Lilia Sykes, BACP

Lilia Sykes offers calm, attentive support to people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, low self-esteem or life changes. She helps individuals talk through relationship difficulties, grief, trauma, addiction concerns and challenges around intimacy, sleep and eating. Lilia works to create a safe, non-judgemental space where someone can be heard and start to make small, practical changes.

She uses a person-centred way of working, which means the client sets the pace and the topics. That approach is gentle and focused on listening, while also allowing room for practical tools when they are helpful. Lilia draws on cognitive behavioural ideas and mindfulness to offer ways to manage thoughts and build coping strategies.

With eight years of experience and registration with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - BACP - she combines practical skills with an empathic manner. Lilia has run private practice and worked with a wide variety of life concerns, and she respects cultural differences and diverse backgrounds.

Online sessions are available in several formats. Lilia often prefers voice calls to reduce screen fatigue, but can use video calls, live chat or messaging when it better suits someone. International clients who speak English can access her work.

People who want to begin are asked to complete a short matching questionnaire and then book a session. Lilia aims to be flexible with scheduling and to respond kindly to questions about the process.

How Lilia’s approaches can work online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - ACT focuses on noticing thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them. It helps people clarify what matters to them and take small steps towards those values, which can be useful for anxiety, low mood and life changes.

Client-Centred Therapy places the person’s experience at the centre of the work. The therapist listens with empathy and respects the pace each person needs, creating space to explore emotions and decisions.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - CBT looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It offers simple exercises and practical strategies to shift unhelpful patterns and improve day-to-day coping.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with the person about goals, preferences and what feels most useful, then shape sessions collaboratively. That conversation can change over time as needs evolve.

Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat and messaging. Video is helpful for face-to-face connection, phone calls use less bandwidth and can be easier to fit around work, live chat allows short check-ins and messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into daily life, while still focusing on practical support and emotional understanding.