Vivienne Robertson, BACP

Vivienne Robertson is a counsellor with three decades of experience helping people through stress, anxiety and relationship strain. She uses plain talk and steady guidance to help clients name problems and choose practical steps forward. Vivienne holds BACP, which means she is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy. Over the years, she has worked in the NHS, with relationship services such as Relate, and in private practice. That range of settings has given her experience with workplace conflict, frontline roles and coaching for work-related stress. She also supports people coping with grief, separation and life changes. Her approach draws on client-centred work, cognitive behavioural ideas and mindfulness. That mix helps people understand their patterns, try different ways of thinking, and practise calmer ways to respond. She also uses EMDR for trauma-related memories and the Gottman Method for relationship conversation when appropriate. Sessions are conversational and practical. Vivienne helps people set small goals, practise new strategies between sessions, and track what helps. She explains techniques in everyday language and adapts them to each person’s needs. Vivienne works across a broad set of concerns including self-esteem, intimacy issues, sleep problems, anger and feelings of emptiness. She also has experience with abandonment and attachment issues, blended family challenges, infidelity and issues common to first responders. Her style is steady, experienced and geared to getting everyday improvements.

How Vivienne’s approaches work online

Client-centred therapy puts the person’s experience at the heart of sessions and is about listening, reflecting and helping people find their own solutions. It is useful when someone needs time to talk through feelings or wants a space to make sense of difficult events.

Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, helps people spot unhelpful thought patterns and test new ways of reacting. It suits issues like anxiety, low mood, sleep problems and many kinds of everyday stress because it gives clear strategies and practice tasks.

EMDR addresses distressing memories by pairing guided eye movements or other bilateral stimulation with focused recall. It is used when past events continue to cause intense emotional or physical reactions and can help reduce the power of those memories.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, try methods that fit the client’s needs and adapt the pace if something isn’t helpful. That collaborative process helps people see what feels most useful for them.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits shorter check-ins and text messaging works well for ongoing support between sessions. These options make it simpler to fit therapy around work, family and shift patterns and to continue work when travel would otherwise be a barrier.