Claire Phillips

Claire Phillips is a counsellor with more than 10 years' experience and registration with the BACP (British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy). She offers a calm, person-centred space where people can talk about difficult feelings and thoughts. Claire aims to make talking easier, even when issues feel overwhelming or confusing.

Her approach emphasises listening and respect. She helps people notice patterns in relationships and emotions. That can open up new ways of coping and fresh perspectives on life problems.

Claire has worked in a wide range of settings, including NHS surgeries, prisons and drop-in centres. She has also supported children in care homes and young adults, often working with self-harm, suicidal thoughts and substance issues. Those roles have given her experience with complex and urgent presentations.

Living and working in South East Asia for more than a decade and in South East London for over 20 years has helped her bring cultural sensitivity to sessions. Claire describes trauma in practical terms and talks about how it can affect mood, sleep, relationships and behaviour.

Her practice draws on attachment-based ideas, client-centred ways of working, cognitive behavioural techniques, mindfulness and motivational interviewing. She focuses on helping people find strengths, build coping skills and make steady changes that fit their life.

Claire works in English and accepts international clients. To begin, people use the site's Start Therapy button to complete a short matching questionnaire and arrange sessions according to the therapist's schedule.

How Claire's approaches translate to online working

Attachment-based work looks at how early relationships shape current feelings and trust. In sessions this can mean talking about patterns in close relationships and testing new ways of relating to others. Client-centred work focuses on the person's experience in the moment and on being heard; the therapist follows your lead and reflects what you say to help you make sense of it. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) breaks problems into thoughts, feelings and behaviours and offers simple exercises to try between meetings to change unhelpful patterns.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process. Claire will work with the person to agree what feels most helpful, adjusting methods as the conversation and goals evolve. That collaborative planning makes it easier to focus on practical steps alongside talking and reflection.

The practical benefits of online therapy include fitting sessions into a busy day and reducing travel time. Online work can also make shorter check-ins simpler and allow sessions when relocating or travelling. Because the biography does not list specific session formats, please confirm available options before booking so you know how sessions will be arranged.