Kay Holdsworth, BACP

Kay Holdsworth offers calm, practical support for people feeling stuck, overwhelmed or low in motivation. She helps clients identify small, manageable steps to improve day-to-day wellbeing and regain confidence. Kay uses straightforward tools and exercises so people can practise new ways of coping between sessions.

Kay works from approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Client-Centred Therapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, plus mindfulness and guided relaxation techniques. She may introduce breathing exercises, visualisations or creative tasks when helpful. Sessions often include practical tasks or journalling to try out between meetings.

Kay trained in counselling and psychotherapy and holds BACP registration. She completed a postgraduate certificate in counselling and psychotherapy in 2017. More recent study includes creative counselling and a solution-focused short course completed in 2021 and 2023.

Her background includes work as a student counsellor and wellbeing practitioner at a UK university, and running community wellbeing courses and a mental health drop-in group. That experience spans supporting people with anxiety, depression, stress and motivation concerns.

In sessions Kay encourages honest feedback about what helps and what does not. She expects clients to do practical work between meetings and tailors exercises to individual needs. This approach aims to build daily habits that support longer term change.

Therapeutic approaches suited to online work

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without being driven by them. It focuses on values and small committed steps toward a more meaningful life, which can be useful for anxiety, low mood and feeling stuck.

Client-Centred Therapy emphasises a supportive, non-judgemental relationship. The counsellor listens closely and helps the client find their own solutions, which suits people wanting to build self-trust and clarity.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) identifies unhelpful thought patterns and tries practical experiments to change them. It is commonly used for anxiety, low mood and problems with motivation and sleep.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. Kay will discuss options and adapt methods to each person’s goals and preferences. This is a collaborative process and changes can be made if something is not helpful.

Online sessions can be adapted to fit a busy life. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and visual cues, while phone sessions work well when bandwidth or time is limited. Live chat and text-based messaging suit brief check-ins, journalling prompts or day-to-day support between longer sessions. These formats make it easier to keep therapy consistent around work, family or study commitments.