Shelley Wilman, BACP

Shelley Wilman is a counsellor with 30 years of professional experience practising in the United Kingdom. She is a BACP member and brings a wide clinical background to sessions. Shelley describes herself as an integrative practitioner who adapts her approach to each person she meets.

She aims to make the first step easier for people who feel daunted by therapy. In early sessions she listens to the story you bring and helps clarify what matters most to you. She treats people as the expert on their own lives and looks for strengths to build on.

Shelley offers practical approaches such as cognitive behavioural work and EMDR alongside client-centred and existential perspectives. This means she can use different ways of working depending on the difficulty presented, whether it is anxiety, low mood, grief or trauma-related distress.

Her practice often focuses on relationship strain, intimacy-related issues, family problems and anger, as well as body image, abandonment and feelings of emptiness. She also addresses concerns linked to serious health issues, including cancer, and the emotional effects of separation and domestic violence.

Shelley aims to make sessions collaborative and straightforward. She helps people identify small, realistic steps and supports them as they try those steps out between meetings. The emphasis is on understanding what matters to the individual and finding workable ways to move forward.

Approaches that shape online work

Client-Centred Therapy focuses on listening and helping people make sense of their own experiences. It relies on the counsellor offering empathy and reflection so the person can find their own solutions and make choices that feel right. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings and behaviours and uses practical exercises to change unhelpful patterns; it often suits issues like anxiety and low mood. Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a trauma-focused method that works with distressing memories and the emotions tied to them, aiming to reduce their intensity over time.

Finding the best approach is part of the work itself. Shelley will discuss options with the person and decide together which methods suit their needs, goals and preferences. The choice can change as therapy progresses, and the process is presented as a collaborative exploration rather than a fixed plan.

If you are considering online sessions, confirm the session formats offered before booking as specific formats are not listed here. Online counselling can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life - sessions may be simpler to attend around work, reduce travel time and allow quicker check-ins when needed. Different approaches translate well to remote work: CBT lends itself to structured exercises between sessions, client-centred work supports reflective conversations, and EMDR can be adapted for remote delivery by experienced practitioners. Registered or accredited professionals can explain the practical arrangements when you book.