Jean Van Slyke, BACP

Jean Van Slyke uses a client-centred approach to guide people through hard times. She focuses on listening first, then working with each person to find practical steps forward. Jean speaks plainly and helps people make sense of difficult feelings. With eight years of experience and registration with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), Jean has supported people facing stress and anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, grief and loss, and depression. She also works with concerns around self-esteem, anger, eating and sleeping problems, and intimacy-related issues. Her practice includes attention to relationship and family-related stress, parenting strain, and challenges tied to adoption or blended families. Jean also helps people dealing with chronic illness or pain, cancer, ageing and geriatric concerns, and issues connected to attachment or avoidant personality patterns. Jean draws on solution-focused and motivational approaches to help people identify clear goals and small, achievable changes. She combines that with existential ideas to help people find personal meaning and perspective when life shifts feel overwhelming. Sessions are shaped by what the person brings and what they want to change. People can expect conversations that aim to reduce shame and blame and to build clearer ways of coping. Jean aims to be straightforward, warm and non-judgemental while helping people work out next steps in day-to-day life.

How Jean's approaches work online

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on the person's experience and aims to create a trusting relationship where people feel heard. This approach helps when someone needs space to talk things through and to find their own solutions. Solution-Focused Therapy centres on setting small, achievable goals and building on what already works. It is useful for problems where concrete changes and step-by-step planning can make a difference. Finding the right approach is part of the work. Jean will discuss different methods and decide together which fits the person's goals and preferences. The process is collaborative and flexible, with room to change direction as needs evolve. Online sessions can be held by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video calls are useful for face-to-face conversation and body language cues. Phone sessions can be simpler when bandwidth is low or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging allow for brief reflections or ongoing written support between longer sessions. These formats make it easier to fit therapy around work, family life, or mobility limits. Registered and accredited professionals provide care through these options, helping people access support in ways that suit their daily routines.