Helen Willoughby, BACP, NCPS

Helen Willoughby is a counsellor who has worked in helping roles since 2003, after a prior career as a nurse. She holds BACP and NCPS credentials and brings 22 years of therapeutic experience to her practice in the United Kingdom. Helen aims to make first sessions straightforward and will answer initial questions to help people feel more comfortable before they start.

Helen sees people for a wide range of concerns, including stress, anxiety, addictions, trauma and abuse, relationship and intimacy issues, grief, eating issues, sleep problems and parenting strain. She also supports people with mood disorders such as depression and bipolar, as well as attention differences and compassion fatigue. Her practice includes work around identity and LGBT matters, body image and long-term health challenges.

Her way of working is practical and person centred. She uses Client-Centred Therapy as a base and draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Jungian ideas, Mindfulness and Motivational Interviewing when helpful. Sessions focus on what a person wants to change and on realistic steps toward those goals.

Helen describes the counselling room as a place to slow down and breathe. She aims to listen without judgement and to treat each person as an individual. Early sessions tend to be about building trust and clarifying what the client wants to work on.

Over time she helps people recognise unhelpful patterns, try new coping strategies and strengthen their own choices. For many clients this means clearer communication, better mood management and a steadier sense of direction through change.

Therapeutic approaches and how they work online

Helen often draws on Client-Centred Therapy, where the therapist listens closely and follows the person’s lead to help them make their own choices. This approach suits people who need a steady, respectful space to talk through feelings and life decisions.

She also uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which looks at how thoughts, feelings and actions link together and teaches practical strategies to change unhelpful patterns. CBT can be useful for anxiety, low mood and sleep problems by giving clear steps to try between sessions.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with the client about goals, preferences and what feels most useful. Together they can try different methods and adapt the process as progress is made.

Please confirm the current session formats before booking, as the biography does not specify them. Online therapy can make it easier to fit counselling into daily life, for example by removing travel time, offering shorter check-ins or letting sessions happen from a quieter place that fits a person’s schedule. Registered and accredited professionals commonly use online work to maintain continuity of care when meeting in person is difficult, while still focusing on practical skills and emotional reflection.