Shagufta Qadir, BACP

Shagufta Qadir is a counsellor with seven years of professional experience based in the United Kingdom. She holds BACP accreditation which signals professional standing with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Shagufta speaks English and Urdu and accepts international clients. Shagufta helps people who are coping with stress and anxiety, depression, addictions, low self-esteem and motivation challenges. She also supports people facing relationship and intimacy issues, grief, and life transitions. Practical concerns such as sleep, eating, career stress and caregiver strain are within her focus too. Her approach begins from the view that the client knows their story best. Sessions aim to build on strengths and practical resources the person already has. Conversations tend to be collaborative and down-to-earth, not full of jargon. Shagufta draws on methods that focus on patterns in close relationships, on the person at the centre of the work, and on changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. She uses short-term goal work when needed to help with motivation and small steps forward. People meet her to talk through issues such as trauma, family-related strains, commitment or control concerns, or complex emotional reactions after loss or illness. She also works with worries linked to identity and LGBT matters. The process is paced to each person, with practical ideas and steady support.

How therapeutic approaches work online

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early and close relationships shape current feelings and reactions. Online sessions use conversations to spot patterns in relationships and develop safer ways of relating to others. Client-Centred Therapy focuses on the person in front of the counsellor, offering empathic listening and acceptance so someone can explore feelings and make their own choices. This approach helps with low self-esteem, decision-making and emotional processing. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, examines the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and teaches practical strategies to change unhelpful patterns. It is helpful for anxiety, depression, sleep and many day-to-day problems.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The counsellor will talk with the client about needs, goals and preferences, and together they will decide which methods to try. That collaborative process means approaches can be adapted as therapy progresses.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility. Video calls let people work face-to-face without travel, phone sessions can be used when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed, and live chat or text messaging can fit into a busy day or feel less intensive. These options make it easier to keep continuity of care and fit sessions around work, family or other commitments, while still allowing therapists and clients to engage in meaningful, structured work.