Karen Atwill, BACP

Therapeutic approaches suited to online care

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening and understanding the person's experience. The counsellor follows the client's lead, helps people name their feelings and supports them to find solutions that make sense in everyday life. This approach is useful for stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and relationship worries.

Mindfulness Therapy teaches simple practices to notice thoughts and feelings without getting swept away by them. Short breathing and grounding exercises can reduce reactivity and make it easier to cope with strong emotions during difficult moments. This approach helps with anxiety, anger and coping with life changes.

Finding the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will discuss goals, preferences and what has or hasn't helped before, then agree on a way forward. That collaborative process may combine listening-focused work, mindfulness practice and looking at life stories to fit the client's needs.

Online therapy using video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging makes it easier to fit sessions around work, family and travel. Video works well for face-to-face conversation and visual cues, while phone calls suit quieter audio-only check-ins or when bandwidth is limited. Live chat or messaging can be useful for brief check-ins, written reflection or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Together these formats offer flexibility so people can choose what fits their routine and communication style.