the right way of working is part of the process. Claire will talk with each person about goals, preferences and what feels most helpful. Together they will choose how to focus sessions and adjust the pace as progress is made, so the approach reflects the person's needs rather than a fixed plan.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging to give practical flexibility. Video calls let people read facial cues and body language. Phone sessions need less bandwidth and can fit into a short break. Live chat or messaging can work for quick check-ins or when writing feels easier than speaking. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep continuity even when schedules change.