About Laura Harley | BACP-Accredited Online Counsellor
BACP-accredited counsellor offering online therapy
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Sometimes you don't need advice from someone who knows you. You need somewhere to think.
I offer confidential online counselling to adults who want space to understand what is happening in their lives, make sense of difficult experiences, or work through something that has become hard to manage alone. My role isn't to tell you what to do or decide what would be best for you. Instead, I offer a professional, independent space where you can slow things down, be honest about what you're experiencing, and explore what you really think and feel. Therapy can be particularly valuable when talking to friends or family isn't quite enough. The people who love us are inevitably part of our lives and our stories. A therapist can listen without having a personal stake in what you decide, while bringing professional training, experience, clinical supervision and a therapeutic framework to the conversation. If you've arrived here after reading my contribution to the BACP article about why talking to a therapist is different from talking to friends or family, welcome. You don't need to have everything worked out before you get in touch, and you don't need to know exactly what you want from therapy. We can start with what's happening for you now and work from there. |
A little about me
The first thing I should say is that, despite working in the often very serious field of mental health, I'm an informal person. I like to laugh. I love writing, music, film and nature, and I am constantly grateful that I love what I do and get enormous fulfilment from working with my clients.
I present a real version of myself in my therapy with you, and I encourage you to do the same.
One of my biggest goals as a counsellor is to model the things that I suggest in our work. I am not a perfect person, and I don't expect you to be. Becoming comfortable with our flaws, and learning to be okay with the right kind of vulnerability, is an important part of my approach.
I think therapy works best when we can be honest with each other. That doesn't mean you need to perform, impress me or arrive with a perfectly coherent account of what's wrong. You can turn up just as you are.
The first thing I should say is that, despite working in the often very serious field of mental health, I'm an informal person. I like to laugh. I love writing, music, film and nature, and I am constantly grateful that I love what I do and get enormous fulfilment from working with my clients.
I present a real version of myself in my therapy with you, and I encourage you to do the same.
One of my biggest goals as a counsellor is to model the things that I suggest in our work. I am not a perfect person, and I don't expect you to be. Becoming comfortable with our flaws, and learning to be okay with the right kind of vulnerability, is an important part of my approach.
I think therapy works best when we can be honest with each other. That doesn't mean you need to perform, impress me or arrive with a perfectly coherent account of what's wrong. You can turn up just as you are.
How I became a counsellor
My route into counselling wasn't particularly straightforward.
I spent more than a decade of my early career working as an IT consultant for a blue-chip technology corporation. I hated it, but for lots of complicated reasons, I stayed.
Eventually, after a great deal of deliberation and my own experience of therapy, I decided to change direction and become a counsellor.
That meant leaving a well-paid, secure and status-enhancing career. It meant retraining, moving my life to another country and learning to live differently. It has involved plenty of uncertainty, hard work and continuing to understand myself and other people.
Those experiences have shaped the way I work. I know something about what it feels like to realise that the life you've built isn't necessarily the life you want, and to have to work out what comes next.
I try to live as well and as authentically as I can, and I support many clients who want to do the same.
My route into counselling wasn't particularly straightforward.
I spent more than a decade of my early career working as an IT consultant for a blue-chip technology corporation. I hated it, but for lots of complicated reasons, I stayed.
Eventually, after a great deal of deliberation and my own experience of therapy, I decided to change direction and become a counsellor.
That meant leaving a well-paid, secure and status-enhancing career. It meant retraining, moving my life to another country and learning to live differently. It has involved plenty of uncertainty, hard work and continuing to understand myself and other people.
Those experiences have shaped the way I work. I know something about what it feels like to realise that the life you've built isn't necessarily the life you want, and to have to work out what comes next.
I try to live as well and as authentically as I can, and I support many clients who want to do the same.
Who I work with
People come to therapy for all sorts of reasons. You don't need to have a diagnosis or be in crisis to benefit from having someone independent to talk to. I offer online counselling for adults experiencing difficulties with relationships, life transitions, grief, anxiety, self-esteem, body image and other challenges affecting their wellbeing.
You might come to me because:
You don't have to identify yourself neatly within any of these categories. Sometimes the starting point is simply, "I don't feel like myself anymore."
That's enough to begin a conversation.
People come to therapy for all sorts of reasons. You don't need to have a diagnosis or be in crisis to benefit from having someone independent to talk to. I offer online counselling for adults experiencing difficulties with relationships, life transitions, grief, anxiety, self-esteem, body image and other challenges affecting their wellbeing.
You might come to me because:
- you feel stuck, dissatisfied or disconnected from the life you're living
- you're going through a significant change or transition
- you're struggling with relationships, boundaries or family dynamics
- something from your past continues to affect how you feel or behave now
- you're dealing with grief, shame, anxiety or difficult emotions
- you're struggling with your relationship with money
- you're experiencing difficulties with body image or the way you feel about your body
- you understand intellectually what you want to change but can't seem to make it happen
- you're repeatedly finding yourself in the same patterns and want to understand why
- you simply have a sense that something needs to change, but aren't sure what
You don't have to identify yourself neatly within any of these categories. Sometimes the starting point is simply, "I don't feel like myself anymore."
That's enough to begin a conversation.
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My professional background
I am a BACP-accredited counsellor with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Integrative Counselling. I am a Registered Accredited Member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and work within its Ethical Framework. BACP accreditation recognises experienced practitioners who have demonstrated appropriate levels of training, competence, ethical practice and ongoing professional development. My qualifications and additional training include:
I continue to undertake professional development and training as my practice develops. I also hold current professional indemnity insurance. |
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What is it like to work with me?
I work collaboratively and integratively, which means I draw on different therapeutic approaches depending on you and what we're working on rather than trying to fit you into a particular model.
Our sessions are a place to slow down and think. Sometimes that means talking through something that has happened. Sometimes it means noticing a pattern you've never quite understood. Sometimes we might challenge an assumption, look at something from a different perspective or consider what you actually want rather than what you think you should want.
I won't tell you what decisions to make or give you a set of instructions for how to live your life.
I will, however, be honest with you, ask questions, notice patterns and help you examine the things that may be difficult to see when you're inside them.
And because I am a human being rather than a detached professional persona, there will probably be some laughter along the way too.
I work collaboratively and integratively, which means I draw on different therapeutic approaches depending on you and what we're working on rather than trying to fit you into a particular model.
Our sessions are a place to slow down and think. Sometimes that means talking through something that has happened. Sometimes it means noticing a pattern you've never quite understood. Sometimes we might challenge an assumption, look at something from a different perspective or consider what you actually want rather than what you think you should want.
I won't tell you what decisions to make or give you a set of instructions for how to live your life.
I will, however, be honest with you, ask questions, notice patterns and help you examine the things that may be difficult to see when you're inside them.
And because I am a human being rather than a detached professional persona, there will probably be some laughter along the way too.
Are you a therapist?
Alongside my client work, I write and develop resources specifically for counsellors and therapists.
My work in this area includes therapy for therapists, resources for private practitioners, and Clinical Continuity, a practical system designed to help therapists prepare for unexpected absence, incapacity or death.
If you're a therapist looking for support, resources or professional information, you can explore the therapist section of my website.
Alongside my client work, I write and develop resources specifically for counsellors and therapists.
My work in this area includes therapy for therapists, resources for private practitioners, and Clinical Continuity, a practical system designed to help therapists prepare for unexpected absence, incapacity or death.
If you're a therapist looking for support, resources or professional information, you can explore the therapist section of my website.
Thinking about therapy?
You don't need to know exactly what you want to talk about before you get in touch.
If you're wondering whether therapy with me might be useful, you can book an introductory session or contact me to ask a question before deciding.
I am based in France and offer online counselling in English to clients in locations where I am professionally able to practise.
You don't need to know exactly what you want to talk about before you get in touch.
If you're wondering whether therapy with me might be useful, you can book an introductory session or contact me to ask a question before deciding.
I am based in France and offer online counselling in English to clients in locations where I am professionally able to practise.