Clare Payne, BACP

Clare Payne is a counsellor based in the United Kingdom who works from a humanistic, client-centred perspective and places the client’s priorities at the centre of each session. She uses conversations to explore recurring themes, stuck points, and life patterns while helping clients identify where they want to move next.

Clare trained in Integrative Counselling and Coaching and completed a Postgraduate Diploma at the University of East London, having earlier undertaken courses in Person-Centred Counselling and Life Coaching. That training enables a flexible, tailored approach in which Clare may draw on techniques from CBT, NLP, and coaching when these are useful for a person’s goals. She holds BACP accreditation - the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy - which reflects her professional affiliation in the UK.

Her practice supports people facing anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, trauma and abuse, grief, self-esteem and identity concerns including LGBT issues, parenting and career challenges, intimacy-related problems, and compassion fatigue, among other areas. Sessions run for 45 minutes, with the first meetings focused on understanding what has brought someone to therapy, clarifying goals, and deciding whether the working relationship feels like a good fit.

Clare emphasises a paced, supportive environment where the client sets the agenda and the therapist collaborates to help them work toward change. More information is available at www.clarepaynecounselling.com.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Support

Clare Payne combines a client-centred way of working with structured approaches to help people clarify their values and relationships. Client-Centred Therapy focuses on providing an empathetic, non-directive space where the client’s experience guides the pace and focus of sessions; it is helpful for general life transitions, self-esteem work, and relationship concerns.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) supports people to accept difficult thoughts and feelings while committing to actions that reflect their values. ACT can be useful for anxiety, stress, depression, and situations where unhelpful avoidance patterns get in the way of living a meaningful life.

Attachment-Based Therapy explores early and current relationship patterns to understand how they shape expectations, intimacy, and emotional responses. This approach can help with attachment issues, intimacy-related concerns, and patterns that repeat across relationships.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process; Clare works collaboratively with each person to determine which methods best suit their needs, goals, and preferences, adjusting the mix as the work evolves.

Online therapy offers practical flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging, making it easier to fit therapy around work, family, and other commitments. These formats expand access to registered professionals and allow therapy to continue even when in-person meetings are not possible, while preserving the collaborative, personalised focus of the work.