Virginia Bowley, BACP

Virginia Bowley is an experienced counsellor who began practising in 2001. She trained as a nurse and spent 25 years working as a rehabilitation case manager for people with catastrophic injuries. She is an Accredited Counsellor with the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists (BACP) and has provided support in both private practice and educational settings.

Her background includes six years with Cruse bereavement care, where she supported people after loss. That work sits alongside long experience helping people cope with chronic health changes, major life transitions and complex grief. She also spent time working in a college for further education and continues monthly clinical supervision while following the BACP code of ethics.

Virginia blends a person-centred way of working with practical, thought-focused techniques. Sessions aim to be straightforward and conversational, so people can talk through feelings and try different ways of coping. She uses cognitive behavioural ideas when thinking patterns are getting in the way of change.

Typical concerns she helps with include stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, depression, grief and coping with life changes. She also supports people dealing with addiction, anger, low self-esteem and career decisions. Additional focus areas include adoption and foster care issues, ageing and geriatric concerns, attachment matters, autism and Asperger syndrome, caregiver stress and chronic pain or illness.

Virginia offers a calm, practical style and works to make sessions useful from the first meeting. She enjoys swimming, walking, cycling and reading in her free time.

How Virginia uses therapy methods online

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on the person in front of the counsellor. It offers listening, empathy and support so people can make sense of their feelings and decide what matters to them. This approach helps when someone needs space to talk about loss, life changes or relationship strain.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings and actions connect. It introduces practical ways to test and change unhelpful thinking patterns, and is often used for anxiety, low mood and coping strategies.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with the person about goals, preferences and what has or hasn’t helped before. From that conversation they will choose or combine methods in a collaborative way.

Online sessions can be arranged as video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging. Video is useful for a full conversation while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and messaging suit people who prefer written conversation or want more flexible timing. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep regular contact when in-person sessions are difficult.