About Claire
Claire Bottomley offers calm, practical support for people feeling overwhelmed by stress, anxiety or a big life change. She writes simply and listens closely to what matters to each person. Claire works with adults on issues such as grief, relationship problems, parenting strain, addiction concerns and difficulty sleeping, helping them find clearer ways forward.
Claire holds membership of the British Association for Counsellors and Psychotherapists, abbreviated as BACP, and has five years' experience.
How Claire works
She trained at degree level in therapeutic counselling and completed further study in cognitive behavioural approaches. Her background gives her a mix of talking and practical tools to draw on. Sessions focus on what a person wants to achieve.
Claire uses a person-centred stance to prioritise the therapeutic relationship and then brings in other methods to meet each need. That might mean noticing patterns that keep someone stuck, trying new ways of responding to anxiety, or working through the impact of traumatic events.
She is comfortable addressing a wide range of concerns including attachment and intimacy issues, eating and body image difficulties, ADHD and neurodiversity-related challenges, and problems arising from separation or domestic violence. Claire also supports people exploring sexual orientation and LGBT matters. Work with Claire is collaborative and paced to the individual.
People can expect a mixture of reflective conversation and practical strategies to test between sessions. Claire offers services in English and accepts international clients by online formats.
Claire lists 6 ways of working on the entry:
What Claire works with
The areas below are the ones Claire selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
Also listed
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Intimacy-related issues
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Men's issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | BACP |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 5 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | United Kingdom |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Claire’s approaches work online and what to expect
Claire uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings while committing to actions that match their values; it is useful for anxiety, stress and life changes. She also draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, a practical method that looks at how thoughts, feelings and behaviours link and tests small changes to reduce distress.Finding the right approach is a joint process. Claire begins by asking about the client’s goals and current difficulties and then suggests techniques to try together. She adapts the mix of person-centred listening, ACT or CBT depending on what feels most helpful for the person’s situation.
Online therapy is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation when a longer discussion is needed. Phone calls can suit those with less bandwidth or who prefer not to be on camera. Live chat and messaging make short check-ins or ongoing coaching-style support easier to fit around work and family life. These options aim to make therapy flexible and accessible for people in different locations or with busy schedules.
Start online instead of waiting
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Common questions
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What do I need to do to begin?
A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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