Maria Barletta, BACP

Maria Barletta is a counsellor and psychotherapist based in the United Kingdom who helps people manage stress, anxiety, low mood and relationship difficulties. She also supports people dealing with trauma, self-esteem struggles, panic attacks and issues such as jealousy and codependency. Maria works in English and Spanish and aims to make the first session a clear conversation about goals and needs.

Maria holds membership of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, shown as BACP. She draws on a mix of approaches in her work, including client-centred ways of listening, psychodynamic thinking about past patterns and cognitive behavioural techniques for unhelpful thoughts and behaviours. She describes her overall style as integrative, tailoring what she uses to each person.

In practice she begins by asking what the client hopes to change. Sessions often involve naming the problem, exploring what keeps it going and trying practical steps to shift it. She sometimes uses guided meditations, visualisations and imaginative exercises to help people access thoughts and feelings differently.

Maria frames therapy as a collaborative process. She focuses on building understanding and offering encouragement so people can face challenges and make lasting changes. Her aim is to help clients become more aware of what drives certain behaviours and to find workable ways forward.

With four years of clinical experience, plus wider experience in life coaching and hypnotherapy mentioned in her background, she offers support for a range of personal and relational concerns. People considering work with her are invited to start by describing their situation and goals so a plan can be agreed.

How her approaches translate to online work

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on attentive listening and helping people feel heard. Online sessions allow the counsellor to offer that same responsive listening and reflection to help people explore their feelings and goals. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts and behaviours keep problems going and uses practical exercises and homework to change them; that structure adapts well to remote conversations where tasks can be discussed between sessions.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss your needs, goals and preferences and then suggest which methods to try. This is a shared decision and can be reviewed as therapy progresses to keep the plan useful and realistic.

Confirm the session formats available before booking, as the profile does not list specific options. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into busy days, reduce travel time and allow follow-up tasks to be reviewed quickly. It also makes it simpler to use visualisations or guided exercises during the appointment and to plan short check-ins when that suits a schedule.