About Martha
Martha Cheesman helps people facing addiction, relationship strain, trauma, depression, anxiety, grief and stress. She also supports concerns around intimacy, eating and sleeping problems, parenting pressures, work strain, ADHD and compassion fatigue. Martha is known for listening closely and helping people find steady ground when life feels chaotic.
She trained and practised over the last decade as a BACP counsellor, building on earlier experience with diverse people and cultures. Her work draws on attachment-based ideas, cognitive behavioural techniques and emotionally-focused ways of working.
How Martha works
Sessions focus on what is happening for the person now and on simple, practical steps that can make daily life easier. Martha uses a client-centred stance that puts the person’s experience first. She pays attention to body and emotion as well as thoughts.
That can mean learning new coping steps, noticing patterns that keep repeating, or talking through painful memories at a pace that feels safe. People may bring issues like abandonment, body image concerns, codependency or sexual culture questions including BDSM and kink. Martha also supports those facing cancer, caregiver stress, ageing worries and the fallout from natural or human-made disaster.
Her approach aims to help people reconnect with purpose and self-worth. Sessions are available in English and Spanish and she works with people in the United Kingdom and internationally. The tone of her practice is calm, direct and grounded, with an emphasis on making therapy useful for everyday life.
Martha lists 14 ways of working on the entry:
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Imago Relationship Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
What Martha works with
The areas below are the ones Martha selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | BACP |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 10 |
| Languages | English, Spanish |
| 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 Martha’s approaches translate to online therapy
Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns in close relationships and helps people notice how early bonds affect current reactions and trust. It can be useful for relationship strain, abandonment worries and intimacy difficulties.Client-Centred Therapy focuses on the person’s experience and pace, offering a non-judgemental space where people can talk through what matters to them. This approach supports self-worth, purpose and emotional processing.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) offers practical ways to change unhelpful thought and behaviour patterns. It often includes straightforward exercises to try between sessions and can help with anxiety, depression and sleeping or eating problems.
Finding the right fit is part of the work. Martha will discuss these approaches with each person and agree on what to try first. Decisions are made together and can change as needs and goals evolve.
Online sessions can take place by video call when visual connection helps, by phone if bandwidth is limited, or by live chat and text messaging for brief check-ins and flexible contact. These options make therapy easier to fit around work, family life and different time zones, while keeping continuity of care for people living outside the UK or travelling.
Start online instead of waiting
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Common questions
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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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