About Valerie
Valerie Harmer helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, low self-esteem, relationship problems and life changes. She also supports those coping with trauma, eating or sleeping difficulties, anger, career worries and questions about identity or purpose. Valerie uses practical, goal-focused work to help people break unhelpful patterns and move forward.
Her style is straightforward and collaborative. She asks questions to clarify what keeps difficulties going and offers feedback and guidance aimed at small, achievable changes.
How Valerie works
Sessions can be brief or longer term, depending on what someone wants to work towards. Valerie draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, mindfulness and solution-focused methods to shape the work. She trained in counselling and CBT psychotherapy to postgraduate level at the University of South Wales and completed a diploma in solution-focused hypnotherapy.
She is also trained in bereavement counselling with CRUSE. She is a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - BACP - and follows their code of conduct. That includes taking regular supervision and keeping professional development up to date.
Valerie has nine years of experience in the field. Sessions are offered in English and are delivered online by video, phone, live chat or text messaging. People work through practical steps, explore patterns, and try new ways of responding to difficult feelings and situations.
The aim is clearer thinking and more manageable day-to-day coping.
Valerie lists 3 ways of working on the entry:
What Valerie works with
The areas below are the ones Valerie 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
- ADHD
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | BACP |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 9 |
| 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 Valerie’s approaches work in online therapy
CBT, or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Online CBT often focuses on simple exercises and practical homework to change unhelpful thinking and build new habits, which can help with anxiety, depression and OCD patterns.Mindfulness Therapy teaches ways to notice thoughts and feelings without getting swept up in them. Online mindfulness can include guided exercises and short practices that help reduce reactivity and improve concentration for people struggling with stress, sleep or persistent worry.
Solution-Focused Therapy aims to identify small steps that lead to change. Sessions focus on what a person wants to be different, the strengths they already have, and practical actions to reach those goals, making it useful for coping with life transitions and relationship problems.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. Valerie will discuss your goals and preferences and together you will decide which methods to try. She balances short-term steps with deeper work when that suits the person’s aims.
Online therapy by video, phone, live chat or text messaging offers flexibility. Video calls enable face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited, live chat can fit a short check-in and text messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy around work, family and travel commitments while keeping the focus on progress and practical change.
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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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