Maria Howell, BACP

Maria Howell is a counsellor with seven years of practice in the United Kingdom. She supports people who are struggling with stress, anxiety, relationship worries, grief, addiction and issues linked to identity, including LGBT concerns and intimacy-related difficulties. Maria aims to make the first step feel manageable for anyone who is unsure where to begin.

She creates a calm setting where people can talk through feelings without judgment. Sessions focus on helping clients understand patterns - such as attachment or abandonment worries - and learning practical ways to cope day to day. Maria also works with concerns tied to trauma, bipolar mood shifts, sleep and eating issues, and compassion fatigue.

Her approach draws on a range of evidence-based therapeutic techniques, selected to suit each person’s needs. Maria explains options plainly and helps people try methods that fit their situation and preferences. She pays attention to how experiences like autism, body image struggles, or kink and BDSM culture shape relationships and self-view.

Maria has worked in settings that aim to improve access to counselling in South Wales. Her practice includes supporting people through career stress, parenting strains, anger, and the emotional aftermath of cancer. She also helps clients address dissociation, codependency, substance use and self-harm thoughts.

People who choose to work with Maria are invited to take things at a steady pace. She emphasises collaboration and gradual steps, focusing on clear goals and practical strategies that can be used outside sessions.

How different approaches translate to online care

Maria uses a blend of evidence-based therapeutic techniques chosen to match the person in front of her. One common approach she uses focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thinking and behaviour patterns to reduce anxiety and improve mood; this can help with worry, low mood and compulsive habits. Another approach centres on attachment and abandonment issues, helping people understand how early relationships shape current fears and relationship patterns, which is often useful for intimacy and trust concerns.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Maria discusses options with each client and together they decide what to try first. She encourages short trials of techniques so clients can see what helps and then adapt the plan as goals evolve.

If you are considering online sessions, please confirm the exact formats available before booking as the biography does not list them. Online therapy can make sessions easier to fit into a busy life, reduce travel time and allow for quicker check-ins when needed. It also lets people use modes that suit them better day to day, such as a session without video for a shorter catch-up or a longer meeting when more space is helpful. Registered and accredited professionals and therapists often use online work to maintain continuity of care and to pair practical tools with weekly conversations.