Florbela Santos, BACP

Florbela Santos works from a client-centred approach that puts the person's experience first. She aims to create straightforward, respectful conversations that help people name what feels difficult and find practical ways to cope. Her style is calm and attentive, with a focus on listening before suggesting steps forward.

She has 13 years of professional experience in the United Kingdom and is registered with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). Santos draws on a mix of approaches to meet different needs, including psychodynamic ideas to understand past patterns, mindfulness to build present-moment skills, and somatic techniques to notice how the body holds stress.

People come to her for problems such as stress, anxiety and depression, trauma and abuse, relationship concerns and family-of-origin issues. She also supports those dealing with addictions, grief, eating and sleeping problems, intimacy-related concerns, parenting strain and low self-esteem. Additional focus areas include attachment and abandonment, codependency, body image and financial stress.

Sessions are adapted to each person. Conversations are practical and paced to the individual's comfort. She tailors goals and tools so they fit everyday life, from coping strategies to exploring deeper emotional patterns.

Florbela encourages a collaborative process. She explains options, listens to what matters most and adjusts the plan as things change. For many people the first few steps are about feeling understood and finding one small change that helps.

Therapeutic approaches and online support

Florbela uses client-centred work to create a respectful, person-led space where the individual's priorities guide each session. This approach focuses on listening, reflecting and helping people identify practical steps that fit their life, which can suit stress, anxiety and relationship concerns.

She also integrates mindfulness practices to build present-moment awareness and reduce reactivity. Mindfulness techniques can help with worry, sleep problems and managing strong emotions by training attention and gentle acceptance. In addition, somatic ideas are used to notice how bodily sensations link to emotion and stress, which can be helpful for trauma, anxiety and chronic tension.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss different options and adapt methods to match each person's goals, needs and preferences. This is a collaborative process where plans change as progress is made.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging to increase flexibility. Video calls allow a full conversational session, phone sessions can be a simpler check-in or suit lower bandwidth, and messaging or live chat gives shorter, timely support between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, family and travel commitments while keeping the focus on approachable, usable strategies.