Melanie O'Brien, BACP

Person-centred care and online counselling options

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on creating an accepting, non-directive relationship where the client leads the pace of work. The counsellor reflects back what they hear, offers empathic understanding and helps the client to make sense of painful feelings. This approach suits people dealing with anxiety, depression, grief, relationship worries and self-esteem difficulties.

Melanie uses that person-centred stance to help decide what feels most useful in therapy. She will talk with the client about goals and preferences and together they will choose how to approach issues. That collaborative process helps match the style of work to the individual rather than imposing one fixed method.

Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat or text messaging to give accessible options for different circumstances. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when visual cues help, while phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging suit people who prefer typing to talking or need flexible, brief touchpoints between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep continuity of care when in-person meetings are difficult.