Rebecca Rust-Ashford

Rebecca Rust-Ashford is a counsellor who aims to offer empathic, non-judgemental support for people facing trauma, depression and anxiety. She holds BACP registration, and brings three years of clinical experience to her work. Rebecca focuses on practical steps that clients can use between sessions to feel steadier day to day.

Her approach is integrative, which means she combines different ways of working to suit each person. She often brings a client-centred stance, listening carefully to what matters to the person in front of her. When trauma is part of the story, she may use trauma-focused methods and elements of Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, tailored to the client’s pace.

Rebecca commonly helps people dealing with stress, low mood, relationship difficulties, self-esteem issues and anxiety. She also addresses concerns such as abandonment, attachment difficulties, adoption and foster care experiences, and aspects of neurodiversity including autism and Asperger syndrome. Practical coping ideas and clearer ways to understand patterns tend to be central in her sessions.

Clients can expect a calm, accepting space where their experience is heard. Rebecca works to make goals realistic and grounded in everyday life. She aims to build tools people can use outside therapy to manage stressors and difficult memories.

Rebecca works in the United Kingdom and offers sessions in English. To begin, people follow the site’s Start Therapy steps to match and schedule according to the therapist’s availability.

How Rebecca’s approaches translate to online therapy

Client-Centred Therapy places the person’s experience at the heart of the work, with the counsellor listening closely and following what matters most to the client. This helps with day-to-day stress, low mood and relationship worries by building clear goals together.

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing, often called EMDR, is a way of working that can reduce the intensity of traumatic memories. It usually involves structured steps and pacing to help people feel less overwhelmed by past events.

Trauma-Focused Therapy concentrates on understanding how difficult experiences affect current feelings and behaviour. It often combines stabilisation, processing of memories and building coping skills to manage triggers and flashbacks.

Choosing the right approach is part of the work. Rebecca treats this as a collaborative process and will discuss what fits best with someone’s needs, goals and comfort level. She adapts methods over time as people progress or as new issues emerge.

Session formats are not specified in the biography, so please confirm current options before booking. Online sessions can make it easier to fit therapy into busy lives, for example by avoiding travel or allowing shorter check-ins during a lunch break. They can also suit people who prefer not to be on camera or who need lower bandwidth options. Ask about formats when you schedule so you can pick what works best for your routine and preferences.