About Nicola
Nicola Barnard offers a calm, practical style rooted in approaches that help people live in line with their values. She uses simple, evidence-informed methods to help clients tackle stress, anxiety, low mood and difficulties with confidence. Nicola presents herself as warm and approachable and aims to make the first steps feel manageable.
She draws on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that matter to them.
How Nicola works
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) features in sessions to identify patterns that keep problems going and to try new ways of responding. Attachment-based ideas are used to look at how past relationships shape current reactions, especially around closeness and trust. Nicola has four years of experience and holds BACP registration, which is recorded as BACP.
That practical background includes supporting people facing grief, work stress, parenting strains and long-term health challenges. She also works with those navigating ADHD, burnout and career transitions. Sessions tend to be straightforward and conversational.
Nicola listens first, then helps set small, achievable goals. Techniques often include breathing and grounding exercises, thought records and values-led actions to build confidence and reduce reactivity. People can expect a steady, supportive process rather than quick fixes.
Nicola helps clients pace change so it fits everyday life. The emphasis is on real steps that feel sustainable.
Nicola lists 11 ways of working on the entry:
What Nicola works with
The areas below are the ones Nicola selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Grief
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Traumatic brain injury
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | BACP |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 4 |
| 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 Nicola’s approaches work online
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then choose actions that match their values. This approach can aid anxiety, low mood and life transitions by focusing on what matters rather than fighting thoughts. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and actions and teaches practical steps to shift unhelpful patterns, useful for anxiety, depression and stress. Attachment-Based Therapy explores how earlier relationship experiences shape current ways of relating and can help with trust, closeness and relationship worries.Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. Nicola listens to what matters to the client, discusses options and adapts methods to fit the person's goals and preferences. Together they set manageable steps and review what is helping as therapy progresses.
Online sessions make it easier to fit support into a busy week. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited, live chat suits quicker check-ins and text messaging supports ongoing reflection between meetings. These formats offer flexibility so people can choose what fits their routine and energy levels.
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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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