Michelle Rutter, BACP

Michelle Rutter helps people who are feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, relationship difficulties, or struggles with addiction. She also supports concerns such as sleep and eating problems, low self-esteem, parenting strain, career worries, ADHD and compassion fatigue. Michelle works from a person-centred stance that aims to make clients feel heard and respected from the first session.

Michelle is a BACP counsellor with six years of practice in the United Kingdom. She uses a human approach and adapts therapy to each person. Sessions focus on talking things through, building coping skills, and developing clearer choices for everyday life.

Her way of working blends client-centred listening with practical cognitive behavioural techniques and elements from emotionally-focused and dialectical approaches. That means sessions can include reflective listening, noticing unhelpful thinking patterns, and learning emotion regulation skills. Treatment plans are shaped around what the client needs and wants to achieve.

Michelle often helps people facing loss, big life changes, or long-term stress. She also offers support for intimacy-related issues, attachment worries and the impact of chronic illness or caring responsibilities. The emphasis is on steady progress and realistic steps rather than quick fixes.

Sessions are offered in English and are available to people in the United Kingdom and internationally. Michelle aims to create a calm, non-judgemental space where clients can work at their own pace and build greater confidence and resilience.

How Michelle’s approaches work online

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, often called ACT, helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck. It encourages identifying personal values and taking small actions that match those values, which can help with anxiety, low mood and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, looks at the connection between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and teaches practical exercises to change unhelpful patterns and reduce worry or avoidance. Emotionally-Focused Therapy focuses on emotional experience in close relationships and supports people to understand and reshape how they respond to strong emotions and conflicts.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Michelle will talk with each person about their needs, goals and preferences and agree a plan together. That collaborative process means methods can be mixed or adjusted as therapy progresses to fit what is most helpful.

Online therapy offers several practical benefits. Video calls let people see facial cues and work through exercises together, while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or for shorter check-ins. Live chat and text-based messaging support regular reflection and quick check-ins between sessions. These formats make it easier to fit therapy around work, family commitments and different time zones, while still focusing on steady progress and skills practice.