Clare Atkinson, BACP

Clare Atkinson helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low self-esteem or depression. She makes space for straightforward conversations and practical steps. Clare's approach is warm and down-to-earth and she aims to make the first step feel manageable.

Clare is a BACP counsellor with 13 years of experience working in the United Kingdom. She focuses on building an atmosphere where clients can speak honestly about difficult thoughts and feelings. Sessions are intended to be non-judgemental and paced to suit each person.

Clare draws on a mix of practical tools and conversational work. She uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help spot unhelpful thinking patterns and try small experiments. Mindfulness techniques are offered to reduce overwhelming emotion and improve focus in daily life.

She also uses client-centred ways of working that follow the client’s lead, and solution-focused ideas to help set short-term, achievable goals. Motivational Interviewing supports people who feel stuck or unsure about change. Clare adapts these methods to what an individual needs in the moment.

People contact Clare for help with life transitions, coping with health concerns, family tensions, or persistent low mood. She also supports those managing ADHD, chronic illness, caregiving stress, grief, and relationship difficulties such as separation or infidelity. Clare aims to give clear tools alongside time to talk through what matters most.

How Clare’s approaches work online

Clare commonly blends Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and client-centred work when meeting people online. CBT helps identify unhelpful thoughts and test new behaviours with small, practical tasks. Client-centred therapy keeps sessions focused on the person’s own priorities and lets the conversation follow what matters most in their life.

She may also use mindfulness techniques to bring attention back to the present and reduce intense emotion. These are taught in short exercises and can be used between sessions to build steadier coping. Together, these methods suit people who want clear tools alongside open conversation about their difficulties.

Deciding which approach to use is a joint process. Clare will discuss options with each person, consider their goals and preferences, and try methods that fit. She treats the choice of approach as flexible and will adapt if something does not feel helpful.

Online therapy offers practical benefits such as fitting sessions around work, using phone calls when bandwidth is limited, or choosing a quick live chat or text check-in when a short catch-up is needed. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation without travel. Registered or accredited professionals can provide effective care through these formats while keeping the work focused on the client's needs.