Gillian Cooper, BACP

Gillian Cooper offers calm, practical support for people facing stress, anxiety and life changes. She works with adults on everyday struggles like sleep and eating problems, parenting strain, relationship difficulties and managing grief. Gillian also helps with addictions, low self-esteem, anger and work-related burnout. She uses straightforward, collaborative sessions. Some work focuses on the present - finding small steps to change day-to-day patterns. At other times she looks further back to understand how past experiences affect current feelings and choices. That mix allows a short-term practical focus or a deeper exploration depending on what the person wants. Gillian has nine years of practice in a variety of settings in the United Kingdom. Her background includes work in mental health services, bereavement support at an NHS hospital, a trauma organisation for women and young girls, and roles with MIND UK. She has also been a counselling tutor delivering up to level 4 qualifications for learners seeking clarity about career and life direction. She describes her approach as both therapeutic and counselling, tailoring methods to each person. Sessions aim to be non-judgemental and respectful, with a simple roadmap co-created so people know what to expect. Record keeping and professional boundaries are observed as part of her practice. Gillian can incorporate Christian values and biblical principles into sessions when that is requested. She emphasises inclusion and respect for diverse backgrounds and experiences in her work. To begin she invites people to identify their goals and choose the mix of practical strategies and deeper exploration that suits them. Her style is supportive, direct and focused on helping people move toward clearer choices and better day-to-day coping.

Approaches for online therapy and how they help

Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current ways of connecting. It helps people understand patterns of closeness, trust and boundaries in relationships and can be useful for intimacy, attachment issues and abandonment concerns.

Client-Centred Therapy puts the person’s experience at the heart of the work. The therapist offers listening and reflection so people can explore their feelings, build self-esteem and find their own solutions to problems such as anxiety or career decisions.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings and behaviours interact. It offers practical tools to change unhelpful thinking and behaviour, which can help with anxiety, low mood, sleep difficulties and managing cravings.

Finding the right approach is part of the process and Gillian will work with each person to decide what fits best. She discusses goals and preferences together, then adapts methods so sessions feel useful and manageable. This collaborative planning helps shape whether sessions stay short-term and practical or move into deeper exploration.

Online sessions make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls let people see non-verbal cues and build rapport, phone sessions require less bandwidth and can be easier to do on the move, and live chat or text messaging can suit quick check-ins or people who prefer not to be on camera. These options give flexibility, reduce travel time and allow work to continue in a way that matches individual needs and routines.