Francesca Martin, BACP

Francesca Martin is a Person-Centred counsellor with 17 years of practice who listens first and follows the client's lead. She is a Registered Member of the BACP, and brings experience from school settings, counselling agencies and work with alcohol-related services. She also holds a qualification in couples counselling and a CPD certificate in online and telephone counselling. Her approach is warm and down-to-earth. Sessions focus on what matters to the individual and on making sense of thoughts and feelings. She aims to help people identify options rather than give directives, and she uses listening and acceptance as the main tools. Francesca has extensive experience supporting people with relationship concerns, stress and anxiety, grief, low self-esteem and life changes. She has worked with issues linked to addiction, trauma and abuse, intimacy, parenting and career worries. Additional areas of focus include attachment and abandonment concerns, autism and Asperger syndrome, caregiving strain, chronic illness and body image. Her background includes eleven years as a school counsellor and work in agencies that specialised in alcohol-related issues. She is also a qualified counselling supervisor. This variety of roles supports a practical understanding of how problems can affect daily life. In sessions she encourages honest conversation and gradual steps towards clearer choices. People can expect straightforward, respectful listening and collaboration on what to try next. The aim is to leave sessions with a better sense of direction and more ways to cope.

How Client-Centred Work Translates to Online Counselling

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on being heard. The therapist offers empathetic listening and acceptance, helping people clarify their own feelings and decisions. This approach suits relationship concerns, stress, grief and self-esteem issues where talking through experiences helps bring options into view.

Francesca's background in couples counselling and her CPD certificate in online and telephone counselling mean she is familiar with carrying Person-Centred principles into remote work. That can make it easier to keep the same conversational, reflective style when sessions are not face to face. She will aim to adapt the way she listens and responds to suit each person's needs.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and practicalities and agree on what feels most helpful. This is a collaborative process that reviews what is working as therapy progresses.

Practical benefits of online therapy include fitting sessions into a busy week, removing travel time and making it easier to keep continuity during life changes. Different formats have different practical trade-offs, so confirm the session options before booking. A short check-in might work well on a busy day, while a longer session can be arranged when more time is needed.