Claire Smith, BACP

Claire Smith helps people who are struggling with anxiety, stress, depression, grief, trauma and abuse, and relationship or family difficulties. She also supports people facing parenting strain, intimacy concerns, eating issues, anger, low self-esteem, career stress, and life transitions. Claire uses straightforward language and steady support to help people take practical steps forward.

Claire is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, BACP. She has four years of professional experience working in UK services, including time supporting high-risk presentations in a children’s crisis unit. That experience shaped her calm approach to complex and urgent problems.

Her style is warm and respectful. Conversations are client-led and paced to the person’s needs. Claire adapts sessions so people feel heard while also learning new ways to manage thoughts, emotions and behaviour.

She draws on several therapeutic approaches to match the work to each person. That includes acceptance and commitment ideas to clarify values and action, cognitive behavioural techniques to spot unhelpful thinking patterns, attachment-informed ways of looking at relationships, and practical skills from dialectical behaviour therapy.

Sessions may be used to focus on symptom relief, skills for daily life or longer-term patterns that cause repeated pain. People who are neurodiverse, including those with ADHD or autism, are welcomed and supported with that experience in mind. Claire works in English and sees clients in the United Kingdom.

To begin, a short questionnaire and a scheduling step get the practical side started. Claire aims to make first steps manageable and clear.

Online approaches and how they support change

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT, helps people clarify what matters to them and take small steps that match those values despite difficult feelings. It is often used for anxiety, depression and coping with life changes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, CBT, focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking patterns and behaviours, with practical exercises people can use between sessions to reduce symptoms and improve day-to-day functioning. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how past relationship experiences shape current connections and emotional responses and can help with intimacy, trust and communication issues.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic conversation. Claire will work collaboratively to choose methods that match a person’s needs, goals and preferences, and she may combine elements from different approaches as the work progresses.

Online therapy with Claire is available by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues. Phone sessions can be a better fit when bandwidth is limited or when someone needs a shorter check-in. Live chat and messaging let people share thoughts in writing and spread therapy over the week. These options offer flexibility for busy schedules and different comfort levels while keeping the practical focus on skills and progress.